Free money from banks

arfabrane

Hi all! This may seem obvious to many of you, but with the high street banks all vying for your business, it is possible to use this to your considerable advantage. Let me give you a workable example to illustrate how you can get free cash from the banks (all accounts mentioned are current accounts and have no monthly fee)...

If you switch accounts to the Halifax Reward account using their switching service, they will give you £125. As long as you pay in £750 and have at least 2 direct debits per month, they will also give you £3 a month reward (if you're anything like me, you have loads of direct debits!)

Now it gets juicy - if you then open a Plus account with the TSB, you do NOT need to switch, but to benefit you must pay in £500 a month - if you use your debit card 20 times a month, they'll give you £5. If you have at least 2 direct debits, they'll give you £5 (these 2 offers only go on until June 2018). Plus, they'll may a whopping(!) 3% interest on balances up to £1500 (which is more than I get in my savings account!) as long as you go paperless and have internet banking.

So, for example, I have my Halifax account which I have my salary paid into, which satisfies the £750 deposit criterion, and have left all but two of my direct debits with them. I have transferred £1500 straight over into the TSB account as an interest earning float, and have set up a standing order to transfer £500 over into the TSB account each month (which satisfies their depositing criterion). I have then changed the outstanding 2 direct debits to come out of the TSB.

The overall free cash I'm getting is this:-

Halifax - £125 for switching
Halifax - £3 a month for having my salary paid in and 2 DD's
TSB - £5 a month for transferring £500 in and having 2 DD's
TSB - £5 a month if I use my TSB debit card 20 times in a month
TSB - 3% interest on the £1500 float

I'm sure there are other deals out there that can get you even more free cash - depending on how many direct debits you have, you could probably work out a whole chain of banks to transfer money in and out of to maximise your gain.

Like I said, it may seem obvious, but thought it worthy of posting for those it hasn't occurred to, and so others may follow up with alternative free revenue streams from the competition between the banks

agrinnall

"Basil Fawlty: Can't we get you on Mastermind, Sybil? Next contestant: Mrs. Sybil Fawlty from Torquay. Specialist subject - the bleeding obvious."

arfabrane

Thanks for the sarcasm - whilst it may seem obvious, what isn't so obvious is that certainly for the TSB, you do NOT need to switch your account to them, just to open an account.

But maybe, just maybe, not everyone is as clued up as you

Bodkin74

Been trying to complete the application to switch to TSB Classic Plus account for last 3 days with no success. Error message after completing the first page. I've tried using a different browser other than Chrome. Any ideas anyone?

arfabrane

No idea, I'm afraid. Last night I opened my account without a hitch using Chrome, so I'm guessing it's more likely to be a fault at their end rather than yours (though I did not try to switch to them, just to open an account).

eskbanker

arfabrane wrote: »

I'm sure there are other deals out there that can get you even more free cash

You're not wrong there, which is why a prominent consumer finance website lists the offers at http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/banking/compare-best-bank-accounts, regularly emails 12 million people about them and provides an active forum where they're discussed endlessly in great detail....

arfabrane

eskbanker wrote: »

You're not wrong there, which is why a prominent consumer finance website lists the offers at http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/banking/compare-best-bank-accounts, regularly emails 12 million people about them and provides an active forum where they're discussed endlessly in great detail....

Yep, and each account is discussed individually in detail, which is great, without pointing out that by moving cash between accounts you can grab freebies from multiple accounts, nor does it mention accounts which force you to close your existing accounts or ones where you can just open one willy-nilly.

I'm so happy to be surrounded by such experts that know everything about everything, and are happy to pour scorn on someone who may be able to clue others up just because they already know the info. It's also a delight to be in the presence of people with such razor sharp wit, that they are able to quote old comedy shows without making any contribution to assist people whatsoever.

Please accept my apologies for taking the time and trying to make a useful post - clearly such things are not appreciated on the forums.

eskbanker

arfabrane wrote: »

Yep, and each account is discussed individually in detail, which is great, without pointing out that by moving cash between accounts you can grab freebies from multiple accounts, nor does it mention accounts which force you to close your existing accounts or ones where you can just open one willy-nilly.

No, those are the subject of a different article: http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/savings/savings-loophole

And there's no need to take it personally - you're not the first and won't be the last to get a bit of ribbing for posting stuff that's familiar to most in the mistaken belief that you're breaking news....

TonyCToo

Hi all
I like the service offered by my bank but would also like to take advantage of the free money offered. This free money offered usually requires you to use their switching service which effectively closes your present bank account.
The only way I can see to take advantage of this is to open a 'sacrificial' bank account and add a few direct debits to it, then shortly afterwards use this account for switching. In effect only having the 'sacrificial' account open for say a month before it being closed by the freebie bank switching service.
Would this approach affect your credit record or at the very least !!!! off the 'sacrificial' bank?
Or am I missing a trick?

eskbanker

TonyCToo wrote: »

Would this approach affect your credit record

Slightly, yes, in that opening an extra account will involve a credit check that'll be recorded as a search on your files, but many on here have set up numerous current accounts without any issue. It might not be a good idea to open loads of new accounts shortly before applying for a mortgage but in most other circumstances you should be OK.

TonyCToo wrote: »

or at the very least !!!! off the 'sacrificial' bank?

Who cares?!

binaryuniverse

It's all done by computers. I doubt they'll care.