Best joint account to pay minor bills?

HarpoonJoe

Hi

Me and my partner have been living together for just over a year now and are considering setting up a joint bank account we can use to collect money for general day to day shopping payments etc.

We're probably only looking at paying in about £200 per month so don't qualify for any of these special "introductory offers" that some banks are offering.

In general I'm looking for something simple with good service (online banking a bonus) and perhaps a small interest free overdraft in case we dip into the red on occasion.

Oh, and just to be awkward we're looking at avoiding Alliance and Leicester and Natwest as we both have our own accounts with them and I imagine multiple accounts with the same bank is just asking for trouble while paying for something with the wrong card.

Any recommendations?

Thanks

tabby_cats_mum

Why don't you pay enough money into the account to get some sort of reward ( e.g. £5 a month off Halifax if you credit over £1000 a month) and then just transfer the money back out to your other accounts. Easy enough to do if you can access your accounts online. I have three current accounts and move money between them all the time.

sharpee

My partner and I have just opened a joint account with Smile. Only reason behind it was I am already with Smile and should we need funds putting into the account quickly the transfers between Smile accounts are instantaneous, :jplus I will probably be the one sorting out the bills.

But I find them and their website really easy to use. Plus when I need to call them I always get straight through and its a UK Call centre, which is a rarity these days:)

tabby_cats_mum

If you are wanting to shift money between accounts one thing to take into consideration is the faster payments scheme. My OH pays the house keeping into our Halifax account, I can transfer the money to other bank accounts and it's almost instantaneous. Nationwide have just improved dramatically and upped their FP amounts which is useful but the one quibble I have with Smile is that any transfers to other banks tend to take a few days.