Current Account Switching - Advice please...

Little_Miss_Penny_Less

Hello everyone... newbie poster here... please be gentle! I've been reading the boards for a while, and would firstly like to say thanks for all the advice and sharing that makes us the MSE community! By taking some baby steps I've managed to pay off about 2k of debt in the past two months with help from here!

Anyway... to the point... now that I am overdraft free I'd like to change my current account to something more money-wise... been with Barclays about 10 years and just never really thought about interest rates on current accounts etc... Well, after reading up on here, I'd like to go for the A&L Account, but first I have a few concerns that I though one of you lovely peeps might be able to help with...

1. My account is currently a graduate account... will there be anything to stop me changing?

2. Now I'm in a position to save, Mr Penny Less and I are thinking about saving for a deposit on our first house... Will switching banks affect any mortgage applications, or cause complications with statements etc?

3. The A&L account appears to be primarily internet banking - which I have no problem with as I mainly do this anyway... but I get the odd cheque to pay in now and again - how do you do this with A&L? Do you still have to visit a branch? My nearest is about 15 miles away...

Thanks in advance for all your help and replies...

michaels

A&L are linked with the post office so you can pay in cheques by post or drop of the cheque at a post office counter and save on the stamp - also can pay in / withdraw cash at post offices.

Not sure about how changing affects your credit rating - most applications they do ask how long with bank...

maforduk

Hi there Little Miss Penny Less,
Firstly welcome to MSE and congrats on clearing £2k in 2 months.
For your first question, there shouldn't be a problem with switching accounts that I am aware of. Is the bank free of any debts etc?
For your second question, No...as long as you have bank statements...it does not matter what bank they come from.
And lastly, Yes, you need to visit the branch. My nearest branch is about 10 miles away and I have no worries about visiting it.

Also, if you decide on the Alliance & Leicester, you may want to visit here:
Alliance & Leicester Referral List

YorkshireBoy

Little_Miss_Penny_Less wrote:

Will switching banks affect any mortgage applications, or cause complications with statements etc?

Length of time with your current account provider is important when applying for credit & mortgages - just *how* important depends on the lenders' credit scoring criteria.

So, by all means switch your main banking if you like - but if at all possible (ie, no monthly salary credits etc required), keep the old account open with a few transactions running through it.

Little_Miss_Penny_Less

Thank you both for your replies - and for the information - seems like it should be simple enough then...

Maforduk - How do I go about getting reffered? Do I apply online at the A&L website? Or do I have to be referred and then await an application form or something?

Thanks again

maforduk

I'll send you a pm with the procedures now.

Little_Miss_Penny_Less

Hi Yorkshireboy... sorry I think you replied whilst I was typing... so thank you as well... That's a good idea to keep the old one open - I guess it can't hurt to have more than one account... can it? Cor blimey! I'm just starting to realise how clueless I am when it comes to banks!

YorkshireBoy

Little_Miss_Penny_Less wrote:

Hi Yorkshireboy... sorry I think you replied whilst I was typing... so thank you as well... That's a good idea to keep the old one open - I guess it can't hurt to have more than one account... can it?

Keeping the old one open means you can write '10 years' in the box on the mortgage application form (over the first hurdle here!).

However, I suspect you will have to produce statements when you 'finalise' the mortgage, so these will obviously have to be from your new account.