Handelsbanken plc (UK) Reviews 

I have been a customer with HandelsBanken Sweden for 3 years and the experience has been the worst. I have a fulltime permenent job but they denied me a loan because I am a foreigner.
2. Sending money abroad is a pain, they block transactions and when you call customer support they take you round in circles without a solution. They lie that the fault is not on their side, when it is. I am thinking of changing bank to SwedBank because I have seen most of my collegues bank with SwedBank and not complaining. I REGRET A MILLION TIMES BANKING WITH THEM, RUN IF YOU STILL CAN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Choose any bank it doesnt have to be SwedBank

Otto Car is a successful car rental business ranked 21st fastest growing company in the Sunday Times Fast Track 100 2019. We are solvent with reasonable cash balances. However when COVID hit we asked for forbearance on a loan which had just 3 months to run on our car finance. There was plenty of equity in the vehicles on finance and they owed very little money, we just wanted to save cash during these uncertain times. The FCA stated that banks should offer forbearance for 3 months on car loans but Handelsbanken ignored the directive.

We deal with 10 banks funding 2,500 cars - only one bank failed to assist with 20 cars and that was Handelsbanken Ealing. The other 9 banks were fantastic and leaned in but Handelsbanken were just ineffective and showed no empathy. They just wanted their money...end of. They are the worst bank we have had the misfortune to deal with and they will spread like a cancer through your company killing it slowly. AVOID AT ALL COSTS. I would recommend Santander, Natwest, Lloyds, Barclays, Shawbrook anyone but these guys.

Eventually completed our loans yesterday and withdrew funds and closed account.

When your bank repeatedly communicates to you and cannot get your name correct it is a warning sign. I have been a customer for several years. Always exceptionally solvent and never missed a heartbeat in terms of mortgage payments etc. Yet I was treated like a leper. Their customer services stinks.

I have bank accounts with a few banks, with two being business accounts. Handelsbanken are, quite frankly, something of a joke. Impossible to use their online banking app (the way most people prefer to transact) for any reasonable sized payment without having to phone the branch and convince them that it is ok (normally with full written consent!). Web App is, I think, either steam powered or driven by donkeys - the most un-intuitive clunky application. Oh, and if you want to use the app on a phone, well.. only if you ask your branch really, really nicely!
Expensive for what is frankly an antiquated and outmoded banking approach.
If you want to lock your money up and throw away the key, fill your boots, otherwise go to a proper bank that at least is in the right century and allows you to transact.

Manchester Trinity Way branch. Avoid.
Very fussy lending appetite, rates are not the best. Low LTV. They choose surveyors with very stringent views and harsh or over cautious values. Not bothered about customer satisfaction.
Why bother?????????????
I wish I'd known what they were truly like before I engaged with this lot.

Saw their ratings on the Independent service quality survey and gave them a call.
Was great speaking to a lovely customer representative who explained all the facilities and I was relieved to have finally found a solution to my needs. Unfortunately she then passed me to the local branch that was meant to handle my account switching.
The deputy manager of the branch emailed me without understanding my business or speaking with me. He then replied that they dont have the appetite for my business. I was very surprised as I am able to open an account with every single bank in the UK but them. I gave it a good thought and came to the sad conclusion that it wasn't the nature of my business, but my surname that was bothering him. Well I am disappointed I won't be able to bank with them as they had the perfect solutions, but I am even more disappointed that this is the persons approach. I wish them good luck as a bank and hopefully they will make account switching and opening a lot more transparent and easier in the future.

Handelsbanken are amazing.
Excellent in every way, and they are so very supportive. They are absolutely efficient and always helpful.

Handlesbsnken has to be by far and away the best bank I have ever had the pleasure of dealing with... I deal with Grant Richardson at the morpeth branch for some 11 years along with Dave Elliot, I have direct contact with grant on anything I need including his mobile number, they answer the phone every time, should they miss a call, they ring you back, no automated calls. I email them directly, they respond straight away... They are extremely accommodating. I have no issues with any of there fees they charge, to be fair, they do so much for me.. They probably don’t charge me enough, it’s like I have my own personal banker to help me out. Which I absolutely appreciate it..! without going into much detail about my personal details of my business, other banks in my experience would never be as accommodating to a client like Handlesbsnken do. That I can guarantee...! To the point, my whole family banks with them, parents, sisters, brother in law, everyone has converted to Handlesbanken, personal, business and mortgage accounts.. and we all bank with different branches as of our postcode, and everyone feels the same.. so if your in doubt about Handlesbsnken, call the Mprpeth or tynemouth branch and guarantee you’ll not want to bank with any other bank..!

Having seen them with a good rating from the FCA survey I thought I would look to see if I could move my business account to them. They fell at the first hurdle as I could find very little information on their web site to help with my decision. In this age of transparency why can you not give details of your fees? Why does my virus checker prevent me from viewing pages because the security certificate is out of date? You need to do better.

Congratulations to Colwyn Bay. I was a ‘walk-in’ on a Friday afternoon looking for advice. Tremendous service by Gareth and Deidre giving me over an hour of their time there and then, with coffee. Signposted me to the Wrexham branch after the consultation. I might not get the product but the service and professionalism was really excellent. Great to deal with grown ups in the banking sector. Thankyou

Was introduced to handelsbanken from our financial advisor in 2015 having not hearing of them. from start to ongoing have been given first rate service for what I consider a flexible low priced fee.
I could of wasted hours of my life explaining my requirements to a high street bank, but it couldn't have offered/done what handelsbanken middlesbrough branch has for me. I highly recommend them. it's best if your introduced. I suppose

Okey experience, took a lot of face to face conversations to get fund moving.

