Is it worth the hassle of switching all my DD's?

AFK_Matrix

Hi,

I have a Santander current account which I got because of their 5% bonus. Now this has come to an end and I am opening a First Direct current account so I can get their 8% regular savers account.

Now to waive the FD £10 fee on the current account I can just open up a savings acount with them instead of having to transfer my salary. So I can keep everything as is with the Santander, so my salary is paid here and my DD's are taken from Santander.

But I hear people saying Santander is rubbish etc, although I have had no problems in the year I have had the current account. And I know FD are considered the best.

SO would you switch your salary and DD's from Santander to FD, with all the hassle that goes with it?

dr_adidas01

Nah its not worth the hassle!!!

Only joking its entirely up to you if you can be bothered doing it, if your happy with the way things are then leave it alone.

As they say if it isn't broke, don't fix it!!!

innovate

The only reason to switch TWO DDs to First Direct is so you can get the £100 joining incentive. You will then also have to deposit £1.5K a month for at least 6 months. If you do not want the joining incentive, there's no need for any of this.

If I were you, I would

1. upgrade my Santander account to a 123. This is painfree - call santander and they do it there and then. No change in account number, card etc
2. set up FD Current account, Regular Saver and Savings account
3. ask FD to move 2 DDs - tell them exactly which ones (may be set a couple of new ones up specifically for this purpose). Specifically ask them NOT to close your Santander account.
4. cycle 1.5K between Santander and FD for 6 months
5. collect the 123 cashback, and any interest you might be eligible for
6. collect the £100 FD signup bonus
7. collect the interest from the FD Reg Saver
   

AFK_Matrix

Unfortunetely I can't get the £100 incentive as I have previously had an FD account

But I will upgrade to a 123 account actually as I was going to leave £500 in the santander as a just in case fund. And I can also get the cashback which is around £3-4 pound a month, every little helps lol.

ses6jwg

What do you need from a bank?

If you are someone who regularly needs to speak to people and not particularly bothered by branch access then First Direct is good.

Personally I think a lot of people go with First Direct now just for the snob factor. Let's face it most of their products are pretty uncompetitive.

I use my current account to pay bills and take cash out. I've never had to use telephone banking in 2 1/2 years.

Gromitt

ses6jwg wrote: »

Personally I think a lot of people go with First Direct now just for the snob factor. Let's face it most of their products are pretty uncompetitive.

I joined First Direct about 15 years ago. My salary is paid there and I can't be bothered to move it. One day a month it has my salary in, the rest of the month it contains about £100 (well, it contains about £400 for about a week for the RS SO).

exel1966

AFK_Matrix wrote: »

Unfortunetely I can't get the £100 incentive as I have previously had an FD account

But I will upgrade to a 123 account actually as I was going to leave £500 in the santander as a just in case fund. And I can also get the cashback which is around £3-4 pound a month, every little helps lol.

If it were me I wouldn't upgrade, but instead open a NEW 123 account via Quidco and get yourself £55 cashback. Then once you've been paid call Santander and ask them to switch any DD's/SO's and then if you want, close the old account.
Easy money for doing V little. I've earnt 3 x £55 from Santander/Quidco on my accounts.

ses6jwg

exel1966 wrote: »

If it were me I wouldn't upgrade, but instead open a NEW 123 account via Quidco and get yourself £55 cashback. Then once you've been paid call Santander and ask them to switch any DD's/SO's and then if you want, close the old account.
Easy money for doing V little. I've earnt 3 x £55 from Santander/Quidco on my accounts.

If your direct debits are on a Santander account already you can't ask Santander to move them, you have to call the companies individually to do it.

You can ask Santander to move standing orders.

AFK_Matrix

Surely they will see that I already have a current account with them so will just want to upgrade it? Can you insist that they open a new 123 account anyway?

ses6jwg

AFK_Matrix wrote: »

Surely they will see that I already have a current account with them so will just want to upgrade it? Can you insist that they open a new 123 account anyway?

Upgrade you retain your existing sort code and account number and all dds are unaffected

open a new account you get new numbers and must manually move everything

AFK_Matrix

So to manually transfer DD's do you just write to or ring the companies?