Want to switch - but which?

Mr_Goodkat

wallofbeans wrote: »

Ok so I think I can put 4k into a Lloyds and will then will also switch from HSBC to Halifax, making that my main account.

I'm a bit nervous about moving money around and how to set it up so it works and every account gets what it needs each month. I've managed it for my Santander and TSB but for some reason adding Lloyds into the mix makes it all very confusing!

Halifax is great for the switching bonus and for the monthly fivers but depending how long your monthly £1,500 is going to stay there it might not be the best choice of 'main account' as you will not earn anything on that money. I would certainly look at switching to the Halifax but that account could simply receive £750 a month pay out two direct debits and then the rest go to a interest paying bank account - your Santander 123 for example if it is not at the £20k limit, especially given the impending increase in monthly charges - you may be better longer term with the Nat West account for cash back on direct debits and free to use accounts for interest depending on your savings amount.


The Club Lloyds needs to pay out two direct debits a month to get interest so you need to split your HSBC DD's between Halifax and Lloyds to get the free fivers from HX and interest from Lloyds, alternatively Tesco Savers could be used for the DD requirements on multiple accounts.



Setting things up is very very easy, I have 30+ current accounts mainly funded through cross firing standing orders with a monthly manual skimming of the interest but if you are nervous just do it manually with faster payments to start with.

wallofbeans

Mr_Goodkat wrote: »

Halifax is great for the switching bonus and for the monthly fivers but depending how long your monthly £1,500 is going to stay there it might not be the best choice of 'main account' as you will not earn anything on that money. I would certainly look at switching to the Halifax but that account could simply receive £750 a month pay out two direct debits and then the rest go to a interest paying bank account - your Santander 123 for example if it is not at the £20k limit, especially given the impending increase in monthly charges - you may be better longer term with the Nat West account for cash back on direct debits and free to use accounts for interest depending on your savings amount.


The Club Lloyds needs to pay out two direct debits a month to get interest so you need to split your HSBC DD's between Halifax and Lloyds to get the free fivers from HX and interest from Lloyds, alternatively Tesco Savers could be used for the DD requirements on multiple accounts.



Setting things up is very very easy, I have 30+ current accounts mainly funded through cross firing standing orders with a monthly manual skimming of the interest but if you are nervous just do it manually with faster payments to start with.

Santander is already full up! I'm looking for another option for about 10k. I was going to split between Lloyds and Halifax but you might be right about Halifax...

Anything is better than my current no interest, no nothing HSBC account!

Mr_Goodkat

wallofbeans wrote: »

Santander is already full up! I'm looking for another option for about 10k. I was going to split between Lloyds and Halifax but you might be right about Halifax...

Anything is better than my current no interest, no nothing HSBC account!

Halifax is worth doing for the switching bonus and for the free fivers, just don't hold cash there.


Club Lloyds can take £5k at 4%
Couple of Tesco Current Accounts followed by BOS Vantage(s) as required can give you 3% on the rest and be added to as savings grow.


If you have excess every month then regular savers e.g. TSB at 5% can take £250 per month

Dird

wallofbeans wrote: »

Any better ideas?

Lloyds is definitely better for your interest. How many direct debits do you have? You could switch to Halifax, keep 2 DDs on that then open a Club Lloyds account and put 2 DDs on that. Keep over £5k in Lloyds, there's no reason to keep much in Halifax.

NationWide is OK but only if you start maximising interest opening accounts everywhere...after 12 months you'll have to move it again or the interest will be worse than HSBC.

Is HSBC your main account? Are you not using 123 for the DD cashback? If not you might want to cancel that account too as they'll be charging £5/month from January.

If you do decide on NationWide I'm available to refer you

Edit:

wallofbeans wrote: »

Santander is already full up! I'm looking for another option for about 10k.

£5k in Lloyds @ 4%
£2.5k in NW @ 5%
£2.5k in BOS @ 3% (you can fill to £5k then open up to 2 more accounts with £5k each, no DDs required)
and add a Halifax for the £5/month but keep it pretty much empty

wallofbeans

Dird wrote: »

Lloyds is definitely better for your interest. How many direct debits do you have? You could switch to Halifax, keep 2 DDs on that then open a Club Lloyds account and put 2 DDs on that. Keep over £5k in Lloyds, there's no reason to keep much in Halifax.

NationWide is OK but only if you start maximising interest opening accounts everywhere...after 12 months you'll have to move it again or the interest will be worse than HSBC.

Is HSBC your main account? Are you not using 123 for the DD cashback? If not you might want to cancel that account too as they'll be charging £5/month from January.

If you do decide on NationWide I'm available to refer you

Edit:


£5k in Lloyds @ 4%
£2.5k in NW @ 5%
£2.5k in BOS @ 3% (you can fill to £5k then open up to 2 more accounts with £5k each, no DDs required)
and add a Halifax for the £5/month but keep it pretty much empty

I don't have enough DD for cashback from the 123 account but would if I did! I've only got 3 DD's at present (as most of my utility bills just come from a standing order into shared payment) and only one of those comes out monthly (internet - I'm the one paying that bill).

