How do i satisfy bank salary transfer criteria to maximise interest?

coventrian

Hello anyone! I am after advise on setting a bank account up to maximise the interest on my money.Can i & how do i set up an account to transfer money into & out of account to get better interest. I am told i can set up acc & transfer money in as a salary, & then transfer the money back & forth. Thanks.:)

R34GTT

Just set up an instant access savings account with your bank if it's interest rate is decent, otherwise switch to a bank with a better deal.

Transfer money in and out of the instant access savings account as and when needed.

Some banks offer a sweep service to move your money automatically to a savings account on a specific date while leaving in a specified mininum balance in your current account.

Santander have a 5% interest current account but their customer service has a bad rep.

Otherwise take your pick of the bank accounts offering the best deals on instant access savings.

coventrian

Thanks,that's what i hope to do. Do you know if it's illegal to satisfy the acc criteria by transfering my own money in & out as a salary?.This way, technically, my savings earn more. but was worried as the bank would only see the sender as another bank.Because i'm a contractor, and laid off untill after christmas, i don't have a job at present.

Loughton_Monkey

Read the Terms and Conditions. Most of the time, all they require is that you pay, say, £1,000 a month into the account. This is often assumed to be your salary, but doesn't have to be.

R34GTT

From my own experience both Halifax and First Direct accept bank transfers as a way to meet their minimum funding criteria.

Halifax also have the reward account, £5 a month reward as long as £1000 goes in each month (you can transfer it out again easily). Many MSE'ers do this. Also Halifax have some of the best savings accounts and ISA deals at the moment especially for their current account holders.

maximise

All good advice. R34GTT that's good to know that First Direct also accept bank transfers in, it wasn't clear to me on their website as to whether it had to be salary or just transfers.

Also coventrian, you can also open a Lloyds TSB Current Account with Vantage for 4% when credited with £1k monthly.

Mikeyorks

coventrian wrote: »

Can i & how do i set up an account to transfer money into & out of account to get better interest.

I trust that's the way you have worded it - rather than a complete misunderstanding on your part?

Interest is paid on the daily balance in an account ....... so moving money in and out can only reduce the interest. No account pays interest based purely on the total credits ..... always on the net figure

The mechanisms you - and others - are describing are only of use where you need to satisfy a monthly minimum funding ... in order eg to continue to receive the same band of interest on a Lloyds TSB account