Forget the incentive

Bloomberg

As we all know there are some banks which offer switching incentives. I get the distinct impression that there are many people who factor this into their decision of which bank they should choose to go with. We all want something for nothing so of course it is nice if £100 lands on your lap.

In my opinion if you are looking to change banks the switching incentive should not even come into the equation. The important thing is service, both in branch and on line. You also need to ask if there any additional services which you may benefit from. If you find a bank which you feel ticks all the boxes then choose that one. If they offer a switching incentive that is a bonus.

I believe that Santander offer a £100 switching incentive, does a one off payment of this amount warrant years of bad service and endless frustration? I personally think not, it would be interesting to know what other readers think.

hugheskevi

Agree 100% - I would not consider any joining incentives when deciding where to have my primary current account.

Most accounts are all quite similar if you use the account normally, don't have an overdraft, don't ever go overdrawn, etc. The one thing which does seem to differentiate banks signficantly is their approach to Faster Payments.

I see the main point of a current account being as a central point, where a lot of money passes through on its way to other places. As such, I value Faster Payments a lot and my primary current account is at the bank which has the best arrangements for that, even though there are no other account 'perks.'

I do find having at least one other current account with a Standing Order and a Direct Debit on it can be quite useful to 'switch' however

missile

We all like something for nothing but IMHO, £100 is hardly worth the effort to switch.

Do not close your account with bank A. Then you can always switch back again if you wish to.

Bloomberg

hugheskevi wrote: »

Agree 100% - I would not consider any joining incentives when deciding where to have my primary current account.

Most accounts are all quite similar if you use the account normally, don't have an overdraft, don't ever go overdrawn, etc. The one thing which does seem to differentiate banks signficantly is their approach to Faster Payments.

I see the main point of a current account being as a central point, where a lot of money passes through on its way to other places. As such, I value Faster Payments a lot and my primary current account is at the bank which has the best arrangements for that, even though there are no other account 'perks.'

I do find having at least one other current account with a Standing Order and a Direct Debit on it can be quite useful to 'switch' however

I think that the implementation of Faster Payments really did sort out the wheat from the chaff.

First Direct/HSBC's Faster Payments implementation was on time, Nationwide's was woeful with countless launch dates being missed. I rest my case.