BEWARE! THE BANKS ARE OUT TO GET YOU!

[Tripps]

the smart money seems to be on your suggestion

That's a first.

[plaques]

I think it's the commission rates charged by Visa to Amazon rather than interest rates? It is true that these were once limited by the EU and no longer are, since we left.

Tripps you are correct again. A bit of sloppy writing on my part. My mind couldn't get out of the groove that this was another 'advantage' of leaving the EU. Roaming charges was another EU control that went down the tube at the same time.

PS, still can't remember the irony thingy.

[Tripps]

Tripps you are correct again.

I think I'd better quit now while I'm ahead - we must have reached 'peak Tripps'. It can't last.

[Tripps]

PS.

My mind couldn't get out of the groove that this was another 'advantage' of leaving the EU

There's quite a bit of that on here, where visceral hatred for something overides straight thinking. It's often Brexit, Boris Johnson, or Mr Blair.

Runs for cover. . . .

[Stanley]

David, there is possibly more 'straight thinking' on here than there is in real life. (I like a bit of visceral hate.... At the moment all mine is directed at London Lawyers who are driving my Jarndyce versus Jarndyce experience.))

[MickBrett]

My wife has, or should I say had, an account at the Colne branch of the Yorkshire bank.
That branch has now closed and her account we presume has been transferred to Nelson.

She's going to have to contact them in the near future as her on line banking connection doesn't work anymore.
Has the bank name changed or is the branch in Nelson still operating under the same name?

[PanBiker]

I think I mentioned this before in this thread but the Yorkshire Bank is no more. Barlick branch closed then Colne and now Nelson. All are now operating as Virgin Money but are actually owned by the Clydesdale Bank. Virgin don't refer to them as banks but stores. The nearest one to Barlick now is at Burnley. Account details remain the same, best bet is to convert to online banking with the Virgin Money app. Enter the Yorkshire details and you should get access assuming it is available over in the states. We have the option over here to pay in at the Post Office if you need to deposit.

I can get you a number for Virgin Money if you need it.

[MickBrett]

Thanks, Ian. I'd appreciate any info.
Yes, you did mention it a while back and it came to my mind when Jan mentioned having to get it sorted out soon.

[Stanley]

I wish you a hassle free transition Jan!

[PanBiker]

OK, this is a number I chased up when I got the letter informing me of the Nelson YB closing. It's a free call number in the UK but may not be from where you are: 0800 085 2914 you will need the +44 country code and strip the leading zero of course.

There is also an 24 hour telephone banking line on: 0800 212 7365

Internet banking can be found on this link and may be your easiest route.

https://virginmoney.com/go-digital

You should be able to get some mileage from one of these although Virgin seem to regard Yorkshire accounts as a separate entity and may direct you elsewhere. Best of luck, remind them that it is YOUR MONEY.

[Big Kev]

I believe UK 0800 are chargeable from the US but you're best checking with your phone provider. You'll need to use 011 44 800

[PanBiker]

I would try your Yorkshire account details in the internet banking link, that worked for me along with the app, (which I use in favour of the online via the computer version) although I don't know how you would pay in if you needed to. Probably best to get access, empty it and move the money to your side of the pond, probably save you a lot of bother.

[MickBrett]

That's exactly what we intend to do, Ian.
Many thanks for the assistance. o/

[Wendyf]

The History Society had a Club Account with the Yorkshire Bank which we had been running down as online access was very limited and the branches disappearing. We opened a much more useful Santander business account a few years back and pre covid had been planning to close the YB account which required all 3 signatories to attend a branch together with all sorts of identification and complex forms filled and signed.
When the change to Virgin Money happened I lost the limited online access I used to have but another signatory (no longer a society member) who had a personal online account suddenly gained full access, and where previously 2 signatures were required for every transaction it was now just a normal account with no restrictions. A quick call to Virgin Money reassured me that closing the account now only required a simple letter of intent signed by 2 signatories. Account now closed!

