If you could wave a magic wand and improve your banking experience, tell Barclays what your wish would be and you could win a £200 voucher NOW CLOSED

[AnnMumsnet]

As you know we have been working with Barclays and this week Barclays want to hear ideas from customers and non customers.

They say "we want customers to be at the heart of what we do, but we can only do this if we keep on listening to your thoughts and suggestions. That's why we've created Your Bank, a place where you can go to share whatever's on your mind about banking.

To celebrate the launch of Your Bank, this week we're asking the nation five key questions to help us get some answers on how we can make your banking better.

Before we put the questions to the nation, we also got 20 Mumsnetters together to have a think about how we can make everyday banking better for everyone - you can see what they had to say now".

View the Mumsnet Ideation session here

But they also want to make sure your voice is heard on all the other aspects of your banking, so once you've answered the questions (here) please also let us know (on this thread) if you could wave a magic wand, how you would improve your banking experience?

Everyone who adds a comment below will be entered into a prize draw where one MNer will win a £200 John Lewis voucher.

thanks and good luck
MNHQ
PS closing date for prize draw: 16 Sept at noon

[DifferentNow]

I would like to be able to contact my branch directly on a local rate number.

I would like to be able to make an enquiry or open a basic account, eg a child's account without needing to make an 'appointment with an advisor' so that they can attempt to flog me credit cards and personal loans.

YY to what others have said about paying in change. It's a bank ffs. That gives me the rage.

I would like debit card payments to debit my account right away, rather than 2 days later (not sure if this is down to the banks or the retailers though?).

When an ATM does that thing where it doesn't dispense the cash but it still debits your account and you have to fill out a form in person at your branch and wait a fortnight for them to re credit your account - FIND A SLICKER PROCESS BANKS! This has happened to me loads of times and I cannot believe that this is considered acceptable.

[superbagpuss]

I would like to have a savings account that has consistently good interest rate without having to change it every year. it really annoys me

[nextphase]

One more, please don't freeze my account because I couldn't tell you to the nearest penny the last payment out - aprox £14 in tesco wasn't good enough, so you froze my account. GET RID OF THIS SECURITY QUESTION

[AndHarry]

Online banking updated in real time so I don't have to guess when money is coming out.

Also, normal ATMs accepting cash and cheque deposits would be fabulous.

[camtt]

I'd like to be able to speak to a real person on a local number who would be able to handle my individual query including if it doesn't happen to be on a list of standard responses. I hate being fobbed off with putting through to different departments, given different numbers to call. If the person I'm talking to can't resolve the query someone who can should call back, at a time that suits me.

[OlympicSleepingChampion]

When I unexpectedly went £1k overdrawn - which had never happened in the history of my account - nobody from Lloyds TSB called me to alert me to the problem, to ask how they could help to make things easier or to query what had happened. Noooo they just stopped all my direct debits and charged me a shit load of money to do it. Even though it was their mistake and I eventually got all the money, including the charges back, the appalling customer service still grates.

But when I then went well over £5k in credit over and above my usual balance, Lloyds TSB never stopped calling me to try and get me open some sort of high interest account. Err no! It was payback from the PPI they conned me into paying out for. As if I'd entrust it to them!

[PepeLePew]

Your children's accounts are beyond dull. They don't inspire children to save - my brother and I still have all our NatWest piggy banks.

Also, please give a bit of thought to the security questions your fraud department ask. When I get a call on my mobile from you because you think there is a suspect transaction, I may not be at home, so I can't see my bank statements. I don't mind you asking me which clothes retailers I have shopped at in the past month, but it's unlikely I will know how much I spent to the nearest sodding penny. You could, for instance, ask me how much my council tax is. Or whether I have any standing orders to other accounts in my name. Or who makes regular monthly deposits.

[Disclaimer: I actually quite like my bank and think they do a reasonable job]

[EstoyAqui]

I'd like to be able to give my child a per-loaded card that they could only spend in certain shops. A bit like a voucher but with restraints built in. I'd like to be able to log their spending with an app on my phone.

I'd like money to be portioned in my accounts in a way that all my bills could be grouped and I didn't have to work out what's remaining after they come out. Like a two tier current account. Showing what I have but also what's yet to come out. So a real figure not a figure that needs to be calculated with.

I'd like my bank staff to engage with me and my children when I visit a branch.

[StickyFloor]

Evening and weekend opening would make life so much easier.

I would also love to be able to pick up the phone and speak to someone, in the UK, who can talk to me about my account.

[QOD]

I'd want to not have been FORCED to have a contact less card by you thanks Barclays ...

I'd also like £5 notes to come out of machines

[Squadge]

Saturday opening and no little machines to be able to view your own account when you have your card with you!

[Reastie]

I don't know why funds can't always be instantly transferred - why do these things sometimes take several days?!

