Do I need to actually 'switch' to get benefits

eddiejones

There seems to be a lot of banks at the moment offering various offers to switch to them. My question (and I'm sure this must be mentioned somewhere but I've been unable to find the information..) is

Do I actually have to completely switch over to get the benefits? Or is it as simple as just opening up a second account with the new bank and keeping the old one? As long as I satisfy the obvious requirements about how much to pay in / leave in / direct debit count etc...

MattTheMoneyGuru

You can have multiple current accounts.

Check the eligibility requirements as most state your income\regular payment needs to be paid in to the account to comply.

Also consider the impact on your credit score of multiple credit facilities if agreeing an overdraft facility.

eddiejones

Thanks Matt. I was looking at the FirstDirect One Account - I don't see any obvious mention of needing to pay my regular income in... Am I missing something?

When filling in details as part of the switching process, it doesn't request my other bank account details.
Are the same benefits not available if I just go to their website and try to open an account?

MattTheMoneyGuru

Do you mean FirstDirect 1st Account?

Their web site states that you need to switch your 'everyday banking' to them. This would imply DD's, SO's and income. They also state £1,000 deposit needs to be made within first 3 months of opening.

Also ,there is a £10 monthly fee for this account after the first 6 months. You won't have to pay this if you maintain a £1,000 balance or pay in £1,000 per month.

All in all, if you want to switch, go all in and bank with them. The feedback about the customer service has generally been positive and they manage the switching process for you.

soulsaver

MattTheMoneyGuru wrote: »

Do you mean FirstDirect 1st Account?

Also ,there is a £10 monthly fee for this account after the first 6 months. You won't have to pay this if you maintain a £1,000 balance or pay in £1,000 per month.

Or have additional qualifying accounts.

xylophone

If the OP wants the "switching incentive", he will need to switch a current account to FD using the switching service.

https://www1.firstdirect.com/1/2/banking/current-account

If he doesn't, then he can open an account with FD in the normal way.

Also ,there is a £10 monthly fee for this account after the first 6 months. You won't have to pay this if you maintain a £1,000 balance or pay in £1,000 per month.

Not completely accurate - see link above.

There is no cost for the first six months. After that you can avoid paying the £10 monthly account fee by:

paying at least £1,000 into the account every month
or maintaining an average monthly balance of £1,000

or also having a mortgage, credit card, Personal Loan, savings (except Regular Saver), First Directory or Home insurance with us.


https://www1.firstdirect.com/1/2/savings-and-investments/savings

Presumably he will want to open the RS account - he can easily open another type of saver as well to avoid the £1000 balance business.

TheShape

To be clear about the First Direct 1st account.

You DO NOT need to switch your 'everyday banking' to them.

You switch AN account (no need to switch income or DDs) and pay in £1000 within 3 months of account opening to receive the £100 incentive.

You can avoid the £10 p/m account fee by holding a qualifying product. A savings account (NOT the monthly/regular saver) will suffice.

It's an easy to get switching incentive and you can also access the monthly/regular saver.

xylophone

You switch AN account

You will notice that in my post above I referred to

a current account to FD using the switching service.

The OP would have to make sure that any account he wanted to switch was part of the switching service.

He could consider opening a "sacrificial" account for the purpose...

TheShape

xylophone wrote: »

You will notice that in my post above I referred to



The OP would have to make sure that any account he wanted to switch was part of the switching service.

He could consider opening a "sacrificial" account for the purpose...

I was typing my reply at the time you posted so I wouldn't have posted had I already seen your reply. My reply could/should have been more detailed re current account and CASS.