Advice needed on playing the banks

neomagik

I think I've made a slip up.

After reclaiming about £800 about 5 years ago with the unlawful bank charges saga I decided to leave the bank in question. (Halifax)

I opened a current account with Alliance and Leicester and enjoyed the £100 incentive bonus for joining.

I then saw that First direct were doing a similar deal with the added bonus that if you weren't entirely satisfied after 6 months you could leave and they would pay a further £100.

With the full intention of doing this and then going back to Santander I could bag another £100 giving me a sweet total of £400 just for switching bank accounts.

Since I closed the A&L account 6 months ago, I stupidly (I could kick myself) opened an easy access savings account with Santander so now I cannot be classed as a new customer (I checked this with them) and therefore cannot collect £100 for opening a new account.

I'm still with First Direct and am now eligable to leave for £100 but I need another current account with a good joining incentive. I already hold an account with Natwest so I was thinking about RBS with their 2% casback on purchases deal.

Am I right in saying that a direct debit/standing order qualifies as a purchase otherwise this is not for me???

I don't care about customer service. I never go overdrawn and rarely need to call or visit a bank. The only tool I rely on is an internet banking facility.

Can anyone recommend another incentive account as I love playing the banks like this. After all I'm just another number to them!!!

rb10

neomagik wrote: »

Am I right in saying that a direct debit/standing order qualifies as a purchase otherwise this is not for me???

No, a DD or Standing Order would not count as a purchase.

It is only for transactions that you do using your debit card.

muh3

next could be back to Halifax, reward current account, they pay you 5£ a month if you pay in 1000£ each month.

You can have one account on your own and one shared, making it 10£ a month.

If you use their switching service, transfer two DD or Standing Orders and do it in branch they pay you another 50£.

neomagik

rb10 wrote: »

No, a DD or Standing Order would not count as a purchase.

It is only for transactions that you do using your debit card.

Thanks rb10. I won't be opening an account with them then.

neomagik

muh3 wrote: »

next could be back to Halifax, reward current account, they pay you 5£ a month if you pay in 1000£ each month.

You can have one account on your own and one shared, making it 10£ a month.

If you use their switching service, transfer two DD or Standing Orders and do it in branch they pay you another 50£.

Thanks muh3, this is looking favourable at the moment.

Any other current accounts with added perks before I make the move?