I'd also like call centres in UK and helpful customer services on the end of the phone and not to have to wait on hold for so long when calling. Free telephone line would also be appreciated to ring them.

I'm with barclays and have no major complaints with their online services though.

[WhyIRayLiotta]

Freephone numbers. I loath having to go through a 5 minute security check when I am paying for the call.

An app for easy mobile checks / transfers etc - important that it is secure - but not impossible to get into without ten different pins / numbers / codes.

When I have to go into a bank - I like it when the cashier uses my name (Its on the screen / card in front of them)
I also like to have something like a TV tuned to a news channel to watch while I queue.

Also - I have been stung a few times by money being 'earmarked' by a company (e.g: a hotel using my card to book the room on arrival) It can take days to release the funds - when I often need it there and then!

[lborolass]

My biggest bugbear is the overseas call centres. My heart sinks when I hear I'm through to one However good there English is the staff just lack the basic skill of connecting through conversation. When you're on the phone this is really important to a successful call.

Also easy phone systems to navigate, remember the passwords when you don't use them often.

[Sunny2013]

What I would love more than anything is being able to contact my own branch of Barclays Bank ... my local branch with my local staff ... not be transferred to India or where ever else they may be located .... I have been a LOYAL customer since 1983 and want to discuss and ask local staff questions not total strangers , especially when I am transferred to several people before I get to the person who can help me.

[motherofmuddles]

Funnily enough I was in my local Barclays last Saturday with my friend who needed to pay some cheques in.
Really impressed that they had a staff member asking people in the queue if she could help them - unlike my bank which was a. shut and b. always has very long and boring queues.
If I could wave a magic wand I'd get rid of charges for using your debit card aboard, how can it possibly cost my international bank if I use my card outside the UK ?

[HorseyGirl1]

No overdraft fee if overdrawn for a short time say 3 working days. And agree the fee shouldn't be more than what you have actually gone over.

[NotCitrus]

Saturday opening (I still have my Barclays On Saturdays badge from around 1982!), maybe late-night opening.

Ability to do anything without a phone. I'm deaf - so use internet banking. Which generally requires phone calls to set up.

Which brings me onto request 3 - make sure your staff are trained in branches to sort out problems, even if some staff have to track down the manager. If I want to open a community group account or a basic bank account all staff should know what those are and get help if necessary, not tell me there's no such thing. Your loss - went to local HSBC instead who sorted both and now have my company's business. It should be possible to set up internet access to my Barclays account by visiting a branch and not being told to phone somewhere. Hint, "can't you get someone to do it for you" is against both Data Protection and the Equality Acts.

[kelzw84]

I would make it eaiser to contact my local bank rather than a call centre that takes forever to anwser your calls. and change the number so that it doesnt cost an arm and leg to phone.
would also make it eaisier to open account for adult and child

[serendipity1980]

I would love easier way of managing our mortgage and current accounts - any changes to address etc on one account are not automatically reflected on the other account. This is really annoying, our bank still hasn't got our address correct after nearly 4 yrs of living here. It seems to be a problem with their computer system which doesn't accept the layout of our address. Please also stop sending a statement to me and then one to my DH, it's our joint account and we can both read the same statement, we don't need to destroy more trees! We've tried cancelling the duplicate but apparently it's this bank's policy to send to both account holders. This didn't happen with our old bank.

[Wuldric]

I would dearly love a bank to be unobtrusive. I would like them to be quiet and purr along like well-oiled machines in the background and never EVER contact me.

If I choose to contact my bank, then I would like to be able to contact them. I do not want automated. I do not want someone who is patently from Bangalore but calling himself William. I want contact via internet/sametime, phone (without automation or William from Bangalore) and I want availability 24/7.

Currently I bank with the Halifax. A more in-your-face bank cannot be imagined. They send me bank and credit card statements via snail-mail. I have to rip these up unread to recycle the already-out-of-date data. They text me about a zombie account but I cannot stop them from doing so and nor can they shut down the zombie account. The Halifax write to me and phone me up daily. At the moment they want to arrange an appointment with an under-educated financial advisor. I caved once on this front five years ago only to encounter a very young man with a lot of spots who worryingly seemed to know nothing about finance.

I would dearly love my bank to shut the fuck up.

[OldRoan]

Proper Saturday opening please.

I was on the phone to a lady from my bank when there was a payment pending fiasco and ended up in tears. She was stunningly nice, asked if the was anyone else to do the talking on my behalf and when I sobbed that I was alone she just waited for me to calm down and said she hoped I was alright at the end of the call. Having people who actively listen and respond to their customers on the phone and not just reading a script is so important.

[janekirk]

Something easier than trying to remember all my user I.D. information would be a god send.

[givemeaboost]

Id like the bank to actually ring me to inform if my card is cancelled - by someone other than myself!!!!

(waitrose apparently cancelled my card and ordered me a new one!!!)

[GetKnitted]

I would like to call my branch