New current account

datlex

Some banks give your a reward for having a mortgage. I know Barclays give you £5 a month for having a mortgage, £7 for having a current account (assuming you pay in £800 and out 2 direct debits) and £3 for having insurance. There is a £3 fee. Don't have your mortgage somewhere due to rewards. Get the best rate you can. Consider the rewards as a discount on your monthly payments.

CCDC

I recently changed to Nationwide from a referral from a friend. We each got £100 for the full switch, I chose the Flex Direct account which is paying 5% interest upto £2500 for the first 12 months, and I have the capacity to earn a further £500 from friends and family referrals myself.

All going well, I'l be up £725 by next April - It may not be long term loyalty, but for me that short term gain certainly outweighed any of the other options I had looked at. They also offer V competitive mortgage deals according to a friend.

bigadaj

EachPenny wrote: »

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.

A fair few no doubt but still a significant minority.

I remember switching into my second bos and having a chuckle at some of the criteria, expecting the csr to twig the reasoning behind teh switch. They just seemed a bit confused at my response and I became a bit more factual and neutral, so it doesn't appear they recognise people having a dozen or more current accounts as being a common phenomenon.

Also when the incentives cease, or reduce there are significant outflows, Santander being the obvious example.

On a sadder note I struggle to see how the smaller building societies, which means all apart from nationwide and maybe Yorkshire and Coventry will be able to survive going forward. I have sympathy with them given zero base rates but it still looks insulting when their best savings rate offers can't achieve 1%.

EachPenny

bigadaj wrote: »

On a sadder note I struggle to see how the smaller building societies, which means all apart from nationwide and maybe Yorkshire and Coventry will be able to survive going forward. I have sympathy with them given zero base rates but it still looks insulting when their best savings rate offers can't achieve 1%.

I feel the smaller BS are producing some reasonable accounts, the main problem is the difficulty in opening some of them and the very short periods they are on sale for.

With it's economies of scale the Nationwide should be paying market leading rates across the range of accounts - yet apart from its Regular Saver and FlexDirect I'm not sure it has any other rates which aren't beaten by other BS.

isasmurf

EachPenny wrote: »

With it's economies of scale the Nationwide should be paying market leading rates across the range of accounts - yet apart from its Regular Saver and FlexDirect I'm not sure it has any other rates which aren't beaten by other BS.

Wholly disagree. Nationwide has a dominant position in the mutual sector and with no corporate shareholders to answer to, needs to act responsibly to allow space for the smaller mutuals space to compete, while still itself being able to compete with banks. It is in nobody's interest for smaller mutuals to go to the wall leaving 2 or 3 big players. We need more of them not fewer.

EachPenny

isasmurf wrote: »

Wholly disagree. Nationwide has a dominant position in the mutual sector and with no corporate shareholders to answer to, needs to act responsibly to allow space for the smaller mutuals space to compete, while still itself being able to compete with banks. It is in nobody's interest for smaller mutuals to go to the wall leaving 2 or 3 big players. We need more of them not fewer.

Completely agree with the point about the need for mutuals to be able to compete and to have more of them.

I should have said "should be able to pay market leading rates". The recent Loyalty Saver rate cuts have been justified on the basis of difficult market conditions etc, not on having a virtuous policy of protecting the interests of other mutual BS. Unless members are not being told something.

The Loyalty Saver account is one where maintaining rates - even increasing them - would only have a limited impact on other BS.

And if Nationwide do have this higher moral view when it comes to competition, then their mortgage interest rates would also give the smaller BS less of a challenge. It might also be expected that Nationwide would also be considering breaking itself up into smaller separate BS - not that I think that should happen. It will be interesting to see whether they reject taking on thousands of Co-op customers if the worst happens.

System

EachPenny wrote: »

Completely agree with the point about the need for mutuals to be able to compete and to have more of them.

I should have said "should be able to pay market leading rates". The recent Loyalty Saver rate cuts have been justified on the basis of difficult market conditions etc, not on having a virtuous policy of protecting the interests of other mutual BS. Unless members are not being told something.

The Loyalty Saver account is one where maintaining rates - even increasing them - would only have a limited impact on other BS.

And if Nationwide do have this higher moral view when it comes to competition, then their mortgage interest rates would also give the smaller BS less of a challenge. It might also be expected that Nationwide would also be considering breaking itself up into smaller separate BS - not that I think that should happen. It will be interesting to see whether they reject taking on thousands of Co-op customers if the worst happens.

Sky News keep mentioning Nationwide as the likely 'knight in shining armor' should Co-op not find a buyer and gets broken up.

I used to rate Nationwide highly, now they are simply a bank using the mutual image to appear cuddly.

EachPenny

Heng_Leng wrote: »

Sky News keep mentioning Nationwide as the likely 'knight in shining armor' should Co-op not find a buyer and gets broken up.

I used to rate Nationwide highly, now they are simply a bank using the mutual image to appear cuddly.

They have similar ethical values apparently :think:

eskbanker

EachPenny wrote: »

Heng_Leng wrote: »

Sky News keep mentioning Nationwide as the likely 'knight in shining armor' should Co-op not find a buyer and gets broken up.

I used to rate Nationwide highly, now they are simply a bank using the mutual image to appear cuddly.

They have similar ethical values apparently :think:

Who, Nationwide and Sky News?

Don80

I doubt you will find a bank that rewards loyalty. I'd say 2 things. Credit checks look for stability, so having an account for the long term is positive. That said, it's worth not thinking about loyalty, but what the banks offer you and be choosy. I have had an account with RBS for 15 years, which I'm closing. A few years ago I opened an account with TSB and they have been great. I'm also looking at opening an account with Bank of Scotland. But I will keep the TSB one as my bills account and use the Bank of Scotland for day-to-day spending.