How many current accounts is it OK to have.

mrmajika

melj16 wrote: »

I work for a high street bank and with us.....No switch = no account.

If I come to realise that a customer has several bank accounts I will categorically refuse to open them an account. No business needs these sort of customers.

I'd also like to know which bank this is, although, I suspect that this is the policy of the individual staff member or overzealous branch manager, rather than company policy.

I'd imagine the FCA would have something to say if a bank's wide ranging policy when opening accounts was enforced closures of competitor accounts.

JKSandy

"Abiding by the rules set up me"

I think this says it all, you really need to drop the air or superiority you only work in a bank.

MrSilk

I have:

Nationwide FlexPlus (w/£300 OD) (Main Account)
Nationwide Flex Account
Natwest Select Account
RBS Select Account
Santander Everyday Account
Barclays Basic Account
Lloyds Cash Account
TSB Cash Account
Bank of Scotland Basic Account

All have positive balances, there's no limit you can have.

FYI, the Santander account was opened 3 days ago, without switching.

bubieyehyeh

The no switch no account is a little short sighted if someone only has one other account, since they might like to try out the new account, see how the internet banking works before they switch.

platterfish

melj16 wrote: »

I work for a high street bank and with us.....No switch = no account.

If I come to realise that a customer has several bank accounts I will categorically refuse to open them an account. No business needs these sort of customers.

Thats ridiculous.

MR X comes in to open his secondary bank account as he would like to start managing his money better and have a reliable second bank account. How is this not a business need, this is a prime opportunity to impress in a face to face environment and build a relationship which means they will come back and do business in the future. This is a business need.

I suspect you don't get much credit in your sales role for a new account, but the golden switch bumps your figures up? That or you are targeted on dormancy.

I wonder how many people you have put off your banks brand for good because of the 'great' service you provide by jumping to assumptions they are a waste of time.

anna42hmr

melj16 wrote: »

I work for a high street bank and with us.....No switch = no account.

If I come to realise that a customer has several bank accounts I will categorically refuse to open them an account. No business needs these sort of customers.

Just to explain the amount these customers cost a bank....

The man power to open the account, the paper, the ink.....sending copies of ID to another department elsewhere in the country who then check over again, storage of the account opening paperwork for 7 years......Sending out new account info in post, debit cards, pin numbers. statements.....new debit cards as they 'lost the last one'.....

Costs banks too much money so you can see why they would refuse to open an 8th current account for someone who just 'fancies' another bank account.

Well to be honest if that is your banks stance (though i suspect as others have said more of an over zealous use of the guidelines, especially as looking who people have more than one account with on these boards, and generally goes across most banks) then i would not want a second account with a bank that short sighted.

there are many legitimate reasons people have more than one account, and not always to get the benefits of an extra account such as interest etc.

For example, if the IT glitches at natwest/rbs group and more recently the lloyds/hbos/natwest group shows it is beneficial to customers to have access to more than one account if something goes wrong with the account.

Also couples may want a joint account with x bank and decide to have their own sole accounts elsewhere, you telling me that a bank can dictate that that cannot happen?

whenever i have moved banks and closed an old one down, i have never done a switch as 1. i always like to see if the bank is suitable for me first i.e easy to use over the phone, internet etc and 2. although it takes me more time i would rather contact all my direct debit beneficiaries myself to get them to change systems, that way i know if anything goes wrong with a switch then who i need to sort it with and where the fault lies.

YORKSHIRELASS

Please excuse me if this makes me look a bit stupid .. but dont most current accounts have conditions attached? For example I looked at the Santander 123 and you need to pay in £500 a month and dont earn interest until you have £1000 in there.

So presumably you guys have lots of money and just spread it around? Or am I missing something?

platterfish

anna42hmr wrote: »

For example, if the IT glitches at natwest/rbs group and more recently the lloyds/hbos/natwest group shows it is beneficial to customers to have access to more than one account if something goes wrong with the account.

I think the poster may be talking about RBS/Natwest judging by one of there previous posts about employment.

Remind me never to go into one of their branches, I'm a time waster.

anna42hmr

YORKSHIRELASS wrote: »

Please excuse me if this makes me look a bit stupid .. but dont most current accounts have conditions attached? For example I looked at the Santander 123 and you need to pay in £500 a month and dont earn interest until you have £1000 in there.

So presumably you guys have lots of money and just spread it around? Or am I missing something?

it depends what the account is used for, but many including myself have standing orders set up between them to meet the allowances. so its not necessarily new money into each account each month, just using transfers between them to keep the interest up.

so for example if you have 5k in three accounts then an standing order for 1k on same date from account one >account 2> account 3 and then bank to account 1, means all have same balance in still and all had the funding requirement (though exact rules depends on different banks as lloyds group accounts can be internal transfers where others such as yorkshire has to be external funds)

These days with such rubbish saving accounts rates, the banks are making it more attractive to people to use current accounts as savings accounts instead, however with the limits of what they will pay interest on or numbers of accounts, mean that people have to have more than one. For example i was made redundant from previous employer several years ago, and have the settlement split between multiple current accounts.

so

Ps easy way for the banks to stop customers using the current accounts this way if they do not want us to do this is to pay something remotely reasonable on their savings account range instead!

anna42hmr

platterfish wrote: »

I think the poster may be talking about RBS/Natwest judging by one of there previous posts about employment.

Remind me never to go into one of their branches, I'm a time waster.

have a feeling then if that is the case then its an overzealous branch as they were a bank i had a secondary account with at one point of time (the account was open up to around a year or two ago) and I had no issue with opening it. If i recall correctly had to open it when had an ISA or monthly saver with them and they knew i would not be moving the accounts to them.

I also worked for Natwest for a couple years a while back and no rules then about second accounts then either (unless guidelines have changed in the last 8 or so years since i left)