overdraft advice

xchildeharoldx

Hello all,

I'm currently £2500 overdrawn on an HSBC account. Paying roughly £25 per month debit interest on that, which i presume translates as 10% EAR (i'm easily confused by bank jargon so go easy with me).

Anyway New Year and all that so I'm planning to clear the overdraft by the end of 2011.

Now, forgive me i'm way off the mark here but looking around it seems I can open a Santander account that matches my current overdraft but with 0% EAR.

What i want to know is, am I able to to open the Santander account and immediately transfer £2500 from its overdraft facility to clear my interest accumulating HSBC overdraft? I'd then be able to set about clearing my 0% Santander overdraft without the £25 monthly charge.

Am I missing something????

Lokolo

Yes.

Santander are ****.

You can do that but I suspect you may encounter some problems. But the idea you have is good.

YorkshireBoy

Santander will want sight of your recent statement(s) in order to decide whether to match the HSBC facilities or not.

How much is credited to HSBC each month?
What's the highest balance each month?
Is the account 'ever' returned to credit?
Is the balance reducing month on month?
Any charges on there?...in addition to the debit interest?
How large is the HSBC facility, ie overdraft limit?

noh

It does depend on Santander matching your existing overdraft.
There is no guarantee that they will.
Their offer states:-
"We will match your existing overdraft (up to £5,000), depending on your circumstances"

blueberrypie

xchildeharoldx wrote: »

What i want to know is, am I able to to open the Santander account and immediately transfer £2500 from its overdraft facility to clear my interest accumulating HSBC overdraft? I'd then be able to set about clearing my 0% Santander overdraft without the £25 monthly charge.

Am I missing something????

One of Santander's requirements is that your old bank account (i.e. the one you're transferring from) must have been in credit for a minimum number of days each month prior to the transfer - so it's unlikely that they would give you an approved overdraft.

You're not the first to think of doing this.

paulmcerlean

Plus more often than not, they wont match your overdraft, or land you with a Visa Electron card.

Also, they are trouble. Stay clear.

xchildeharoldx

thanks all. Really appreciate the advice. Think I'm going to steer clear!