Current Account For Newly-Weds

Stebbil

Afternoon everyone.

My wife and myself have recently got married and are now in a position to buy our first house. As we are now an official couple we need a joint bank account. We have already got joint savings accounts, however we want a joint current account to pay for the mortgage and bills etc.. Can anyone recommend a decent one please as there seem to be many.

Please note that this will not be replacing our existing personal current accounts and our wages will still be paid into our existing ones. Instead we will be both transferring an amount from our personal accounts into the joint account to pay for joint bills/food/outgoings. We expect to put in approximately £850 each per month and the vast majority of this will be spent i.e... we will not be saving funds in here (we have our savings accounts for that).

Any suggestions will be warmly and greatly appreciated.

Many thanks
John & Becky

b33r

We have the Halifax reward account. Free fiver a month.

Maybe consider one of you "transferring" to this account to get the 100 switching bonus and then just open another personal account later if you want one.

benjus

If you're in the market for a packaged account where you pay a monthly fee for travel insurance, mobile phone cover, breakdown cover and the like, a joint account can be good for these as you often get benefits for both account holders at the same monthly fee as a single-holder account.

Otherwise I think you just use the same criteria as selecting a normal current account.

colsten

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/banking/compare-best-bank-accounts?_ga=1.145527028.1970917942.1424978406

grumbler

Stebbil wrote: »

... As we are now an official couple we need a joint bank account.

You possibly want it, but you don't need it actually.
A word of caution: are your credit histories equally good or bad, so that linking them together will make no difference?

solentsusie

grumbler wrote: »

You possibly want it, but you don't need it actually.
A word of caution: are your credit histories equally good or bad, so that linking them together will make no difference?

I agree with grumbler.

You may want to consider your credit histories before embarking on a joint account which will mean you are financially associated and could have implications for future credit applications.

Just because you are now married (congratulations!) it does not automatically create a financial association.

Good luck for your future together.

System

The OP mentions about buying a house, unless with cash, this will create an association with the mortgage.

The Nationwide FlexPlus might be a good joint account. Ten pound fee ( £5 each) with 3% interest up to 3k and various insurance benefits.

colsten

SPalin wrote: »

The OP mentions about buying a house, unless with cash, this will create an association with the mortgage.

Only if the mortgage is in joint names

Westie983

Stebbil wrote: »

... we are now an official couple we need a joint bank account.

You may want a joint account but just because you are married you dont need to have a joint account.

Will you be obtaining the mortgage in joint names? as this will create a financial link between yourselves and association with others could be negative if one or other of you has some colourful credit history.

I see fair amount of people who have joint accounts then struggle to get a mortgage due to the link/association.

Just a thought, but if you are not looking to switch your existing account you could have..

Halifax for £5 a month
TSB - for 3% on 2k (with funding)
Lloyds for upto 5% (with funding)
Tesco for 3% on 3k
Natwest for 3% on certain bills
Nationwide for 5% interest on 2.5k (with funding)
Nationwide for insurance and other benefits £10 a month (with funding)
Santander for cashback and upto 3% interest for £5 a month. (with funding)

System

I realise that your of a different generation but I'm not aware of any friends/colleagues not doing this unless single.

colsten wrote: »

Only if the mortgage is in joint names