Current Accounts

TheEffect

I'm 17 and have three current accounts. Barclays, Lloyds and A&L. I opened a Barclays account when I was very young (6/7), however when I started getting money go into my account regually (When I turned 16), I changed to Lloyds, as I liked what they had to offer (Save the change, better customer service, 24/7 support etc). I opened A&L a few months ago for the £50 cashback, which I have no received.

Now I'm deciding what to close and what to keep open. I'm definitely closing A&L, as the few months I used them, they were terrible. I'm going to keep Lloyds under 19's account, as I've found them to be a great bank, so I'm just wondering whether to keep the Barclays account open or not.... would it be a good idea to keep it open to use when I apply for credit when I'm 18?.

username

I would keep all of them open, keeping accounts open is (apparently) a good sign of stability, because you aren't opening and closing all the time.

JimmyTheWig

As long as there is no cost and no funding requirement then I see no reason to close it.
The longer you have been with a bank the better in terms of credit purposes, but that's only really true if it's your main bank.

Also convenient to have two banks to pay cheques in to if you are near one of them but not the other. You can then move the money with internet banking if need-be.

TheEffect

Just closed Alliance and Leicester. The lady on the phone advised me this was the best current account on the market and that when I turn 18, I could ring them back and they'd give me some great offers.

Err, No, I want to CLOSE the account please.

Just Barclays and Lloyds left. Think I'm going to leave the Barclays account open for now.

jonesMUFCforever

None of your accounts will do anything for your credit rating because you are a minor and the accounts will be coded by the banks to show this.
As soon as you are 18 then ask LTSB to convert the account to an adult type - although this will mean you lose the credit interest rate.

Then you start to build up a credit rating.

TomasJayy

haha ive dome the same as you mate,
im 17 and had 3 accounts,
my main one was Natwest,
and i opened one's with Lloyds & Barclays,
but Natwest were boring and crap like A&L to you,
so i closed that, and had Lloyds as my main bank,
but i closed the Barclays aswell as i didnt need it,
and didnt want the hassle of stupid CC's offers when i turn 18.
so u only need one bank, simple.
but i will admit ive got savings with 2 other banks lol.