I have read some of the comments below and I was surprised, to say the least. I have been with Handelsbanken since it was referred to me in 2012. I had a need for both a personal and a business account. I was very impressed that my future account manager came to my home to go through the application process and meet me in person. This style of banking might not be for everyone as it is more traditional relationship management. My account manager (from Enfield) recognised my voice on the phone, knew my children's names and my own personal circumstances very well. I was a self-employed consultant and he helped me prepare for my first Mortgage account with them when the market found it hard to justify my income to provide one. Every year they send Xmas cards and invite us for drinks at their work function. When things got difficult financially they help our family negotiate through forbearance and steered us back to financial health. Yes, the online function has room for improvement but I have always found the team at Enfield very helpful when problems have been encountered. Also, I like that the process needs some experience, having worked in some fraudulent countries, I appreciate the levels of security that Handelsbanken requires. I have had times when funds have been stolen but they refunded the amounts and pursued the offending service on my behalf. When my account manager left a couple of years ago (to go to another branch), I was very sad, it was like losing a family member to an overseas location. However, his replacement was introduced to us on various points prior to the departure and she is just as helpful and knowledgeable about our family. Recently I took out a 10-year mortgage at a record 2.1% (when the best in the market was offering 2.4%), she was patient with us, communicating when she would be out of the office and I am very happy with this result. I can not say enough good things about the philosophy of this bank and it is sad to see such poor reviews, however, it may be down to who your Branch is and how they hire and run their team. I highly recommend the team at Enfield!

I was delighted when I first found Haldelsbanken. They’re local (High Wycombe) and I can get quick friendly help on the phone. What a change from NatWest where I had spent 6 months trying and failing to get an answer to a simple question. That’s the good news and on the phone Handelsbanken is a pleasure to deal with.

Sadly I have exchanged one set of problems for another. Had I realised how cumbersome the website is I would have looked elsewhere. I find I waste a significant amount of time on simple online tasks.

Then having changed my accountants, all I wanted was for them to be able to pay my staff online. It took weeks to discover that, because last year I spent a huge sum on marketing (which is paying dividends this year) my last year’s account naturally look awful; which apparently prevents Handelsbanken setting up online payment for salaries. The substantial increase in turnover, clearly visible on bank statements, doesn’t yet show up on year end accounts so apparently doesn’t count. I haven’t even needed to borrow money but, like their website, the Handelsbanken rules aren’t flexible enough to allow business common-sense.

Unless I see significant improvement I’ll be looking for another bank next year.

Their website says in no uncertain terms that they can open your bank account with a passport and proof of residence.

If you pitch up though, you wait in a queue of 1 person for half an hour, just to be told that you need to go apply for an ID card and come back when you have an ID card. Then after you have your ID card it will take approximately 3 weeks to open the account.

Absolutely useless waste of time! Even 3rd world banks are more efficient and have more accurate information.

Phoned our local branch with the intention of meeting with a relationship manager to discuss perhaps moving our business account to Handelsbanken. It took 2 days for someone to get back to me, but was then told that they really weren't interested in taking on a business account with less than one million pounds borrowing! Not only that, but their arrangement fee was 1.25% of borrowings annually and the interest rate was 4% so even if they were interested in our business that made it a non-starter. We have substantial assets and run £150,000 overdraft and would be a very easy account for them to run, but they only seem to want fewer customers who will make them more money so as to make their lives easier.

I've been with Handelsbanken for about eight years. I have business and personal accounts with them. I have no debt, substantial assets, and keep a very healthy cash balance in my accounts. Recently, on the advice of my new accountant, I've restructured my business as a 'group' of three companies, to better reflect the operations of the business, and protect my assets against downside risk. Handelsbanken, and my relationship manager, at my branch have been positively obstructive in this process to the extent that I am now looking for another bank. What should have been a simple matter of closing one business account and opening three new ones has become an utter waking nightmare. Endless forms, requests for information which I don't have, Looong waits for account numbers, meaningless and well rehearsed apologies. Just awful. The one thing HB are brilliant at is picking up the phone. I'll give them that. Their app is tired, their website is antediluvian and staff appear to have internalised some rubbish about being choosy who they have as customers. Well, I've chosen to jump ship. Avoid like the plague.

I was recommended Handelsbanken as a relationship bank that took the time to understand their customers and work with them. My experience was far from that.
To cut a long story short, they wanted me to refinance all my debt across to them, incur ERC fees on fixed rate products that had 6 months, 8 months and 1 year until they expire.... Err, no thanks, I will just go to another lender.

I am looking for a new business account and came across Handelsbanken via a ranking where many other customers recommended them.

However, 10 min on their website made me run for the hills: Since my business involves paying suppliers abroad and receiving payments in foreign currencies I tried hard to find their terms and conditions and their fee structure.

No such luck... instead a statement that they deliberately do not publish their fees and instead agree ***in branch*** a bundle of services at an appropriate price (no, I'm not kidding you)

This may have been good practice in the 19th century and before, but I do not appreciated being asked to waste my time sitting in branch agreeing on a "bundle of services" without the slightest inkling whether the final bundle will be within my price bracket or not.

By all means, have personal account managers, but meeting them in person should not be a compulsory first step in an age of online banking.

After searching the market for a mortgage company who would look at the bigger picture I finally discovered Handelsbanken. What a refreshing change, a proper meeting with a decision maker which was swiftly followed by a mortgage offer that exceeded my expectations in terms of interest rate. The staff at the Hull Hesslewood Hall brance were professional and friendly. The only quibble I have is that their online systems and app are somewhat dated compared to their high street rivals, and processing isn't 24/7.