Switching to A&L Premier £100 Cashback deal

Sandrock

I bank with First Direct, and am very happy with them having moved from Lloyds TSB 2 years ago.

I'm quite interested in the A&L Switching deal (£100 cashback after 3 months) and the terms and conditions state

1/ £500pcm is paid into the account - this isn't a problem
2/ We use their switching service.

I want to continue banking with First Direct but have some spare Lloyds TSB current accounts I can 'switch' from, but they don't have any active DD's as they are not used on a regular basis.

What happens if someone genuinely doesn't have any DD's?

I can provide the Lloyds TSB account details in order to switch but there will be no direct debits to bring across... will I be elegible for the £100 cashback deal?

noh

You need to switch at least 1 DD to be eligible for the £100 incentive.

If possible switch one of your existing DDs to the Lloyds account or alternatively set up a new DD on the Lloyds account. That could be done at no cost by opening say an AA or ING savings account and giving your Lloyds account as the linked account.

Sandrock

Thanks - there are three 'active' but not used direct debits set up on the account, two credit cards and an A&L Saver from years back.

Good plan.

noh

That's what I did last time I switched to A+L.
Moved an unused credit card DD to a "spare" current account and then switched that account.

Solomon_Broad

When one switches to A&L, does one have to switch ALL of the DD's from the account, or can one choose which ones get transferred?

onlypaddy

Solomon_Broad wrote: »

When one switches to A&L, does one have to switch ALL of the DD's from the account, or can one choose which ones get transferred?

It has to be all of them if you want the bonus

Askadumbquestion

A couple of slightly more general questions about these current accounts with cashback (A&L, Halifax and First direct):
1) What counts as 'salary/income' - i.e. can i just transfer-in the minimum amount from my own account at a different bank, and then directly out again on same day (and so keep balance at £0)?
2) If answer to Q1 is 'yes', what are the downsides to opening lots of accounts just to exploit the bonuses? e.g. effect of all the credit checks
3) When A&L switch the account, do they automatically close the old account or leave it open and just transfer the current balance, SOs and DDs?

I already do the merry-go-round with 3 Lloyds vantage accounts where £1000 cycles through the accounts each month, and wondering if it would benefit from flowing through these other banks...

samjef11_2

Askadumbquestion wrote: »

A couple of slightly more general questions about these current accounts with cashback (A&L, Halifax and First direct):
1) What counts as 'salary/income' - i.e. can i just transfer-in the minimum amount from my own account at a different bank, and then directly out again on same day (and so keep balance at £0)?
2) If answer to Q1 is 'yes', what are the downsides to opening lots of accounts just to exploit the bonuses? e.g. effect of all the credit checks
3) When A&L switch the account, do they automatically close the old account or leave it open and just transfer the current balance, SOs and DDs?

I already do the merry-go-round with 3 Lloyds vantage accounts where £1000 cycles through the accounts each month, and wondering if it would benefit from flowing through these other banks...

I can answer Q2 opening a lot of accounts can affect your credit file because the lender might theres money laundering and also you will have a lot of searchess.

noh

Askadumbquestion wrote: »

A couple of slightly more general questions about these current accounts with cashback (A&L, Halifax and First direct):
1) What counts as 'salary/income' - i.e. can i just transfer-in the minimum amount from my own account at a different bank, and then directly out again on same day (and so keep balance at £0)?
2) If answer to Q1 is 'yes', what are the downsides to opening lots of accounts just to exploit the bonuses? e.g. effect of all the credit checks
3) When A&L switch the account, do they automatically close the old account or leave it open and just transfer the current balance, SOs and DDs?

I already do the merry-go-round with 3 Lloyds vantage accounts where £1000 cycles through the accounts each month, and wondering if it would benefit from flowing through these other banks...

1) With A+L and Halifax yes you can just transfer in the minimum and immediately transfer it out.

2)All applications will show on your credit report. What effect that has I don't know. With 12 current accounts showing on my credit report I have not noticed any effect.

3) A+L will not close the existing account unless you instruct them to do so. They will not transfer over existing balances. Only SOs and DDs.

I have 3 Halifax Reward accounts. 3 Lloyds Vantage accounts and an A+L Premier account and cycle the minimum payment through them all.

asset2004

I opened an A&L account, they did not switch the DDs over, although managed to move my salary over.
I didn't receive the £100 offer and when I queried it I was told I'd opened the account before the incentive started. Absolute nonsense, I have since closed this account.

Solomon_Broad

Did you have another account with them previously?