Santander to Lloyds?

w00519772

I want to transfer my Santander current account to Halifax to take advantage of the £100 switch bonus. I am planning to close the account after I have received the bonus (after three days). I want to open a new Tesco Bank account to replace the Santander account. I have a few questions:

1) Are you allowed to switch and immediately close after receiving the bonus? I think it is a bit immoral. However, Halifax says there is nothing stopping me from doing this.
2) Does it hurt your credit rating to switch a lot? When I applied for a mortgage I looked at my credit score on Experian. It was almost at the mac (999). I don't want to hurt it too much.

Archi_Bald

w00519772 wrote: »

1) Are you allowed to switch and immediately close after receiving the bonus? I think it is a bit immoral. However, Halifax says there is nothing stopping me from doing this.

moral/legal is to comply with the terms and conditions that you agree to.

There is a good reason why you'd want to keep a Halifax Reward for good though, even if it's not your day-to-day current account. The reason is the monthly fiver they pay you if you comply with the terms of that offer.

w00519772 wrote: »

2) Does it hurt your credit rating to switch a lot? When I applied for a mortgage I looked at my credit score on Experian. It was almost at the mac (999). I don't want to hurt it too much.

the credit score you see on your credit files is pretty much a meaningless indicator since no lender will ever look at it. Unless you are planning to get a big credit (mortgage, loan etc) in the next 6 months, applying for a couple of current accounts will make no difference to anything.

w00519772

I am in the process of setting up a Halifax rewards account and a Tesco bank account

In the terms for both accounts it says you have 14 days to change your mind after opening the account. Both have also said that you can close the account at any time. What is the point of having a 14 day gave period in these cases? I could understand if there was a cancellation fee, however there is not. Is there something I am missing?

Eco_Miser

w00519772 wrote: »

Is there something I am missing?

The 14 day cancellation period is required by either legislation or regulation.

w00519772

I have done the following:

1) switched the nationwide account to Yorkshire bank
2) opened two Tesco bank accounts - I will deposit 3000 in one and then build the other up to 3000 over the next few months

Therefore I have opened three new accounts so far. When i opened the second Tesco bank account I was informed that the credit check required Tesco to add a code manually. Apparently this happens "most the time" when people open two accounts.

I have one more thing to di ie switch the Santander account to a Halifax reward account. Should I do this straight away or wait - because of the credit check.