Is it moral to churn bank accounts?

catwoman73

Goldiegirl wrote: »

I thought the ethos of MSE was money saving and cost cutting, but unfortunately it does seem to have evolved into something else.

Indeed. There is certainly a minority of hardcore Moneysavers, whose main hobby appears to be seeking out and exploiting loopholes, sometimes with questionable morality/legality/fairness (eg. reusing stamps, inflating final energy readings on energy accounts before the price increases, and opening the maximum number of accounts simply for the cashback etc).

I posted on another thread that I almost wished I hadn’t bothered starting to transfer my redundant Halifax Current Account to M&S solely for the £125 giftcard, because it has been a lot of hassle trying to sign up to their switching service (my main account is with First Direct and I am shocked how poor the M&S call centre is in comparison).



It’s turned out that I’ve inadvertently used the Halifax to M&S switch as a test of M&S’s customer service and from the experience, I will definitely not be moving away from First Direct.


But the extreme MSEers are now jumping on me, with the insinuation that I’m stupid, lazy and profligate because I said that I couldn’t be bothered with it all any more and wanted to simplify my banking arrangements.



It’s like they see their way as right and everyone else as wrong. But if we all did it, these offers wouldn’t exist at all, because companies rely on the ‘normal’ majority to not be bothered exploiting loopholes and changing products every five minutes.

colsten

catwoman73 wrote: »

But the extreme MSEers are now jumping on me, with the insinuation that I’m stupid, lazy and profligate because I said that I couldn’t be bothered with it all any more and wanted to simplify my banking arrangements.

Please would you read was has been said in response to you calling what you term "extreme MSEers" silly and on the breadline, and implying they have no life.
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/5051839

Nobody has suggested that you are stupid, lazy and profligate. In fact, the conclusion was "each to their own".

catwoman73 wrote: »

It’s like they see their way as right and everyone else as wrong.

that's how your posts come over

catwoman73 wrote: »

But if we all did it, these offers wouldn’t exist at all, because companies rely on the ‘normal’ majority to not be bothered exploiting loopholes and changing products every five minutes.

I agree with you there, and it has happened quite a few times when MSEers moved in force.

Goldiegirl

catwoman73 wrote: »

Indeed. There is certainly a minority of hardcore Moneysavers, whose main hobby appears to be seeking out and exploiting loopholes, sometimes with questionable morality/legality/fairness (eg. reusing stamps, inflating final energy readings on energy accounts before the price increases, and opening the maximum number of accounts simply for the cashback etc).

I posted on another thread that I almost wished I hadn’t bothered starting to transfer my redundant Halifax Current Account to M&S solely for the £125 giftcard, because it has been a lot of hassle trying to sign up to their switching service (my main account is with First Direct and I am shocked how poor the M&S call centre is in comparison).



It’s turned out that I’ve inadvertently used the Halifax to M&S switch as a test of M&S’s customer service and from the experience, I will definitely not be moving away from First Direct.


But the extreme MSEers are now jumping on me, with the insinuation that I’m stupid, lazy and profligate because I said that I couldn’t be bothered with it all any more and wanted to simplify my banking arrangements.



It’s like they see their way as right and everyone else as wrong. But if we all did it, these offers wouldn’t exist at all, because companies rely on the ‘normal’ majority to not be bothered exploiting loopholes and changing products every five minutes.

There are certainly some very questionable practices on some areas of the board, which I think shouldn't be encouraged at all.


Maybe MSE needs to start a thread on 'is re-using stamps moral' (because it certainly isn't)


As long as people keep within the rules of bank accounts, I don't think there's a moral question, but I think there's the issue of what lengths a person is prepared to go to.


I currently have a Halifax Reward account, which I intend keeping because I like it.


But, ahead of my retirement, I'm looking at ways of maximising interest paid on my accounts.


But I don't want too much of a faff about it, by setting up DD's that I don't need, or moving two from my present current account


Therefore I'll be looking at opening Nationwide, TSB and Tesco current accounts, and doing a funding cycle by standing order over the month.


Once any accounts stop meeting my needs, like the Nationwide one after twelve months, I'll consider a switch to get a switching bonus.


That's as far as I'm prepared to go.


There's another thread on this board about a person with 11 current account, and is getting confused with the funding cycle. I'd hazard a suggestion here...... if you are getting confused, then you have too many accounts, and it's probably more trouble than it's worth.


Also, another point to consider ( and I was jumped on from a great height when I dared to mention this nearly two years ago when I first joined the forum), an excessive funding cycle looks very much like the layering stage of money laundering. Layering is when money is moved around many accounts to hide it's original origins


The hardcore current account people were very uncomfortable when I previously mentioned it, and didn't like it at all.


But, although the cycling is being done for an innocent reason...... it could look a bit odd to someone who notices

Everynamestaken

catwoman73 wrote: »

Indeed. There is certainly a minority of hardcore Moneysavers, whose main hobby appears to be seeking out and exploiting loopholes, sometimes with questionable morality/legality/fairness (eg. reusing stamps, inflating final energy readings on energy accounts before the price increases, and opening the maximum number of accounts simply for the cashback etc).

I posted on another thread that I almost wished I hadn’t bothered starting to transfer my redundant Halifax Current Account to M&S solely for the £125 giftcard, because it has been a lot of hassle trying to sign up to their switching service (my main account is with First Direct and I am shocked how poor the M&S call centre is in comparison).



It’s turned out that I’ve inadvertently used the Halifax to M&S switch as a test of M&S’s customer service and from the experience, I will definitely not be moving away from First Direct.

But the extreme MSEers are now jumping on me, with the insinuation that I’m stupid, lazy and profligate because I said that I couldn’t be bothered with it all any more and wanted to simplify my banking arrangements.



It’s like they see their way as right and everyone else as wrong. But if we all did it, these offers wouldn’t exist at all, because companies rely on the ‘normal’ majority to not be bothered exploiting loopholes and changing products every five minutes.

My comment wasn"t jumping on you at all, as everyone in the thread you eluded to concluded that it was each to there own.

I was just merely pointing out that £60 a year is very easy work and something I would"t just give up right away.

I appreciated your comment about simplifying your banking but felt it was contradictory when you then stated you was opening another bank account. I incidentally didn't comment on your 2nd response but queried why you didn't want to keep the easy 60 pound a year for very limited work.

I saw your breadline comment, but I also deemed this contradictory when you are/were going through the hassle of opening a new account for what could be classed as a low amount for someone that is not on the "breadline". You seemed to think at this point that you were a lot better off than people who post in the forum, and you may or may not be but that is completely irrelevant to the discussion.

To quickly summarise. This is a money saving site. Everyone is entitled to their opinion and the majority come on here to save money and see it spread that little further. You don't need to take it to heart if someone does not agree with you, as no one insinuated those words that you suggested at all.