New account switching service - have to close old account?

michaels

Under the new switching system it seems you are generally forced to close the old account whether you want to or not. Today part way through switch we told old bank (lloyds) we don't want account to close and they said it is not in their power to keep it open if new bank requests closure.

Is this true, can the old bank not obey customer wishes to keep account open? Is there anyway to stop the new bank from closing the account?

grumbler

7-day bank switching era begins: Full Q&A

Will my old account be closed automatically?


If you switch under the seven day guarantee your old account will be automatically closed for you as part of the switching process. You'll no longer have access to it from the seventh working day of the switch.



If you want to keep your old account open, you can't switch via the new scheme. The only way to keep your old account open is to switch via a similar process to the old method. Here, it can still take up to 30 days to switch and your payments going in and out are not guaranteed to be redirected.

michaels

Thanks Grumbler

However their didn't seem to be any option to switch using the old method - indeed one of the switches started under the old method (no debit card number requested) to then get a call saying switch had failed as no debit card info provided and asking for this info so I guess it became a new method switch when the bank changed their systems after the first switch application was made.

Edit: Bare with me not bear with me if you are Halle Berry

stclair

Some banks offer a partial switching service.

I know of two off the top of my head that's Barclays and thè co op.

I'm not totally familiar with the implecations though.

EarthBoy

Don't use the switching service at all and just transfer everything yourself. You won't get any introductory bonuses from the new bank though.

Under the new switching service you have to close the old account in order for the payment redirection to work. If you could still use your old account how would your old bank know which payments to authorise and which ones to redirect to the new account?

rb10

stclair wrote: »

Some banks offer a partial switching service.

I know of two off the top of my head that's Barclays and thè co op.

I'm not totally familiar with the implecations though.

Nationwide's partial switch is outlined here:

http://www.nationwide.co.uk/current_account/switch_to_us/switch-bank-account.htm

(towards the bottom of the page, click Partial Switch)

Otherwise, if you choose to do a 'Full Switch', then your old account will be closed, regardless of what else you do.

michaels

Ah but I wanted to pocket the quidco money which was only available to switchers. They are of course all 'saving' current accounts and I am gaining 2 x 20k at 3% but don't want to lose 2 x 5k at 3% - could be worse, I could be losing some of the £5 per month ones....

brewerdave

I have an (unsubstantiated) feeling that some of the losing banks are going to get "nasty" and close the old accounts anyway - I've switched all my DDs and both our salaries away from NatWest -all thats left are a few inward payments for share dividends etc and money my daughter is repaying me, these are used to settle a NatWest credit card- I've had several messages left by NatWest to contact them - I'll no doubt find out if my suspicions are justified!!:)

anotheruser

Why not just open a new account, no switching business.
Then you can manually transfer everything over as and when you like; no rush, no "what if my salary doesn't go in" business either as you can leave it for the week/month and see if it goes in.

Archi_Bald

michaels wrote: »

Ah but I wanted to pocket the quidco money which was only available to switchers.

You could set up a new account just for the purpose of switching?

michaels

Archi_Bald wrote: »

You could set up a new account just for the purpose of switching?

Ah ha but every credit search performed needs to net a certain amount of value - I try to work on 4-6 searches a year and each should be worth at least 100 quid. Value might come from a high interest rate, stooze, cashback or an incentive. Double this for self and wife and we would hope to make 1000 a year tax free from our credit files.