I'm sure I can find another DD by setting up something or other - a monthly charity donation was suggested, which sounds like a nice idea - but I'm sure I can figure out something if not that! But three more, and all monthly? I'm not so sure!

HSBC is going to charge me from January? That's one of the reasons I was looking at Halifax.. it was a good option to make it my main bank account...

Dird

wallofbeans wrote: »

HSBC is going to charge me from January?

No, Santander will increase from £2/month to £5/month so that's £3 less interest per month.

You can open some Tesco Bank "internet savers" and create your own fake DDs. I have 3 genuine DDs on my Lloyds account (my main account). NW, coop, TSB, Halifax & HSBC all have fake DDs where I just pull them into my Tesco accounts then ship all the money back to Lloyds. It's good because there's never any variation in price so you know if you leave £20 in an account the two DDs will never take more than £15/month.

colsten

Dird wrote: »

£2.5k in BOS @ 3%

BoS does not pay 3% if the balance is £2.5K.
https://www.bankofscotland.co.uk/bankaccounts/vantage/

Dird wrote: »

NationWide is OK but only if you start maximising interest opening accounts everywhere...after 12 months you'll have to move it again or the interest will be worse than HSBC.

What are you on about? Nationwide FlexDirect goes to 1% after 12 months. HSBC interest is 0%. How is 1% worse than 0%?

Dird wrote: »

If you do decide on NationWide I'm available to refer you

So would be lots of others on here but nobody is allowed to punt for referrals outside the referrer's board. Please heed the forum rules.

Mr_Goodkat

wallofbeans wrote: »

I don't have enough DD for cashback from the 123 account but would if I did! I've only got 3 DD's at present (as most of my utility bills just come from a standing order into shared payment) and only one of those comes out monthly (internet - I'm the one paying that bill).

I'm sure I can find another DD by setting up something or other - a monthly charity donation was suggested, which sounds like a nice idea - but I'm sure I can figure out something if not that! But three more, and all monthly? I'm not so sure!

HSBC is going to charge me from January? That's one of the reasons I was looking at Halifax.. it was a good option to make it my main bank account...

If you are not benefiting from cash back on DD's from Santander then you would be better off splitting the £20k in there into non chargeable accounts when the monthly fee goes to £5 in January. I am keeping my joint 123 account as I get 3% on £20k but also significant amounts of cash back on direct debits. I have also maxed out all other options when it comes to the current account game.


3 x BOS Vantage can take care of £15k at 3% and can be funded by monthly cross firing standing orders
Club Lloyds takes £5k at 4%
You said you have TSB Plus so £2k at 5%
A couple of Tesco accounts will also pay you 3% interest
A Nationwide Flex direct will give you 5% for a year


If you are building savings monthly a Club Lloyds regular saver and a TSB regular saver can let you save at 4% and 5% respectively as well.

wallofbeans

Mr_Goodkat wrote: »

If you are not benefiting from cash back on DD's from Santander then you would be better off splitting the £20k in there into non chargeable accounts when the monthly fee goes to £5 in January. I am keeping my joint 123 account as I get 3% on £20k but also significant amounts of cash back on direct debits. I have also maxed out all other options when it comes to the current account game.


3 x BOS Vantage can take care of £15k at 3% and can be funded by monthly cross firing standing orders
Club Lloyds takes £5k at 4%
You said you have TSB Plus so £2k at 5%
A couple of Tesco accounts will also pay you 3% interest
A Nationwide Flex direct will give you 5% for a year


If you are building savings monthly a Club Lloyds regular saver and a TSB regular saver can let you save at 4% and 5% respectively as well.

And it's not bad for your credit rating to have so many bank accounts?

Can I get access to the CL or TSB regular saver money if needed? Is it a faff to get it out? Does it have to be in there for a certain amount of time before I can touch it etc?

Mr_Goodkat

wallofbeans wrote: »

And it's not bad for your credit rating to have so many bank accounts?

Can I get access to the CL or TSB regular saver money if needed? Is it a faff to get it out? Does it have to be in there for a certain amount of time before I can touch it etc?

No it is not bad for your credit rating to have so many bank accounts.


Applying for a lot of credit in a short period of time CAN have an impact on how lenders view your credit worthiness and their likelihood to accept you but it will be taken into consideration along with the rest of your credit file.


Regular savers are generally twelve month agreements to deposit money from a linked current account on a monthly basis by standing order with limits on the amount you can deposit £300 per month First Direct, £400 per month Club Lloyds and £250 per month at TSB with 6%, 4% and 5% interest respectively.


You can however access this money at any time but there can be implications for example first direct do not allow partial withdrawals you can access the money but that regular saver closes and rather than 6% interest you get a much lower rate. Lloyds and TSB allow you to withdraw the money at anytime without penalty but you cannot replace it so breaking into a regular saver can be done but often better options e.g. take the money from a 3% interest paying current account instead.