What's the easiest 'sacrificial' account to open?

ratechaser

I'm going to be in need of a new current account somewhere purely to use to 'switch' over to the new Nationwide flex account that I do genuinely want. GIven that many of you are a lot more experienced at this game than me, do you have any advice on the easiest sacrificial account there is to open?

I do already have proper banking relationships with Natwest and Santander, so although I'm guessing it wouldnt be that hard to open supplemental accounts there, I want to avoid any hassle from my relationship managers seeing I've opened an account, and then immediately switched it out again.

Also, when switching, does the sacrificial account have to have been opened for any minimum time, have any money, DDs etc on it?

Anything that means I can do this with no human contact would be good

af889

I did exactly this for some of the switch incentives which are available at present... I needed a 'donor' account(s). I was with RBS so just opened an RBS Basic account. The application was done online and approved straight away, debit card arrived a few days later. The account didn't have an overdraft so it was just a simple current account.
If you are with Natwest they should do a similar simple Basic account. Looking on their website they do the Select account and the Foundation account. As you can't apply directly for the Foundation account, I'd suggest just going for the Select account. Then if for some reason you aren't approved you could be offered the Foundation account. Make sure you don't apply for an overdraft if you don't need it!
You could do the same for a simple Santander account, although I can't comment on the opening process. I'd avoid Yorkshire Bank, HSBC, Co-Op and M&S for this sort of thing... my experience is that they take far longer to open accounts than other banks.

To answer your second question... unless there are some T&Cs for switching to the Nationwide account there is no minimum length, amount of funds or DD criteria. I think mine was open less than a few days before I switched. A lot of switch incentives do specify DDs, so make sure you double check the Nationwide T&Cs before switching.

YorkshireBoy

Q1. RBS in my experience.

Q2. No min time. Couple of quid will do. DDs are required for your RAF incentive.

ratechaser

Oh heck, I hadn't noticed the DD requirement. Bit of a PITA really, may just mean that Natwest is the path of least resistance as I have a couple there I can move over for this.

Thank you...

tg99

YorkshireBoy wrote: »

Q1. RBS in my experience.

Q2. No min time. Couple of quid will do. DDs are required for your RAF incentive.

Another vote for RBS - I needed to get a donor account open rapidly before a switch offer deadline and was able to apply for RBS Select account online and get it opened all in one sitting (as they electronically verified my ID via passport and credit card) and had my debit card 3 days later.

tg99

On a similar subject, one of my family members is looking to take advantage of the various switching incentives but didn't want to apply for lots of donor accounts because of the credit check as they need to apply for a mortgage in a few months. But it looks like with the launch of basic banks accounts that no credit check is required so interested if anyone has any comments on easiest / quickest ones of these to open for donor purposes? (Am thinking Santander might be a good option as looks like can apply for their basic account online whereas some banks' basic accounts you have to go into branch etc.....and Santander were pretty efficient a couple of years back when I opened 123.)

colsten

You generally cannot apply for the very basic account directly - it will be offered to you if you fail credit checks for the normal accounts.

Your relative could either take a risk and expect that credit checks for current accounts won't matter, or simply wait until they have got their mortgage sorted out.

tg99

colsten wrote: »

You generally cannot apply for the very basic account directly - it will be offered to you if you fail credit checks for the normal accounts.

Your relative could either take a risk and expect that credit checks for current accounts won't matter, or simply wait until they have got their mortgage sorted out.

Yeah he was going to wait until the mortgage done but from Santander website looks like you can actually apply directly for the Basic account straight away. Had also looked at the Coop as can't do online but they can send an application form out for that specific product.

moneysavinggirl40

I got an everyday current account with santander for donor purposes,very quick to set up if you already bank with them. Halifax is easy too, both online, and quick.

surfsister

Nat westwas easiest for me did it all online

ratechaser

surfsister wrote: »

Nat westwas easiest for me did it all online

Yep, I went that route, all done in 5 mins!