Natwest Rewards - What's the catch?

chambta

knighter wrote: »

What is stopping anyone upping their Direct Debits to pay for gas / electricity etc. and effectively earning 3%?


The utilities companies will refund you any excess credit in your account so in theory it sounds a no brainer.

You could do that but how many utility companies would let you do this willy nilly?

Some would just reduce the d/d when it's clear your overpaying.

fuzzgun19

colsten wrote: »

I have not seen SOs mentioned in the T&Cs. Have you?

I couldn't even find them!

bigadaj

chambta wrote: »

You could do that but how many utility companies would let you do this willy nilly?

Some would just reduce the d/d when it's clear your overpaying.

Why would they though, it's beneficial for their cash flow after all, they aren't paying the 3%, the bank is.

mlp

I've tried applying for this account this evening, but twice the website throws an error right at the end after asking about marketing opt-in/out.

The account looks like a no-brainer for me - should be worth £120 per year after deducting the £3 fee.

mlp

Just tried applying again - looks like they've rolled back to an older version of the web application form. It seemed to go through this time.

colsten

fuzzgun19 wrote: »

I couldn't even find them!

As an MSEer, you surely wouldn't be daft enough to confirm you have agreed to T&Cs that you haven't read?

fuzzgun19

colsten wrote: »

As an MSEer, you surely wouldn't be daft enough to confirm you have agreed to T&Cs that you haven't read?

I've had a Nwest acc for years, not gone for this rewards thing yet.

I'm assuming I would have to change my council tax to a DD to qualify.

Says I could save £104 a year, but don't know if worth the confusion of shuffling money around numerous accs every month/changing/setting up DDs.

chambta

bigadaj wrote: »

Why would they though, it's beneficial for their cash flow after all, they aren't paying the 3%, the bank is.

If I'm deemed to be paying too much, several energy companies I've used have automatically reduced the d/d.

A cynic might say their preference is to keep people in debt rather than in credit.

anoncol

chambta wrote: »

If I'm deemed to be paying too much, several energy companies I've used have automatically reduced the d/d.

A cynic might say their preference is to keep people in debt rather than in credit.

How would that help them exactly?

mlp

Well, E.on allow you to adjust your own direct debit, perhaps +/- £100 of what they estimate it should be. I've never tried over paying, but when I've reduced it down to the bare minimum, they allowed it to run for 6 months before carrying out a review.

So, it is likely possible to pay, say, £100 over the top to E.on for 6 months or so which would generate cash back of £18.

The same £600 would earn £11.74 net interest over 6 months at 5% AER. I'm not sure that this particular method is worth the effort.