How do you mange current accounts.

makey1976

Hi looking for a little info.
Have a little cash sitting doing nothing at present and would like to get the most from it.
After reading up on current account i have decided to open a few and get the best i can
Would it be ok to open these accounts and just set up standing orders to move min amount each money.
BOS vantage max £5000 interest 3.00% £1000 each month
satander 123 max £20000 interest 3.00% £500 each month 2DD
Cyldesdale bank max £3000 interest 2.00% £1000 each month
T.S.B MAX £2000 interest 5.00% £500 each month
lloyds max £5000 interest 4.00% £1500 each month
nationwide max £2500 interest 4.00% £1000 each month
tesco max £3000 interest 3.00% £750 each month
This means total amount is £45000 can be used to gain better interest than saving and isa's at present.
Has anyone done this and managed it ok or is it tough.

YorkshireBoy

Isn't Nationwide 5% AER?

And don't forget you can have 3 x BoS Vantage, and 2 each of Tesco and TSB...so that's another £15K.

But to your question, yes, many have done it, and are still doing it. The secret is to automate as much as you can, ie BoS, TSB, and Tesco can be internally funded by SO.

The others need external funding. Personally, I use manual payments (immediate FP) to service these.

Loads of info on the forum, particularly the current accounts board.

You do need a good eye for detail though, so no more slip ups like 4% instead of 5%, and not knowing the max accounts possible.

And finally, don't forget your Halifax Reward account, for £160 in the first year (if switching an account in) and £60 in subsequent years.

irm

Yes, lots of us do this with no problems.

Just make sure you're aware of the limits and transfer-in requirements and the accounts that need direct debits too. It's also maybe worth setting up new accounts over a longer period rather than all at once due to the credit checks that'll happen, but that's a tough one to call - I've just opened three new accounts in the last week with no issues: Lloyds, Tesco, and Bank of Scotland.

B_G_B

When I started to use current accounts for interest, I opened accounts over a period of time. A few months initially. I’m not saying that this is the right way by any means, it’s just how it happened. The advantage was that I could learn as I went along, rather than have to take in shed loads of different funding arrangements, DD’s etc all at once. The disadvantage being that I could have made a little more if i’d maximised everything from day 1. Personally, I am happier to do the transfers manually, and keep tabs on things on a spreadsheet. Others will prefer different methods. I learnt most, if not all, from these forums, although I do then check info against the T&c’s of the various banks.
Never had a problem with any of it.

HHarry

Yes, that's fine, although some of those accounts will need two active DD's to be paid out each month.

It doesn't have to be particularly tough. I've found that the easiest way is to keep the transfer within banks if possible. So I have 2 TSB accounts and just have a SO for £500 between them. The same for my 3 x BOS accounts.
With faster payments it's not strictly necessary, but it keeps things tidy!

Set up the SO for nearer the middle of the month, so you don't get caught out by Bank Holidays etc, and miss a deadline. And move the interest out if it takes you over the max deposit or else you won't get any interest on it.

colsten

Lots of people on here do multiple current accounts. Your list is comprehensive but you can squeeze out some more - e.g. you can have 3 BOS Vantage, 2 TSB Plus, and there is also Tesco with 2 x £3,000 current account @3%. Making £52,500 in sole accounts, I think. Nationwide FlexDirect is 5% AER.Plus there is the Halifax Reward that can pay you £5 a month if you meet the pre-reqs.

LydiaJ

colsten wrote: »

Lots of people on here do multiple current accounts. Your list is comprehensive but you can squeeze out some more - e.g. you can have 3 BOS Vantage, 2 TSB Plus, and there is also Tesco with 2 x £3,000 current account @3%. Making £52,500 in sole accounts, I think. Nationwide FlexDirect is 5% AER.Plus there is the Halifax Reward that can pay you £5 a month if you meet the pre-reqs.

Thanks. I didn't know you could have more than one sole account of each kind. I thought people were only getting three accounts by having one each and a joint one with their partner (no use to me because I'm single). What do you do? Just apply for one and then after a bit apply for another one in the usual way, or is it more complicated than that?

I have a Santander 123 account and a Halifax Reward account. As of a week or two ago, though, I now have more money to put away, so need to make some more decisions. I can't have a Nationwide Flex Account because I've just had one until its year of decent interest expired. So any advice any of you offer to makey1976 will be helpful to me too.

colsten

LydiaJ wrote: »

I didn't know you could have more than one sole account of each kind.

There isn't a general rule on how many of the same accounts you can have - you need to examine the rules for each of the accounts. Some limit to one sole and one joint account, some allow several sole accounts and one joint account, some allow several of each. I did list the max number of sole accounts. You can generally apply for all of these on the same day, though I think BOS will only allow one application within each 24 hour period.

Even if you have run out of funds for now, it might be worth your while to get hold of any and all accounts on the market right now. All the banks generally allow people to keep the accounts they already have when they restrict the number of accounts allowed per person. For example, you can now only have 1 Halifax Reward account in your own name but plenty of people I know of have more than one, from back when you were allowed to apply for more than one. I suppose the message is: make hay whilst the sun shines.

oldfella

keep a spreadsheet with the rules, dates, amounts, then as you complete them each month tick them off

I wait until interest has been paid then spend half an hour doing all the moves and tidying up the interest.

mgarl10024

B_G_B wrote: »

keep tabs on things on a spreadsheet.

oldfella wrote: »

keep a spreadsheet with the rules, dates, amounts, then as you complete them each month tick them off

Yep - Spreadsheets and Standing Orders are invaluable.

My spreadsheet is basically a list of everything that happens throughout the month and what date it should happen on. From that, I know which transactions I should expect to see over the next few days, and can tick them off when they happen.

I wont say it is perfect - life can get in the way sometimes - but I'm rarely caught out.

anoncol

Thanks for mentioning the point about internal transfers. We are just about to need that for our tsb, we'll make use of that now.