Swapping current account - is it worth the pain?

DawnW · 9 February 2010 at 7:53AM

my experience was similar to that of Newly Retired above. I switched some years ago, and had no problems with direct debits etc. Just kept the old account open till everything was in place.

missile · 9 February 2010 at 11:25AM

handsy wrote: »

Infact is it even a pain swapping nowadays?
Saw that A&L are offering a £100 bonus for moving accounts, and they have a Premier Transfer service too.

Anyone have any experience of this?

I did and regretted it.

They messed up my application, I could not access accounts on line and never did get the £100.

WEALTH WARNING, CHECK THE SMALL PRINT FOR A+L CHARGES :eek:

ajharris · 9 February 2010 at 12:45PM

Red_Ant wrote: »

I've had bad experiences with both A&L and HSBC. HSBC were insistent that they don't allow dual current accounts to stop people overstretching themselves with two overdrafts - and thus wanted a commitment the original account would be closed by their switching service. They did not understand that some people have "nominated bank accounts" set up for their savings accounts, and these won't be sorted by a switching service. A&L was a tale of dreadful customer service.

I have two current accounts with HSBC and have never had any problems with them, in fact their service has been first class. I also have a Nationwide flex account too for overseas usage.

Generally speaking too many people are proccupied with the initial bonus. People should be looking at the level of service which they wil be afforeded in the long run. Fifty or one hundred pounds landing on your lap sounds nice but if the service is bad thereafter is you will soon be wondering if the bonus was worthwhile.

ajharris · 9 February 2010 at 12:49PM

handsy wrote: »

Infact is it even a pain swapping nowadays?
Saw that A&L are offering a £100 bonus for moving accounts, and they have a Premier Transfer service too.

Anyone have any experience of this?

You are right in what you say, swapping is not a pain. From what I hear and read A+L are one big pain. Do not be enticed bythe bonuses which they offer in the first instance. Read theses forums and you will soon see that these people are a bunch of clowns. To make a bad situation worse the dreaded Santander now have their hands on the A+L.

I along with many others on this forum say HSBC/First direct all day long.

ajharris · 9 February 2010 at 12:51PM

G_M wrote: »

Another of the many reasons to do the switch yourself!

I could not agree with you more.:beer:

ajharris · 9 February 2010 at 1:01PM

G_M wrote: »

The hastle involved, and risk of c*ck-ups on direct debits, salary etc is not worth the £100 bonus in my view. Use savings accounts to earn money. Use current account for its facilities.

Having said that I recently moved from N/wide to Natwest, but mainly as I was fed up with the repeated, and ongoing, missed dates for launching Faster Payments.

My advice is not to rely on in-house switching services. Make a list yourself of DDs, SOs, salary payments, linked accounts and then DIY, ticking them off as you go. Many can be done in a day by phone or online. Some you need to write to. And yes, keep the old account open for a while just in case.

I agree with you totaly. I switched from Nationwide to HSBC for exactly the same reason. I was patient and kept waiting for Nationwide to introduce faster payments. Numerous launch dates came and went. I would on ocassions phone up and ask when FP would arrive and would get the same bull**** line 'We are experimenting with a few accounts and just watching to see how things go'. Did they spin you this line too?

This literaly translates as 'We are behind with the times and are totally clueless and do not hold your breath for FP' :rotfl::think::think:

Finally in September 2008 my patience ran out so I made HSBC my main ac!!!!. Still to this day Nationwide do not have FP or weekly standing orders. what a bunch of clowns.

In my opinion any institution not offering fast pay cannot be taken seriously.

DeeDeeinDooDoo · 9 February 2010 at 1:06PM

Hi

I have had problems with Alliance & Leicester. I have received a letter this morning saying you are not getting the £100 because I did not pay in any money within 11 weeks of opening. I had a letter from them dated 5th Jan saying great your account is open - enjoy! I paid in £1000 on 29th Jan thinking it is within month. We are self employed so dont have wages or SO set up for salary.

I have phoned to say I'm not happy and they have been repetitive and said Tuff.

The switchover was not smooth or complete and some of my DD are still on old account and have taken two months payments out for this month!

Will now go throught the laborious task of switching back.

I would have to be very desperate for cash before I ever switch a bank account again just for the cash incentive.:(

kazgemmill · 9 February 2010 at 1:30PM

I've had the same prob with A&L, messed up 3 direct debits, instead of being in the blk im now in my OD, sorting out my own DDs & paying bills later than normal. It's the worst thing I've done. As soon as I'm sorted nxt mth I'm moving to Natwest.... but Im doing it all MYSELF. I'm not trusting any switching team again.

Totton · 9 February 2010 at 7:12PM

I recently moved to NatWest from A&L also, having previously had a nightmare with Barclays I moved the DD's myself on the phone one morning, much easier and nice to talk to people. All DD's transferred smoothly plus all sent me a letter within a few days that confirmed the details agreed on the phone. I recommend moving accounts and doing the DD's manually, a lot easier than relying on the banks to sort it out.

snowcat53 · 10 February 2010 at 3:26PM

I agree A&L are poor.

However I would recommnend the First Direct offer of 100 to switch and 100 if after 6m you close it . I suggest switching an old dormant account if you have one (I did - it had no DDs or SOs on it) and this was not a problem to FD.

You don't have to pay salary in but you do have to pay in at least 1500 pcm for 3m (but you can take it out again!) They paid the 100 quid promptly as promised - early in fact after i wrongly thought they were
overdue and i hassled them on the phone!
Keep paying in the 1500 after 3m until you close or you'll get stung by a fee

Swapping current account - is it worth the pain?

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