Got Private Account by just Cycling Money through account ?

Ryan101

I have been told by a mate of mine, and I say to take this with a large pinch of salt, that he got offered a Private account because he cycles money through all his accounts to take advantage of the interest rates or benefits, such as Lloyds, TSB, Bank of Scotland etc.

Now I know we all have to do it, I do it myself to get the bonuses that each account offers, but he claims that because of the frequency of the transfers and the amounts it looks like he gets a lot of money each month, which adds up to a lot a year, and certainly he says the amount that the bank would be looking for as a Private Customer. He wont say which bank it is but I think it is either RBS or NatWest, but I could be wrong.

Now I suppose if you were transferring say £2k a week between your accounts that would be over £100k a year, so I suppose yes it would look like you were a rich customer, but as this would only come into the account and then straight back out again would this not actually ring alarm bells with the bank as possible fraud, especially if it was happening regularly say once a week or so.

In addition would the bank not know the difference between a salary payment and you just transferring it from another of your accounts from another bank.

Anyway as I said I only have his word, I have not seen any actual proof so I would say myself its not possible, in fact I would say you would be more likely to get your account closed than upgrade to a Private one.

Any thoughts ?.

ceredigion

Private bank probably not.
An upgrade to say Santander select more than possible

jonesMUFCforever

He's having you on.
Having £2k a week going through an account where the bank can see its a transfer from account A to account B (not a salary credit) is a giveaway.

grumbler

Ryan101 wrote: »

...he cycles money through all his accounts to take advantage of the interest rates or benefits, such as Lloyds, TSB, Bank of Scotland etc.

.... he claims that because of the frequency of the transfers and the amounts it looks like he gets a lot of money each month, which adds up to a lot a year...

None requires more than £1000 p.m.

What "frequency" and "amounts" is he talking about?!

Ryan101

grumbler wrote: »

None requires more than £1000 p.m.

What "frequency" and "amounts" is he talking about?!

I understood it to be every Friday and £2k, from Lloyds to TSB, to Bank of Scotland 1, 2, and 3, and then others I am unsure of and back to the original source which I am also unsure of.

10pence

Would have thought that for the bank to satisfy it's AML rules would need to know the source of the funds (wage/savings/investments) and occupation before looking to offer an upgrade.

£2k being cycled around accounts might on the computer system look like 'large' amount of income but on closer - human inspection they would know it's not a true reflection of the customer's worth.

colsten

Ryan101 wrote: »

In addition would the bank not know the difference between a salary payment and you just transferring it from another of your accounts from another bank.

They sure would know whether it was a BACS payment, or an SO/FP.

Why would Private Banking be of interest, btw? The very last thing I would be keen on having is a single bank to know all about my spending, saving and investing. Or god forbid, a bank advising me on investments.

badger09

grumbler wrote: »

None requires more than £1000 p.m.

What "frequency" and "amounts" is he talking about?!

Club Lloyds requires £1500 per month to avoid account fee.

HSBC Advance requires £1750 per month.

There may be others :cool:

InsideInsurance

Ryan101 wrote: »

I have not seen any actual proof so I would say myself its not possible, in fact I would say you would be more likely to get your account closed than upgrade to a Private one.

Any thoughts ?.

Its most likely possible, plenty of small business owners will have money just paid into accounts as Faster Pay.

The real question is, what do they think they get out of it? High street "private banking" is not like having an account with Coutts where you can have a lobster dinner and champagne whilst chatting about potential mortgages etc.

Other than having the word "private" on your card and having more people trying to sell you stuff the benefits are marginal if any over a normal account.

Jsscmm

There are a few benefits to Santander select (less overseas debit cash charges, higher atm limits), hsbc advance savings are nice and I think that Barclays offer slightly cheaper add ons but I'm not aware of any significant enough to push for 'real' private banking these days with normal levels of cash.

Djene

I'm not sure if it would work in regards to Bank of Scotland and Lloyds as you need to book an appointment with an advisor. I'm sure they would question the source of the income to make the minimum 100k threshold, and the account would probably be declined if they find out it's just a transfer between banks.

RBS, though, you can open a black account online, and if you kept transfer like £2,100 each week into the account from another bank then out again, I'm sure the system wouldn't notice, even more so since your paying £24 a month for the account. But, the question is why bother. For a wee black card instead of a purple RBS one.