Advice on opening a new bank account

smiler34

I currently have a £900 overdraft which I use every month. I am slowly trying to pay this off, I think I should be able to take at least £100 p/m off it so it should be gone in 9 months. I am currently with the halifax who are charging me about £6.00 p/m interest on my overdraft. Just wondered if it would be a good idea to switch accounts to the alliance and leicester premier direct current account which is currently offering an interest free overdraft for the first 12 months, by which time I should have paid off my overdraft.

Thanks

onedayiwill

Hi Smiler,

That was exactly the reason I switched to A&L - to avoid paying interest on my OD which I had with Smile.

As it turned out, I managed to clear my £1200 overdraft with Smile within one month - before everything had switched over - and didn't need the matched 0% overdraft that A&L offered me.

But I have still continued with the switch because A&L also offer a good interest rate on positive balances. I am happy I switched.

smiler34

Thanks so much for the advice. Can I ask if you had any problems with them switching over your direct debits etc?

helping_hubby

Sounds like a good idea. Don't let the 0% stop you from trying to clear the overdraft though.

Also, are you aware that Quidco have a £50 cashback offer on opening with A&L?

onedayiwill

Nope, no difficulty switching at all. Use the A&L switching service and they do everything for you.

And as helping_hubby said, use Quidco to get the £50 (I forgot ... duh! ... and kicked myself immediately afterwards)!