[Stanley]

I hate any contact with my bank. All I want them to do is manage my account efficiently. I don't want to be best friends with them!

[plaques]

Called in my local branch the other day, excellent service they did exactly what I requested no trouble, in and out in no time. I was not surprised by an e-mail asking 'How did we Do' . to which I give a positive reply. A second e-mail followed suggesting I move to internet banking. I've never been interested so I closed it down only to be met with the message 'Due to a technical failure please close down completely'. Doesn't fill you with a lot of confidence does it?

[Stanley]

Ken, on principle I never respond to 'how did we do' or surveys. I object to being an unpaid data asset.

[Tizer]

I received a letter (snail mail!) from Amazon yesterday - lucky me! It was making me the fantastic offer of a FREE opportunity to join Amazon Prime and included what appeared to be a membership card (but had nothing personal on it, no numbers, codes etc, simply the words Amazon Prime). The letter had lots about all the extra special things that I could have with prime membership. At the end of the letter in very small print it told me that when the free period ended I would be charged £7.99 a month; but didn't mention that I'd have to pay extra for some of the wonderful features ( ) offered. I was surprised that they were using snail mail but then the penny dropped - my cousin's daughter has a Prime account and she orders stuff for us and has it delivered direct to our address (Prime members can do that for any number of other addresses - Amazon don't mind because they get to sell more stuff to more people!). Of course the letter was binned.

[Stanley]

Amazon's marketing methods and sneaky charging of premium postage rates has made me avoid them and shop elsewhere.

[plaques]

Amazon is not alone in using complex convoluted language to lead you down the path of making your wallet a bit thinner. Most of the sites selling 'services' will have them packaged under different names making the content of each one far from easy to understand. Should you try to compare these packages the wording is subtly changed leaving you with the thought that it may not be directly comparable. Why you should need a PhD in languages and data analysis to buy something remains a mystery to me.

[Tizer]

This was in The Times last Saturday...
`Mode backtracks on involvement of Boots, Homebase and Ocado in bitcoin cashback scheme' LINK
A financial technology business has been forced into a U-turn after Boots, Homebase and Ocado denied its claim that they were joining its cryptocurrency cashback scheme. Mode Global caused a frenzy among private investors on Thursday when it told the stock market that the retailers were among more than 40 unnamed merchants that it had lined up to join its bitcoin initiative. Mode backtracked yesterday after The Times reported that the three retailers had denied being involved. In what Mode described as a “clarification statement”, it said that “certain specific brands were referenced who, at that time, had approved Mode to be part of their affiliate programmes, through a number of intermediary affiliate platforms”. It added: “Some of those specified brands have since withdrawn"...

[Stanley]

"Why you should need a PhD in languages and data analysis to buy something remains a mystery to me."
I think Peter has answered that question Ken. Competition in retail depends in large part on lowering prices. That means that profit margins are lower and so companies look for other ways to boost income. Look at the ones like Tesco who move into mobile phones and banking. Loyalty cards and data harvesting are also income generators and to make these work, organisations have to pull the wool over customers eyes so they can extract income from them in different ways. Complicated terms of service are just one way of doing this. Peter's example is one stage further back, a software company attempting to climb on the back of a retailer's data to make money from Bitcoin.
It's a complicated world out there!

[Stanley]

I've just had a personal example of how complicated it is. I went looking for a deep fat fryer and found my self on Amazon. Before I knew what was happening I was accepted for Prime and had a fryer in my basket! It took me ten minutes to cancel both Prime and the sale. Amazon is dangerous.
Later... I got an email confirming my Prime membership. I had to spend another five minutes finding how to cancel the free trial. Bugger Amazon!

[Big Kev]

I have a simple method for that, I don't have a card saved against my Amazon account. If I do buy anything I have to enter the card details to do so, none of this 'one click' buying malarkey.

[Stanley]

Funny you should mention that Kev. I have just deleted my card and they have sent me another email to tell me that they have no way of charging on my account. Yippee!