Best Current Accounts Discussion Area

lgs6753

I have a current account that requires me to pay in more than my current earnings per month. So I make a withdrawal then pay it back in. It works.
Chris

koru

Martin

Sorry, I didn't mean that to sound like an attack. I just meant to say that perhaps there is another contender that would be a good option for some people.

I'm not sure why you say IF is not a current account. It is called a current account and it does pretty much everything a current account does (without a branch network). For the last 4 years this has been my only current account, so if there is anything it does not do, I, for one, don't need it.

I guess it is a personal decision about how much you want to monitor your account, shifting money around so you don't go overdrawn but don't leave too much sitting in credit in your low interest current account. I value the convenience of not having to worry too much about this. Every so often I move a chunk into or out of my ING savings account, to maximise interest, but as there is only 0.25% interest differential it doesn't matter if I forget for a month.

As for the joining incentives, perhaps it depends how often you are willing to move current accounts. As IF pays an extra 0.75%, if your average balance was £3,500 you would make more than £50 extra interest in less than 2 years, compared with the LloydsTSB account. I don't want to be shifting my current account every year. I realise that not everyone is well-off enough to have an average balance that high, and maybe some well-off people are well organised enough that they shift cash to and from a savings account, keeping their current account at bare minimums. But I think there will be many for whom IF is a good combination of convenience and good rates.

koru

Having just posted about IF Bank, I have now read that they are about to cease giving the same rate on the current account as the savings account. They haven't written to tell me yet, but presumably they will do so shortly.

The new current account will pay only 2.75%. It will do offsets with a mortgage, but I have never had a mortgage with them as their mortgage rates are not the best.

So their new package will be a mediocre current account, mediocre savings account and mediocre mortgage.

Looks like I will be following your advice after all, Martin!

Jim02

One thing Martin's article doesn't mention is that to qualify for the whole 50 quid, you also need to successfully apply for and use their credit card too.

That's what their website says, anyway!

kes74

It isn't huge but Cahoot have a permanent £250 interest-free overdraft facility on their current account offering should not be forgotten.

I've found this very handy as it allows me to keep my balance as close as possible to £0 (so that I'm maximising what I have in my savings account), knowing that if I need to draw a couple of hundred at the drop of a hat then I won't be hit for fees or interest.

francis

I am very new to all this so any help would be great!
I want to stop using my NatWest current account (I have £1600 overdraft) and transfer everything to the A&L Premier Current Account. Is it possible to transfer this overdraft or do I have to pay that off separately?
Thanks

Chadsman

It depends on the T&Cs of A&Ls offer. Assuming you qualify for their 'Premier Current Account' then I dont see why not.
If I were doing it I would open the A&L account and write myself a cheque to be paid into the NatWest ac which 'may' be quicker and you know you are not having to rely on someone else typing in the correct numbers... but make sure they give you a big enough overdraft before you write a chque for the full amount.
HTH
Chad.

koru

francis wrote:

I am very new to all this so any help would be great!
I want to stop using my NatWest current account (I have £1600 overdraft) and transfer everything to the A&L Premier Current Account. Is it possible to transfer this overdraft or do I have to pay that off separately?
Thanks

If you are new to this, then you may not be aware that you can use a 0% credit card to pay off your overdraft and pay no interest. Check out some of Martin's tips on balance transfers in the credit cards section. Unless you have dire credit rating, you should get at least a £1600 credit limit. Try a card like Virgin, which is 0% for 9 months, and does not charge for balance transfers.

Dot

Martin said "Lloyds TSB is better, as A&L only pays the 5% on the first £2,500, while it pays 4% on the first £5000, for the real big hitters. Citibank Direct* (minimum annual income £15k) pays 4.5% on everything in the account although it has no overdraft facility."

True, except if you move any monies over £2,500 into A&L Plus Saver account it will earn 4.5%.

koru

Dot wrote:

True, except if you move any monies over £2,500 into A&L Plus Saver account it will earn 4.5%.

It depends how often you want to have to monitor your account to make sure you stay between £2500 and £0. For a high earner who starts the month with more than £2500 balance, they may not have time to transfer the excess, then keep checking to make sure that they transfer back to the current account before expenditure during the month takes them overdrawn.

If you ARE going to move your cash to a savings account, why not move it to the A&L Online Saver account, which pays 5.35%.