Why do people have 4-5 bank accounts? with the same bank?

cherylim

I had ten accounts until recently. One was my current account, one for my petrol, one for other car costs, one for groceries, one for spending money, one for gifts, one for long-term savings, one joint account...I forget the rest.

For me, it was about money management. I had my salary coming in one account, and I designated it between all of the others and only moved it back in when I needed to pay something out. It helped me get out of debt between the years of 2007 and 2012. In January this year, I've been closing and re-designating, though I still have a few.

Now, I have a current account, a business account and a joint account, with savings elsewhere.

heloid

I use 2, one which has all my DD and SO's and my salary goes in to it. I keep the debit card in a lock box at home. The other I transfer my budgeted spend on non essentials/food which makes it simple to track my spending.

Mc_Marty

For me, having multiple accounts is about making the most out of the banks:

- 5x Santander Preferred Current Accounts ... these pay a high 5% (gross) on upto £2,500 each. Also recieved 3x £55 payments from TopCashBack for opening these.

- 1x Santander Esaver ... pays a competitive 3.1% (gross) on any amount. Opened in the Santander promotion that paid me £300 for opening and crediting this account.

- 1x Santander loyalty saver ... pays 5% (gross) on £250 monthly savings.

- 4x Halifax reward accounts ... each pays a free £5 per month. Also recieved several £ payments from TopCashBack for opening these.

- 1x Co-op current account ... unused account opened to get the free £200, need to close this.

1x Lloyds current account ... my main default bank account that i don't mess about with.

... having numerous bank accounts does mean you have to be organised with all the paper work, but over the last 18 months i would say this stategy has earned me £1200+ of free money (includes other bank rewards i haven't included) and a better than average interest return for my savings.

I think quite a few people on this site do similar things, also with cashback credit card accounts as well. It was on MSE that i realised that this could be done.

coldcazzie

FD jt acc: main bank account - bills etc
Santander jt acc: spare jt account
Santander eSaver: our rainy day savings
Santander eSaver: my pot for putting money in for my hobby, so it's seperate from our monthly budget and I don't go overboard buying stuff we can't afford
FD regular saver: this is our saving pot that we put £300 into each month
12-13 ISA: long term savings
2x FD eSavers: pots for specific budgets: gifts and clothing (in Aug this will increase to 4, the other two for bike expenses and pet expenses)

So yes, they all have reasons for being, except perhaps the "spare" current account. I've considered closing it, but I'm not sure, and I won't close it until I'm sure I won't need it. At the moment there are 2 possible uses for it, and I also haven't discounted the possibility that we may change back to it at some point.
I find having specific separate budgets for clothing, gifts etc means that I don't resent buying things, or panic about whether we can afford it. There are standing orders set up so that money is transferred to those pots on payday.

Sharon87

I have 4 accounts with Halifax

1 Easycash account, my first bank account I opened when I was about 12, which rarely gets used anymore, but good to have a Visa Electron card if I ever go on a budget airline.

Halifax current account, which they convinced me to have at uni, now it's used for my shared house account and is converted in a Reward account

2nd Halifax Reward account. I opened this before it was a reward account, it was a High Interest account, and used it in my previous house share, as the house account. Now I service it to get the fiver.

Also a savings account I don't use anymore, as the interest rate used to be good.


I have 3 accounts with HSBC as well. My current account, which was my student account, an ISA and a savings account

Jennifer_Jane

Mc_Marty wrote: »

For me, having multiple accounts is about making the most out of the banks:

- 5x Santander Preferred Current Accounts ... these pay a high 5% (gross) on upto £2,500 each. Also recieved 3x £55 payments from TopCashBack for opening these.

- 1x Santander Esaver ... pays a competitive 3.1% (gross) on any amount. Opened in the Santander promotion that paid me £300 for opening and crediting this account.

- 1x Santander loyalty saver ... pays 5% (gross) on £250 monthly savings.

- 4x Halifax reward accounts ... each pays a free £5 per month. Also recieved several £ payments from TopCashBack for opening these.

- 1x Co-op current account ... unused account opened to get the free £200, need to close this.

1x Lloyds current account ... my main default bank account that i don't mess about with.

... having numerous bank accounts does mean you have to be organised with all the paper work, but over the last 18 months i would say this stategy has earned me £1200+ of free money (includes other bank rewards i haven't included) and a better than average interest return for my savings.

I think quite a few people on this site do similar things, also with cashback credit card accounts as well. It was on MSE that i realised that this could be done.

Do you think it's stil possible to do this with Santander. I've got one account with them and thought it would not be possible to open another, especially via TCB, in my name.

Thanks

GooliesOfFire

I've got only 2 current accounts and 1 savings account.

I don't bother with any ISAs and high interest savings accounts as most of the money goes towards mortgage overpayments.

I like it simple and tidy. I cannot be bothered to open many accounts and then move money between them for some benefits. It's so much hassle lol

Gonzo33

We have:

1 Joint for salaries & bills
1 Joint Savings for Birthdays/Christmas/Car & House Repairs
2 ISA's (one in each of our name)
1 Joint Savings for money that we save over the ISA threshold for us both in a year that goes towards house purchase
1 Sole account each for our 'private' monies to buy sundries.

skaterboy

I just have the one account, Coutts & Co.

They are not impacted by the issues of their parent company RBS!

Eponym

Santander Preferred Current Account (5% interest up to £2500) - this is my main current account. I opened it earlier this year partly for the interest and partly because Santander offered £100 cashback if you opened it. I did it through Top Cashback and have just had £75 cashback from them for it.

I will keep this for the year until the interest drops. I am going to wait until the total gets to £2500 then funnel the extra into my ISA.

Halifax Reward current account (£5 per month) - used to be my main account until I opened the Santander but I keep it for the free fivers and to use once the Santander rate drops. Put a few transactions through it to show some semblance of use. I keep £1 in it most of the time.

Lloyds TSB Vantage Classic Current Account - I opened this last year as a savings account as it offered a really good rate but it doesn't fit my needs anymore. Keeping it for now purely because it has a Visa debit card so I can use it during the Olympics and I entered some of their competitions for Olympics tickets which require you to have a LTSB account if you win. £1 in here but cycle the £1000 every month to comply with T+Cs.

Halifax Web Saver Reward - interest rate has dropped, must close this. Only £1 in it.

Halifax Direct Reward ISA (3%) - I keep £5000 in this to be eligible for the prize draw.

Santander ISA (3.3%) - for the rest of my ISA money.

Santander First Home Saver (5%) - regular saver to build up funds for a house depost. Accepts £300 per month and is a better rate than anything except my Santander current.