Top Bank Accounts Discussion Area

greencode

gezzs wrote: »

I've just completed transferring from Alliance and Leicester to First Direct (following good reviews on here). What a breath of fresh air!

First Direct have been extremely helpful at every stage. If I have phoned them - I speak to a REAL PERSON - not a 15 stage menu driven automated system - and they are quick to answer.

To be honest I'd planned to switch again after six months to get the additional £100 - but I don't think I'll bother. They are far better that A&L have been.

I recommend First Direct!:j

I've been with FD for around 5 years or so now and it really is first rate customer service. Even very late at night or peak times they generally answer the call within a few rings.

rd6821

Hello, I wondered if anyone could clarify something for me about transferring bank accounts. When it says in the T&Cs you have to transfer or switch your bank account to the new provider what does this mean exactly? Does it just mean you have to transfer any Direct Debits etc over or does it close the old account for the new one? Also when they say they'll transfer your DDs etc is this for all the ones you have with the old provider or just the ones in the account you want to switch?

heloid

rd6821 wrote: »

Hello, I wondered if anyone could clarify something for me about transferring bank accounts. When it says in the T&Cs you have to transfer or switch your bank account to the new provider what does this mean exactly? Does it just mean you have to transfer any Direct Debits etc over or does it close the old account for the new one? Also when they say they'll transfer your DDs etc is this for all the ones you have with the old provider or just the ones in the account you want to switch?

You have to transfer all your DD's (at least one usually) and SO's using their switching service from an existing account (any one of your open accounts with a DD basically). Any other accounts won't be touched at all.
You don't have to close your existing account.

markbernstein

This may have been mentioned already, but I think it's worth mentioning (again) in response to today's MMT email, which features the new cash-back deal on Santander current accounts.
The Consumer Association (i.e., Which?) comments as follows:
'At 5%, the Santander current account pays the highest credit interest rate on the market, and the bonus £100 is a welcome boost to consumers switching account.
'However, Santander scores poorly in our current account customer satisfaction survey, earning a woeful 48%, the lowest score of all current account providers. In contrast, the best-performing bank, Which? Award-winning First Direct, scored an impressive 89%.
'If you want the most competitive deal, Santander's offer is worth considering. If you want excellent customer service, look elsewhere.'
(The forum software doesn't allow me to include the link properly. Replace the hyphens in the domain address by dots:
www-which-co-uk/news/2010/06/santander-offers-100-to-switch-plus-5-interest-218100)

Conan

Just fyi

about 1 year ago I applied online for the A&L Premier c/a. On my way through I got to a dead point because I had lived in UK for 2y 10months only, but I was asked up to 3y of UK addresses. I gave up, just to receive an email (email address provided at the beginning of the application) the day after suggesting to call a 0800 number to complete the procedure. The operator said that such limit was not applied to phone application, so (in a 30min call) I completed the application.
A few days later I received the answer: my application was rejected, and over the phone I came to know that it was because of... the less-than-3 years of UK addresses!!!:mad: I appealed but that didn't help.

Last week:
confident about my now-4 year history of UK addresses (always the same in fact) I applied again, this time to be asked... 5 years of UK addresses!!
Gave up, but again same story: email received, phone call done to complete application, no problem for the 5 year limit, 40 min spent providing an insane amount of personal details, and a final rejection received by post a few days later. This time I can't even bother to call and ask the reason.

These guys are a joke, they waste your time claiming you're entitled to apply and then they just collect all the personal details and information they can.

Definitely not worth the £100 reward if then you're bound to deal with such an untrustworthy company!

PS: never had defaults, missed payments, used overdrafts, or had any financial hiccup whatsoever. Always been in credit, full time employed.

Conan

Pixy wrote: »

All the recommendations are for switching accounts completely. I just want to open a 2nd current account in order to separate my finances from my partner's; I'll be paying c£3000 in a month but don't want to switch direct debits and standing orders. Oh, and I don't go into overdraft ... So which bank is best for me?

If your balance is constantly above £3000, take Lloyds Classic, add the Vantage option and you'll get 3% interest. It makes £6/month minimum, which beats the Halifax.
If the balance is between 5k and 7k you get a whopping 4%, it's a £13/month minimum interest! :T
However to get those interests you do have to pay in at least £1000/month, otherwise you get the basic 0,1%.

rd6821

With the Santander 5% deal, can you move your DDs etc to another account once they've been transferred to Santander? I have some DDs that I want to keep on a certain account, so if these were transferred to Santander to qualify for the offer, could I then transfer them back?

black_taxi_2

lloyds vantage pays

4% aer
3.93% gross
3.14% net

5k--7k

what does that pay a month?

thx

Conan

black_taxi wrote: »

lloyds vantage pays

4% aer
3.93% gross
3.14% net

5k--7k

what does that pay a month?

thx

let's do counts over a whole year

example: you start with £5k, assuming the amount doesn't get touched over 12 months (forget the £1000 founding, assume they get out as they get in)

interest: 4% over a year makes £200 gross interests
basic rate taxpayer: 20%, you're left with £160
on average you've got £160 spread over 12 months: it's about £13,3:j

In fact you don't get every month the average: your first month you'll get slightly less, the last one slightly more than £13,3, but the final sum will be £160 anyway (that's the meaning of AER: annual equivalent rate).

Do the same counts with £7000, it makes an average of £18,6:D

I've had it for several months now and I can confirm that I get more than £16 every month with an average balance of about £6000.:beer:

it's really good, if you think that my isa gives me 2,5% taxfree, it makes more sense to me to keep the savings in the current account because it gives me the 3,14% net!!

black_taxi_2

big thx conan

is the 6k in your account also your emergency fund/im going to use it as my EF