Current account and rebuilding credit history...

debtorwithaquestion

Is there any real difference in using a full 'normal' current account (no o/d) for the next few years versus using a cash card / basic account?

Without an overdraft will having a full current account still be better than basic ones for the future ?

And on that note: Santander, RBS or TSB?
:beer:

colsten

No lender will see what type of account you have. All they see is whether you have any defaults and any outstanding credit (i.e. overdraft) on it.

The current account offerings from Santander, RBS and TSB are very different. What are your requirements?

debtorwithaquestion

I want good online banking, and also a good app too.

I am not currently earning that much, as my employer can only give me part time hours meaning take home pay is only around 1000 a month.

However, the most important thing for me is that I want to have a higher chance of getting my credit rating built back up over the next 6 years so are any of these banks more 'lenient' as such?

colsten

The re-building of your credit files is done by you, not by any bank.

Personally, I would not use RBS as they pay no interest. I have Santander and TSB accounts, and they are both ok for me as most of what I look for is interest payments and cashback. TSB is probably a better entry-level account than any others.

Note that banks can change their offers with 2 months notice o what might be true today might not be so a couple of months down the line. I just change accounts as needed.

debtorwithaquestion

With the tsb classic plus I'm confused. Min pay in is 500. So my salary is £1000 so if I pay this in each month but spend it will I still earn the 5% and how much would I get

colsten

TSB pay 5% AER on every pound, up to £2,000, in your account. You will obviously not earn any interest on money that is not in your account. The interest gets calculated based on your balance at the end of each day, and paid monthly.

You can also get some cashback on contactless payments, and you have access to a 5% Monthly Saver account.http://www.tsb.co.uk/news-releases/tsb-launches-555/

YorkshireBoy

debtorwithaquestion wrote: »

With the tsb classic plus I'm confused. Min pay in is 500. So my salary is £1000 so if I pay this in each month but spend it will I still earn the 5% and how much would I get

Assuming you spend it linearly throughout the month (you won't!), your average balance will be £500.

£500 x 4.89% / 365 x 30 x 0.8 = £1.61

I've assumed:
1. There are 30 days in the billing period, and
2. You're a tax-payer.

debtorwithaquestion

See for my income and spending it isn't really a lot of benefit for me (not being ungrateful of course!) I'm just so undecided on it all. From you guys and your experience who's online banking is best ?

colsten

They're all much of a muchness online-wise.

debtorwithaquestion

Thanks for all the info guys. Much appreciated. I think I'm going to go with TSB