Quickest current account to open

Adam555_2

Hi, me and my wife recently decided that we need to start making our money work for us a little more rather than having it sat in a joint Natwest current account earning under 0.5%.

The first thing we've done is switch to a joint HSBC advance current account to take advantage of the £200 offer, we also opened 2 of the linked 6% regular savers which we are now both putting the maximum allowed payment of £250pm into.

We've currently got around £6000 sat in the HSBC current account earning 0% interest, after reading a few articles on here it seems that our best option would be to open 2 of the Flexdirect savers paying 5% and to put £2500 in each of them. The only problem is that we don't have a current account each to switch from, with the way all the other banks are slashing their interest rates I'd like to get 1 opened as soon as possible before the Flexdirect gets slashed. From application to account opening the HSBC took around 4weeks! Hoping some of you guys could offer some advice on the quickest way of opening a current account each and who with?

Thanks in advance for any replies.

Rolandtheroadie

Just opened a flexdirect account last night online. Never took long at all.
Email confirmation at the time, another email at 9am this morning to say thats the account up and running. Doesn't even look like we need to take ID into branch.
Simply ticked the "don't want to switch my account" option, it wasn't an issue.

Adam555_2

That's interesting. So you can still get the 5% interest without switching from another current?

This is taken from the best bank accounts article on this site-

Switch to the Nationwide FlexDirect* account and you'll get an interest rate of 5% AER on the first £2,500 of your cash. This rate is fixed for the first year you hold the account, giving you certainty in these uncertain times, but it drops to 1% after, which isn't such a good deal.

Rolandtheroadie

Yes, you just have to pay in £1000 per month to get the interest rate.
I'll just set it up to pay in the £1000 on payday, and switch it back to my main account a couple of days later.
In a year, just check and see what else is avaliable.

Mogley

I have set up my first one last month. No switch required. You just have to fund it with £1k/month to keep the 5% interest. I do this in the same way as most on here by transferring in/out of a separate acocount (not Nationwide) on the same day.
The account is mostly managed online and the full functionality of the account is only available once you have your debit card and card reader to set up internet banking. However, as soon as you get your account number and sort code, you can transfer the £2500 straight into the FlexDirect account (I left it a couple of days to be sure).

bifbet

Don't rush opening accounts at nationwide,
Open an account at barclays or natwest where there are no switching incentives for you and other half. Set up 2 Direct debits (tesco handy for that) to each account.
Then find someone with a nationwide account to recommend one of you and switch your account. £100 for you and 100 for your friend.
Then recommend your wife to switch and get £100 each.
This way you have made £300 between you and this will probebly be far greater than any interest lost if rate changes. If rates don't change you are quids in. Takes about a month.

Adam555_2

No need for another account then, that's great news! Have you actually been paid any of the 5% interest yet to be sure that you've qualified for it?

Am I reading that mse article wrong or am I correct in thinking that they are suggesting that it does take a switch to recieve the 5%? You'd think somebody would of flagged up the error to them by now.

Adam555_2

That's a great idea, didn't even know that they offered that incentive! Now to find somebody with a nationwide account!

Mogley

Adam555 wrote: »

No need for another account then, that's great news! Have you actually been paid any of the 5% interest yet to be sure that you've qualified for it?

Interest is paid monthly and yes I've received my first amount which was correct.

Eco_Miser

The FlexDirect is a current account which pays 5%, not a saver.
However, once you've got it open, and at least £750 paid in, open a Flexclusive regular saver, for 5% on a further £500 a month. And the same for your wife. (If you have the spare income or cash to make use of them - note that you can withdraw from the Flexclusive at any time, so you're not tying your money up.)

jimjames

bifbet wrote: »

This way you have made £300 between you and this will probebly be far greater than any interest lost if rate changes. If rates don't change you are quids in. Takes about a month.

Open an account each and recommend each other. The you get £400 not £300

Adam555 wrote: »

No need for another account then, that's great news! Have you actually been paid any of the 5% interest yet to be sure that you've qualified for it?

Am I reading that mse article wrong or am I correct in thinking that they are suggesting that it does take a switch to recieve the 5%? You'd think somebody would of flagged up the error to them by now.

Don't trust MSE info, it's not always correct. Best to check with the bank and if it doesn't say you need to switch then guess what! You do need to switch to get the £100 each though.