New current account

dsme94

Hi all,

I'm looking for a new current account, I've read online the best bank accounts for vouchers and interest etc etc etc... I'm not looking for that.

I've recently bought a house, where I intended to get my mortgage through my bank who I have been with for around 10 years now. After going through the application process they were offering me a ridiculous rate of 3.5% with a 10% deposit. I was so angry given that I had banked with them for 10 years.

I went straight to a broker after my appointment and got a deal for 2.5% with Virgin Money.

I'm looking for a bank which will reward loyalty, the only bank I've read that does so is first direct.

Would love to hear from others on this forum, thanks for your time!

YorkshireBoy

In what way does First Direct reward loyalty?

eskbanker

Perhaps if banking loyalty is something meaningful to you, you should open a current account with your mortgage provider, although they only offer a basic current account?

dsme94

YorkshireBoy wrote: »

In what way does First Direct reward loyalty?

http://www.moneywise.co.uk/saving-banking/savings-cash-isas/loyalty-to-your-bank-being-rewarded

YorkshireBoy

dsme94 wrote: »

http://www.moneywise.co.uk/saving-banking/savings-cash-isas/loyalty-to-your-bank-being-rewarded

That article is nearly 5 years old!

It says FD mortgages are only available to FD current account holders. Are they still?...or has this now changed?

Are FD mortgage rates competitive these days? I've looked at the best buys list on this website and can't see them listed. However, I've only looked at the first 6 pages.

isasmurf

You'll struggle to find any bank that rewards loyalty. At the end of the day, they are businesses in competition over market share. The only way to grow their market share is to attract new customers through introductory incentives or reputation. Even First Direct, with a reputation for the best customer service* offers an introductory incentive.

That said, the CEO of Nationwide has recently been quoted as saying he wants Nationwide to do more to reward loyalty. Whether they do remains to be seen.

* which I've never understood, or at least doesn't say much about the customer service of other banks

EachPenny

isasmurf wrote: »

That said, the CEO of Nationwide has recently been quoted as saying he wants Nationwide to do more to reward loyalty. Whether they do remains to be seen.

BoE base rate cut by 0.25%

Nationwide FlexDirect current account (open to all) interest rate 5%/1% - no change.

Nationwide (15 year) Loyalty Saver account interest rate cut twice by a total of 0.45%

As the OP has discovered, when it comes to banks and building societies loyalty only works in one direction.

bigadaj

EachPenny wrote: »

BoE base rate cut by 0.25%

Nationwide FlexDirect current account (open to all) interest rate 5%/1% - no change.

Nationwide (15 year) Loyalty Saver account interest rate cut twice by a total of 0.45%

As the OP has discovered, when it comes to banks and building societies loyalty only works in one direction.

Loyalty only works in one direction if the customer is stupid enough to allow it.

xylophone

Loyalty only works in mine direction if the customer is stupid enough to allow it.

Down a bottomless pit? Or into your Swiss bank account? Or are they one and the same.......:)

mollycat

dsme94 wrote: »

Hi all,

I'm looking for a new current account, I've read online the best bank accounts for vouchers and interest etc etc etc... I'm not looking for that.

Why don't you want more money?? (serious question).

I have several current accounts; never go into a branch, never have to phone them.

IMHO, "service" is overated when choosing a bank account, but "loyalty" is an even more outmoded concept....I'm not even sure what form this would take in 2017.

EachPenny

bigadaj wrote: »

Loyalty only works in one direction if the customer is stupid enough to allow it.

Yes, I think that if the figures weren't being distorted by very generous new customer deals (5% in Nationwide's case) then we'd be seeing a big outflow of customers (and cash) from many of the high street banks and BS.

When I see the regular reports on the numbers of switched accounts I do wonder how many of these are actually genuine transfers and how many are engineered switches to gain from the highest bonus payments.