Bank of Choice

Cotta

Good Afternoon All,

Following on from an interesting discussion on Danske, I was wondering what everyone's bank of choice was and why? Perhaps it may not even be an Irish bank.

I'm interested in three points, holding accounts, savings/investments and mortgages.

My account would be Halifix (Reward Account), this gives £5 per month for paying more than £750 into and it also allows me to have a £100 interest free overdraft. I find the online system very good as well.

mezza101

multiple bank accounts is the way to go and just take advantage of all thats offered :money:

tara747

Same as mezza101! I've banked everywhere to get joining bonuses of between £100 and £200, £5 a month reward, decent interest etc etc. It only takes a few minutes each month to transfer all the money around each of them.

I have:

Halifax Reward - £5 a month (used to have 3 but they caught on after 3 years and closed 2 of them - that was a handy £180 a year )
Santander 123 - 3% up to £20,000
Lloyds Vantage - 3% up to £4,000
Nationwide Flex Account - 5% up to £2,500
Santander 2-year ISA - 3% (this is where the bulk of my savings are)

I have had:

Co-operative - £100 joining bonus
Danske - £100 joining bonus
First Direct - £200 bonus for opening and then closing
Halifax current account - £100 bonus

I'm probably missing some out...

GlynD

I'm with Bank of Scotland and have been for around 20 years. They have no branches in NI that I'm aware of so I use Halifax for my local needs.

I just don't see the need to change, especially as most of my banking is done online.

wifeforlife

I do the same as others, except on the small side. I've a Halifax reward account for the free £60 a year however use Nationwide as my main account.

Bigcammy

Santander 123 account, no problems with them whatsoever

Cotta

wifeforlife wrote: »

I do the same as others, except on the small side. I've a Halifax reward account for the free £60 a year however use Nationwide as my main account.

Out of interest why/how are Nationwide your main account if you avail of the £60 p/a offer from Halifax?

jeffer

Everyone needs to bear in mind that these banks now require you to have at least 2 DDs set up as well as paying in a minimum every month. The Halifax withheld my £5 one month because one of my DD bills was zero so nothing was paid out that month.

wifeforlife

Cotta wrote: »

Out of interest why/how are Nationwide your main account if you avail of the £60 p/a offer from Halifax?

I get my salary into my nationwide account, and move money in and out of Halifax for the reward, I've 2 minimal amount direct debits to ensure I get the £5 a month.

I aim to add the likes of Santander 123 into the mix like Tara but just haven't got round to it.

Cotta

Do Nationwide offer an incentive for having your salary paid into their account?

wifeforlife wrote: »

I get my salary into my nationwide account, and move money in and out of Halifax for the reward, I've 2 minimal amount direct debits to ensure I get the £5 a month.

I aim to add the likes of Santander 123 into the mix like Tara but just haven't got round to it.

HeadAboveWater

I've got:

First Direct current account (to take advantage of the 6% on regular savings)
Halifax (for the £5)
Nationwide (for the 5% current a/c interest plus cashback c/c)
Santander (only so I can use their e-saver for one of my H d/ds)

Takes me about 3 mins to do all my transfers online when I get paid so all minimum payments in criteria is met.

Just a FYI: Halifax doesn't appear to have a problem counting my Paypal as a d/d every month