Taking advantage of Current Account switching offers

Baxter100

Hi All,

Quick question - a number of banks (First Direct, Halifax, Clydesdale) offer you somewhere in the region of £100-£150 if you switch your current account and set up with them.

I currently bank with Nationwide. Is there anything to stop me setting up 3 additional current accounts with Nationwide, putting £1000 in each one (this seems to be the level required for each switch), and then switching the 3 additional accounts to set up a current account with each of the above three banks? All my direct debits/standing orders would stay with my original Nationwide current account. Then once the three banks had paid out the £100-£150, simply close down the account and transfer it all back to my original nationwide account.

Having had a quick glance at the terms and conditions it doesn't seem to breach them, but almost seems too good to be true. Is it?!

derrick

Baxter100 wrote: »

Hi All,

Quick question - a number of banks (First Direct, Halifax, Clydesdale) offer you somewhere in the region of £100-£150 if you switch your current account and set up with them.

I currently bank with Nationwide. Is there anything to stop me setting up 3 additional current accounts with Nationwide, putting £1000 in each one (this seems to be the level required for each switch), and then switching the 3 additional accounts to set up a current account with each of the above three banks? All my direct debits/standing orders would stay with my original Nationwide current account. Then once the three banks had paid out the £100-£150, simply close down the account and transfer it all back to my original nationwide account.

Having had a quick glance at the terms and conditions it doesn't seem to breach them, but almost seems too good to be true. Is it?!

Nothing to stop you, but most require you to use their switching service and to have at least 2 DD's going out per month and a certain level of monthly funding.

.

YorkshireBoy

derrick wrote: »

but most require you...to have at least 2 DD's going out per month

None of the current switching offers require you to have DDs paid each month.

And only one* of them, the Co-op, requires 2 DDs to be switched.


* The Nationwide RAF incentive (£50 each) requires 2 DDs to be switched.

Baxter100

Yes, looking at the T/Cs it seems all they ask if for you to pay in a minimum amount (one off payment) in order to get the money. They mention that all DDs will be switched, but there won't be any coming from the newly set up Nationwide accounts anyhow.

colsten

YorkshireBoy wrote: »

None of the current switching offers require you to have DDs paid each month.

And only one* of them, the Co-op, requires 2 DDs to be switched.


* The Nationwide RAF incentive (£50 each) requires 2 DDs to be switched.

And none of them requires £1,000 to be switched. Some have deposit requirements after the switch.

colsten

Baxter100 wrote: »

They mention that all DDs will be switched, but there won't be any coming from the newly set up Nationwide accounts anyhow.

In which case, you won't get the incentive for those account switches that require DDs to be switched. It is all quite simple - you need to fulfill all of the terms of the respective switching offer if you want to see the money.

YorkshireBoy

You don't need to put £1K in the accounts prior to the switch. Many of the switching offers exclude funds transferred on the switch date, so you'd still need to credit those accounts after the switch date.

To your original query...I'm helping someone exploit these at the moment, with 3 switches going through initially...

Opened 2 x BoS Classic and 1 x Lloyds Classic

BoS(1) > Co-op (£25 credited to BoS(1) and 2 x £5 DDs set up to Tesco Savings). £100 payable 45 days from switch date.

BoS(2) > FD (£25 credited to BoS(2) and 2 x £5 SOs to existing accounts elsewhere). £125 payable 28 days after switch date.

Lloyds > YB (same set up as BoS(2) above). £150 payable 60 days after switch.

As these offers pay out, we'll progress to...

Co-op > Nationwide via their RAF scheme (£50 each)

FD > Halifax (Halifax is their main account but they've never had a switching incentive). £100 payable 3 days after switch.

YB > M&S - £100 gift card payable one calendar month after switch.

M&S > Nationwide (again, but after first setting up a couple of DDs to good old Tesco!) via their RAF scheme (£50 each)

That's the plan anyway!

Now I make that £675 for them...and £100 for me.

maas

Im looking to switch to FD. Do you not have to transfer £1000 in to FD to claim the bonus? And what are the SO for?

YorkshireBoy

maas wrote: »

Im looking to switch to FD. Do you not have to transfer £1000 in to FD to claim the bonus?

I've omitted funding requirements for clarity. But your specific question re FD is answered in their switching incentive T&Cs on their website.

And what are the SO for?

To make the switch look a little more 'realistic'! It's not necessary, but its just my belt and braces approach to bagging incentives. Its entirely possible to switch a £1 balance (or less!) and nothing else...but probably a bit awkward then if you're chasing an incentive payment that's not been paid on time. At least this way I can show some activity on the account. I also leave the SOs in place on the new account until the incentive has been paid.

Each to their own though, but it works for me.

derrick

YorkshireBoy wrote: »

None of the current switching offers require you to have DDs paid each month.

And only one* of them, the Co-op, requires 2 DDs to be switched.


* The Nationwide RAF incentive (£50 each) requires 2 DDs to be switched.

OK, I was under the assumption they did,(or used to).

Re FD from your post #7, do you know what do they class as "(if you've not tried us before)", from their web page First Direct, as I was with them for a short time a few years ago?


Santander 123 whilst not offering a cash incentive do require 2 DD's if you want the 3% interest on up to £20000. maybe I am mixing up different T&C's for different accounts.

.

YorkshireBoy

derrick wrote: »

Re FD from your post #7, do you know what do they class as "(if you've not tried us before)", from their web page First Direct, as I was with them for a short time a few years ago?

It's most definitely a once only offer I understand. They have a very long memory according to reports on here.


They tweaked the incentive T&Cs a few years ago. They used to say you were excluded if you'd held a current account. These days its 'any' account.