Top Bank Accounts Discussion Area

mrmajika

dab43 wrote: »

I have noticed on First Direct website , that they say you have to have the account for 6 months, to get £100. Yet on MSE it says only 3 months. Who is right?.

It's 3 months of at least £1500 payments to claim the first £100 joining incentive. It's 6 months of at least £1500 payments to claim the second £100 if closing the account at that point.

cashinattic

ulysses76 wrote: »

Sorry to go off-topic, but re the A&L Premier direct current account, can anyone tell me if the following is feasible?
I have £12000 which I can stash away, but rather than tie it up for a year or two, I wondered if I could do the following?
1: I open up an A&L Premier direct account with £2500 & then refer my wife as a friend (£25 each), who opens up an account with £2500.
2:Both open up the Abbey account with £2500 that gives 6% interest.
3: Both open up an HBOS account that pays £5/month for depositing £1000/month.
I would then set up DD's to transfer £ 1000 between my 3 accounts & the same for my wife.
By my calculations, that gives 4 x £150 for the Abbey + A&L accounts, £60 each for the HBOS accounts plus the £25 each rom A&L for refer a friend, giving a total of £770 made from £12,000 for a year as opposed to £480 if you got a fixed rate of 4%.
Do these figures add up & is it legal?

Thanks

I was going to post a very similar question. I also have a HBOS account that I recieve £5 per month interest for depositing £1000 (they say it doesn't matter what you take out a month) therefore similar to your query could I transfer every month £1000 OUT of this account into a seperate bank then back IN the next month to gain the £5 interest, effectively just recycling the same £1000, can you do this and is it legal? thanks to those who reply.

book12

cashinattic wrote: »

I was going to post a very similar question. I also have a HBOS account that I recieve £5 per month interest for depositing £1000 (they say it doesn't matter what you take out a month) therefore similar to your query could I transfer every month £1000 OUT of this account into a seperate bank then back IN the next month to gain the £5 interest, effectively just recycling the same £1000, can you do this and is it legal? thanks to those who reply.

You can do that.

Surfer

Can any one recommend a good online banking service as Alliance & Leicester really stinks and has to be the worst Online banking service in the world as nothing is in real time which makes it hard to manage your money and avoid charges?
We do not have an overdraft and have only twice had an unauthorsied overdraft for 1 day incurring a £5 penalty charge but on both occasions this was due to the way that they manage the account and not us. They did pay us compensation but that is not the point. Nationwide is out of the running for now.

rb10

Surfer wrote: »

Can any one recommend a good online banking service as Alliance & Leicester really stinks and has to be the worst Online banking service in the world as nothing is in real time which makes it hard to manage your money and avoid charges?
We do not have an overdraft and have only twice had an unauthorsied overdraft for 1 day incurring a £5 penalty charge but on both occasions this was due to the way that they manage the account and not us. They did pay us compensation but that is not the point. Nationwide is out of the running for now.

Most people consider that HSBC and Halifax have the best online banking.

If you often use your overdraft, HSBC may be better, otherwise you can probably get a better deal from Halifax (i.e. £5 per month). Check the two banks' websites.

stphnstevey

Originally Posted by ulysses76
Sorry to go off-topic, but re the A&L Premier direct current account, can anyone tell me if the following is feasible?
I have £12000 which I can stash away, but rather than tie it up for a year or two, I wondered if I could do the following?
1: I open up an A&L Premier direct account with £2500 & then refer my wife as a friend (£25 each), who opens up an account with £2500.
2:Both open up the Abbey account with £2500 that gives 6% interest.
3: Both open up an HBOS account that pays £5/month for depositing £1000/month.
I would then set up DD's to transfer £ 1000 between my 3 accounts & the same for my wife.
By my calculations, that gives 4 x £150 for the Abbey + A&L accounts, £60 each for the HBOS accounts plus the £25 each rom A&L for refer a friend, giving a total of £770 made from £12,000 for a year as opposed to £480 if you got a fixed rate of 4%.
Do these figures add up & is it legal?

Thanks

Nice idea, but Abbey and A+L are both Santander now and I am sure in their T+C's I saw them saying that you can't take the offer if you already have an account with them

It's ended now anyway hasn't it?

i-luv-free-stuff

hi
im also looking for a bit of advice.
i am a small time ebayer and make around £50 a month selling bits but i want to put all my earnings and pay all my postage out of one account instead of keeping all my money in my paypal account and paying my postage out of my savings so i would need a cash card.
i wouldnt imagine i would get much interest but any suggestions welcome.
cheers

JimmyTheWig

i-luv-free-stuff wrote: »

hi
im also looking for a bit of advice.
i am a small time ebayer and make around £50 a month selling bits but i want to put all my earnings and pay all my postage out of one account instead of keeping all my money in my paypal account and paying my postage out of my savings so i would need a cash card.
i wouldnt imagine i would get much interest but any suggestions welcome.
cheers

I agree you won't get much interest.
I'd suggest you choose whatever bank is most convenient for you to get to.
It would probably be easiest to open a second account with a bank you already use.

i-luv-free-stuff

cheers
anything online of interest?

JimmyTheWig

i-luv-free-stuff wrote: »

cheers
anything online of interest?

I don't understand the question.
All banks these days seem to offer internet banking, if that helps?