Changing Banks?

jaggerc1

I am currently with Barclays and have been from my very first bank account aged 16/18.
I also have a credit card with Barclays which gets paid every month in full.

I have been meaning to change for a while now and i'm just getting around to it.
I would like some advice if possible please.

Santander

I have looked into Santander 123 account and work out i can get around £58 per year (includes £2 deduction of account fee)
There credit card would be no good to me.

First Direct account and savings and Halifax reward account are the others i have looked at.

note: I do get over £750 per month for the halifax account but not £1000 per month for the first direct one, however I do have money in savings to top this up.

extra info: i live with my parents and pay them a small amount for rent and my out goings are usually pretty small so i save what i can.

I think my choice is between Halifax and First Direct.
I have a few questions

1) How easy is it to transfer money from an account with different banks?

2) Do I need to switch credit cards as well?

I would be very grateful for any advice, comments or general feed back and experience in switching banks or the above banks.

grumbler

jaggerc1 wrote: »

...
I have looked into Santander 123 account and work out i can get around £58 per year (includes £2 deduction of account fee)
There credit card would be no good to me.

There is no point in having all financial products with the same bank.

note: I do get over £750 per month for the halifax account but not £1000 per month for the first direct one, however I do have money in savings to top this up.

Usually the minimum monthly credit doesn't necessarily have to be your salary. Many people simply 'recycle' money by bank transfers from/to other bank accounts.

1) How easy is it to transfer money from an account with different banks?

Very easy and normally instant.

2) Do I need to switch credit cards as well?

No

Generally you can just open a new current account without switching. However, if you do want to close the old account, check for cashback/incentives for switching.

jaggerc1

Looking like switching to First Direct. Called them and got lots of info.
Called Halifax and got switched about and they could only offer me certain deals on the phone, others were online and branch only.

Quick question and this is most likely silly buy I want to make sure I know everything 100% before switching.

I would need to add money to top up my account in order to meet the terms of the account.

I would be opening a current account AND a savings account (no withdrawal)
Would I need to open a third account (savings) where I have a SO every month to top up my current account?

grumbler

jaggerc1 wrote: »

...
I would be opening a current account AND a savings account (no withdrawal)
Would I need to open a third account (savings) where I have a SO every month to top up my current account?

I don't understand what you mean.
Why would you want to top up a current account from a saving account on a regular basis?
Also, standing orders are more common for (from) current accounts than for saving accounts.

jaggerc1

I need to make sure I have £1000 per month going into the first direct current account and my wage alone won't do that.

So I just set a SO up from (somewhere) to make sure I meet the terms?

sorry if i'm confusing everyone

dzug1

jaggerc1 wrote: »

I need to make sure I have £1000 per month going into the first direct current account and my wage alone won't do that.

So I just set a SO up from (somewhere) to make sure I meet the terms?

sorry if i'm confusing everyone

You need another account with a different bank. You have a SO transferring money to that account then another a few days later transferring it back.


Or do it manually - less likely to go wrong when you forget something has changed. Though you are maybe more likely to forget to do it

Archi_Bald

Also you do not need to pay £1,000 a month into FD. If you have a normal savings account with them, with just £1 in it, they wave the monthly charge.

grumbler

dzug1 wrote: »

You need another account with a different bank. You have a SO transferring money to that account then another a few days later transferring it back.

If FD is your main bank it makes more sense to do this vice versa, i.e FD -> other bank -> FD

Archi_Bald wrote: »

Also you do not need to pay £1,000 a month into FD.

You do if you want to get the switching bonus like the OP does.

noh

grumbler wrote: »

....…..……

You do if you want to get the switching bonus like the OP does.

Only once in the first three months.

http://www2.firstdirect.com/1/2/banking/current-account?WT.ac=FSDT_CTA_BA_BA1327

System

If you are switching, best to do it for a reason.

First Direct offer very little after the initial switching bonus other than answering the phone quickly and a small interest free overdraft.

Santander or Halifax offer much better in terms of ongoing benefits for people crediting less than 1K per month.

ColdIron

Heng_Leng wrote: »

First Direct offer very little after the initial switching bonus other than answering the phone quickly and a small interest free overdraft.

I agree and if the OP is used to Barclays online banking he's in for a shock