Top Bank Accounts Discussion Area

Baldur

gozaimasu wrote: »

Another thought though - can you transfer 750, take it out again and then put 750 in to make up the 1500?

Yes - or any other permutation that totals £1,500.

From memory, the only restriction is that the funds cannot be paid into the account from another account with FD but you'd need to confirm that by reading the Ts & Cs.

sanunn

Hi. i wonder if you can help me.

I am on the verge of getting a Individual Voluntary Arrangement (IVA) or Debt Management Plan (DMP) and need a decent neutral bank account. I think I still have a good credit score but this will change quite quickly. I have seen Martin's latest Bank Account update but unsure of which category I fall under e.g. I never go into Overdraft (as I theoretically will not be allowed credit under the IVA); and I am slightly put off by the negative feedback about Santander's customer service.

My debts are with First Direct, Barclays, Nationwide, Egg, Bank of Ireland & Virgin.

TIA

boots_babe

I've read the Ts and Cs of the current Santander offer for switching to them, and it doesn't explicitly say in there that you must switch your salary to get the £130 in incentives.

It does however say you must switch your 'main' current account, but there is nothing to define what they mean by 'main'.

Can anyone confirm whether you do indeed have to switch your main account plus salary to them to qualify? Or can I switch another account which has at least 2 DDs, and just make a BACS payment each month to cover the min payment required?

Thanks.

DonsChappers

boots_babe wrote: »

I've read the Ts and Cs of the current Santander offer for switching to them, and it doesn't explicitly say in there that you must switch your salary to get the £130 in incentives.

It does however say you must switch your 'main' current account, but there is nothing to define what they mean by 'main'.

Can anyone confirm whether you do indeed have to switch your main account plus salary to them to qualify? Or can I switch another account which has at least 2 DDs, and just make a BACS payment each month to cover the min payment required?

Thanks.

I would like to know the answer to this too.

Thank you

Wolfsbane2k

Just popped into Halifax today, the 28th Dec 2011 to open a current account (best local) to find that they also offer a £100 account transfer bonus. To me this looks like the best 1 year plan by a long way ( assuming that the current account is almost emptied each month...)

pcyam

Have a FD account setup for the incentive, I have to admit it was purely for the £100 incentive. Did have DDs switched over even though it wasnt necessary. Has anyone been successful in moving account away and bagging the extra £100?

stphnstevey

How do you open a joint account with Halifax online and still get their £100 offer?

Anglichanin

Hello,
My wife recently moved here to the UK (she has ID, is legal, etc) from Russia and is looking to open a current account. She has a Russian account but I'm sure the UK switching service could not automatically transfer accounts from the Russian banking system, which still uses transistors, string and HUGE queues for 'service'.

As an entirely new customer in the UK market, which would be her best bet for a current account? Do any offer incentives if the customer is not actually switching from another UK account?
Cheers!

missing_string

I have an RBS graduate account, that I mainly took to clear my overdraft (now done) and for the 2% cashback on purchases which is now coming to an end. I'm therefore looking to switch.

I'm a little confused between Santander Account and the Halifax account. I have 2 questions regarding this:


1. Now, I am aware that Santander Customer Service is not that great, but since my banking needs are not huge I'm willing to put this to one side, and look at this from a purely "best bang for buck" point of view. With that in mind, if I had £2500 in the Santander account would I be right in thinking this is correct?

Santander - £2500 in 12 months = £2625
Halifax - £2500 in 12 months = £2560

Therefore, to me it looks like Santander will give me more money over the Halifax account, is this a correct assumption?


2. I'm also looking to put some money into savings. The 5% AER looks better than an ISA/regular savings account, based on my calculations. I don't understand why you would open an ISA/savings account if you had less than the £2500 in the Santander account, the rates on the ISA/Savings page are around the 3% mark.

However, with that said, if I had more than this, on the regular savings account page it has for Santander: Easy access at "3.1% AER variable inc 2.6% bonus". Is this 5.7% for 12 months? Surely then it would be better to open a Halifax Account and put any spare cash I have into this savings account?

Sorry if what I've posted is simple stuff, but to me it's very confusing.

rb10

missing_string wrote: »

Santander - £2500 in 12 months = £2625
Halifax - £2500 in 12 months = £2560

Therefore, to me it looks like Santander will give me more money over the Halifax account, is this a correct assumption?[/quote]

Nearly ... if you're not a taxpayer, then you'll get £125 on the Santander account as you correctly say. But the Halifax Reward is paid net of tax, so you can claim back £1.25 per month from HMRC, meaning that in total you can get £90.

If you are a taxpayer then it's £100 from Santander or £60 from Halifax.

But ... something else to throw into the mix is that the Halifax Reward is ongoing, whilst the Santander interest only lasts for one year.

missing_string wrote: »

2. I'm also looking to put some money into savings. The 5% AER looks better than an ISA/regular savings account, based on my calculations. I don't understand why you would open an ISA/savings account if you had less than the £2500 in the Santander account, the rates on the ISA/Savings page are around the 3% mark.

Yes, that makes sense.

missing_string wrote: »

However, with that said, if I had more than this, on the regular savings account page it has for Santander: Easy access at "3.1% AER variable inc 2.6% bonus". Is this 5.7% for 12 months? Surely then it would be better to open a Halifax Account and put any spare cash I have into this savings account?

Sorry if what I've posted is simple stuff, but to me it's very confusing.

It's 3.1% AER including the bonus, i.e. 3.1% variable for one year, then dropping to 0.5% AER (variable).