conisterbank.co.uk

Why I've lost patience with Conister Bank.

I posted a one star review on 10th December. I have been asked by Trustpilot to contact Conister Bank directly, but as they had responded rapidly to my review (unlike on other occasions, which I will describe) I will assume they will receive this sooner rather than later.My original review was removed around 08:00 this morning, less than 48 hours after posting and despite Trustpilot advising that I had three days to respond. As at 12:00 it has reappeared. So I’m not sure what’s going on and will submit a new review.The original review was a severe précis of a much longer one which was dumped when I attempted to send it. The facts:On 5th November, following a mention on MoneySavingExpert (which some of the other reviewers mention) I applied for the Conister Bank 4.45% Fixed Term Deposit Account. With several pundits suggesting there may possibly be a Base Rate cut in December, it seemed the prudent thing to do.From previous experience I was anticipating a response in minutes and the ability to fund the account within hours, as has been my experience with other banks. Building societies tend to take a day or so.However I did receive two e-mails later that day acknowledging receipt and that I was ‘onboarding’ – this is actually an American term relating to employees, not customers, and which even my spellchecker doesn’t like.7th November, email: “...in the queue and being processed...”14th November, an email to tell me I’m still in the queue and being processed, and that although the interest rate has now dropped, they will still honour 4.45%, and would be in touch shortly.The reduction in rate causes them to drop off the MoneySavingExpert list – after only a couple of weeks? I see from other reviews that something similar happened in July this year.What does ‘shortly’ mean? Google tells me it’s “...minutes to a few hours, not days or weeks...”.21st November – ‘shortly’ seems to be a week to Conister: a repeat of the 14th mail.So 7th, 14th, 21st – guess what I expected on the 28th? Another email? Wrong. Nothing.Would you think it unreasonable for me to say my patience was running out? I like to be organised, and had made funds available (at a lower rate) from way back on the 5th November.During the first 10 days of December I phoned Conister twice. In fairness I was connected to an ‘onboarded’ employee swiftly, but sadly on both occasions I was promised a callback, neither of which has happened.I find it infuriating that Conister seem to take the trouble to respond to reviews with alacrity, yet seem unable to resolve fundamental issues. Are the responses AI generated? They seem repetitive and banal.I did receive two emails with links to click, and names unknown to me which I rapidly deleted, and can only surmise that the spammers/hackers/petty criminals or whatever had spotted the dramatic change in tone of Conister’s Trustpilot reviews and thought there was an opportunity.The Trustpilot reviews for Conister Bank:May to September 2025: 9 x 1* 2 x 2*October 2025 – ALL on the same day, 31st: 1 x 2* 1 x 4* 33 (THIRTY-THREE) x 5* Of the 33 x 5* reviews, six seemed to originate between January and September, five between the 9th and 22nd of October, 10 between the 27th and 30th October and a staggering 12 on the 31st October.November 1st to 10th – about when the 4.45% offer appearedand including three reviews which seemed to originate fromSeptember and October 6 x 5*November 11th to 30th – following the offer appearing: 8 x 1* 1 x 2*I’m not including December to date because of uncertainty following the removal and reinstatement of my 1* review, and no explanation of what’s been going on.Conister Bank is a subsidiary of Manx Financial Group, whose homepage (including a really annoying dot that follows the cursor around) states: “Founded on the principles of trust, transparency, and outstanding services...”

Date of experience: Dec 12, 2025