Multiple Bank A/C Saving Scheme

It's not hard really.
1) Find the accounts you want to use
2) Read the T&Cs to confirm that you can meet them
3) open each account and put some funds in it (you MAY be able to use switching services and get some rewards from that - I didn't)
4) create the direct debits required of each account's T&C (use Tesco accounts in the same name if you need more DDs)
5a) set up standing orders to move the required funding round in circles using a date which is certain to fall into the account's month
OR
5b) every month take an hour or so to log on to each account in turn and move money from account to account
6) if interest gets added that takes you over the maximum that pays interest move it into an account that is not full each month


Things to watch out for...
How much needs to be deposited in each account each period
Generally the funding needs to come from an account with a different bank or from an account in a different name
Some accounts use a calendar month for the period, some from the 2nd of this month to the 1st of next month, some use the account opening date as the anniversary date.


My "chain" is something like this... there are 7 accounts with 4 banks that have some benefit but need funds adding each month


15th £1000 T(1) > T(2)
15th £1000 T(2) > T(1)
20th £1500 C(1) > H(1)
25th £500 H(1) > S(1)
25th £500 H(1) > S(2)
25th £500 H(1) > S(3)
25th £500 S(1) > N(1)




So basically £100 bounces between two accounts in the same bank and £1500 passes from bank C to H and then on to three accounts with bank S then £500 passing onto a bank N. One of the accounts in bank S has most of the household's direct debits (for cashback). A fair chunk of the £1500 is new savings for me but if that was not the case then there would be additional transfers to get the £1500 back to bank C in time to start the circuit.

Here is my ''flowchart' or scheme. In this machine on average I usually have 70-80k in cash at about 3.5% pa. This forms part of the 40% of my 60:40 portfolio that is non-equity, other parts of the 40% being P2P (returning 10%pa), corporate bonds (5%pa), and lower interest/risk cash/bonds (2%pa).

The numbers in brackets are the day of the month for monthly SOs, but usually all my SO's are 4 weekly on a Wednesday. I do none manually. I scoop up the interest 4 weekly as well. Pink is replenishment and monthly savers. Blue are the Ts&Cs SO's. Purple DDs. Green interest movers. Probably takes me at most 30 min a month to administer.

I recently reduced savings in Santander 123 from 40k to 30k and will reduce this to 20k soon due to fee rise. I'm considering reducing the Instant Access pot to 30-40k. I'll soon collect more cashback from TSB. I used to have a lot more with 5 Lloyds Vantage etc and its entirely possible with a spouse to have 100k+ earning 3%+.

Mine has grown organically, I suppose most people's have, and if starting from scratch may have done it differently. I haven't looked, but reckon I'd have had 75+ accounts in the last 10 years.

Everyone has different needs on how much cash they should/need to hold and your circumstances will differ, hence there is no template to simply copy.

I don't show joint accounts here.



The strategy I'd suggest is
* Open accounts in the order of best return (after fees), with little or no consideration of what the bank is or who you currently bank with.
* Open accounts to exploit current switching bonuses
* Don't bother waiting too long between opening accounts at the same bank. Personally, I start to open the 2nd+ account as soon as I receive the first piece of paperwork for the 1st, but others do them totally in parallel or serial.
* Create a few donors to begin if you have none.
* Set up cashback DDs in the order of best return
* Use Tesco accounts for direct debit requirements where you have no bills. Use £1 DDs.
* Do it all with SO's not manually.
* Set them all to move 4 weekly rather than monthly, to avoid weekends.
* Set them to happen on a Wednesday, to avoid Public Holidays (next Wednesday PH is Boxing Day 2018)
* Keep track and check occasionally on success. I use MoneyWiz on Mac/iOS to keep track and have replicated the scheduled transactions there to reconcile occasionally. Also allows me to reconcile annual Interest Summaries.
* Keep an eye out for new accounts and exploit them
* Don't be afraid of Regular Savers, they can boost returns.
* Keep some donors around for Switching Bonuses. I use Natwest for Donors usually.
* Keep your stack of debit cards in a drawer/safe, but change them to a memorable PIN or note the PIN in a password keeping app, and always activate them.
* Keep bank login details in a safe app (like 1Password) and keep credentials different.
* First time you login to each account set up paperless statements.
* Know which accounts you can raid in emergency without disturbing your machine too much.
* Only use FSCS protected institutions.
* If you have enough to fill all the high rate accounts, make the final account a Funnel, you should be able to maintain a funnel at about 1.3%+ pa interest.
* Resist any concept of loyalty or favourite bank or account. They are just ledgers and you are just lending to a bank.

My friends think I'm crazy and have OCD, but I'm earning £2500+ gross per annum from basic bank accounts and they're earning next to nothing.

I trust that answers your question.

quality work by TheTracker:D
i have 15 current accounts, and use 12 or so in a monthly 'round robin' system to satisfy the criteria i need for interest, rewards and fee avoidance. it's not difficult, just requires a bit of logical thinking and organisation.