Switching accounts

henrik1971

Not 100% sure this is the right place to be posting, but...

We are thinking of switching our current account, but have been with our current bank for over 20 years. Looking at Santander 123 account.

The vogue for switching every time the offers change is all well and good, but my question is, often, when you apply for credit or loans, they all ask you how long you've been with your current bank. The implication, I'm guessing, is that being a long time with a bank shows stability, and the lenders look on this more favourably. Whereas if you've only been with the bank for five minutes, that might be viewed negatively by a lender.

Does anyone know what the position is, and whether it is disadvantageous to switch every now and again?

Thanks

YorkshireBoy

I wouldn't close an account I'd had for so long.

You don't need to switch to the 1-2-3 using the CASS. Just open the account and manually transfer things yourself.

An alternative, if you do want to use the CASS, would be to open another current account with your existing bank before switching your long held account.

henrik1971

Thanks Yorkshire Boy.

It's what I thought. I will do as you suggest. Keep the existing account and - open the 1-2-3 account and then fund it manually each month from my existing account. Knowing these banks, they will stop the offer after a year or two, and so I'll need to be ready to move this 'secondary' account again before too long...

I've got about 3.5k in a savings account receiving about 1% interest at the mo, so I'll open it with that to get the 3% rate, and then fund it monthly by standing order to cover the cashback items like santander mortgage and council tax, utils, and the other bits.

I've calculated this will roughly equate to an int rate of nearer 7% per annum all told.