Top Bank Accounts Discussion Area

londonlydia

think I'm going to go with Halifax after weighing up the options.

I know about current account savings but when I said about scooping up my spare cash, it's not just into personal savings. As well as having a joint house account (Santander), I partition off various savings for different things...

White_Rose_Tight_ThaKnows

Would Santander (or any high street bank, in fact) put a custom spend limit on a debit card? I realise there is a withdrawl limit in place.

My switch to 123 was finalised today and I'm a little worried about having the amount in my account on my card.

I'm hoping to visiting a local branch this afternoon but some advice prior would be helpful.

innovate

No you can't get a limit on a current account. If you can't trust yourself, you would need to pay the price and put your money into a low interest rate fixed term account where access is impossible, or only with big penalties.

White_Rose_Tight_ThaKnows

innovate wrote: »

No you can't get a limit on a current account. If you can't trust yourself, you would need to pay the price and put your money into a low interest rate fixed term account where access is impossible, or only with big penalties.

It wasn't about not trusting myself, I'm a thorough tight-!!!!! I can see how that can come across though.

I don't plan to spend willy-nilly with that card I was only wondering about another level of security if my card was lost or stolen or cloned or whatever the crooks are doing these days.

edit: ... and it's contactless.

innovate

Your other option is not to use the account for day-to-day spending. Keep the card at home, cut it up. Use e.g. a TSB account for your cash / debit card needs.

But may be you fret too much.

As long as nobody else has access to your card at home, and as long as your online access is kept secret, your liability in case of fraudulent activity on your account will be next to nil.

I have had several 123s for several years and never had a penny missing, even though I do use the debit card on one of them regularly.

White_Rose_Tight_ThaKnows

innovate wrote: »

Your other option is not to use the account for day-to-day spending. Keep the card at home, cut it up. Use e.g. a TSB account for your cash / debit card needs.

But may be you fret too much.

As long as nobody else has access to your card at home, and as long as your online access is kept secret, your liability in case of fraudulent activity on your account will be next to nil.

I have had several 123s for several years and never had a penny missing, even though I do use the debit card on one of them regularly.

Ok, thanks. Saves me an hour and a trek to the branch.

chickenboy

There are 2 types of people who are looking at this thread I think -
1. People shopping for a new current account provider, and
2. Those who will try all offers to get as many perks & benefits as they can.
Hopefully some tips that will help both camps...

I have all of the accounts in the original article (yes, I do mean all of them).

Martin's original article claims that Co-op have good customer service - I did not find this to be the case. They were very difficult when opening the account as on one form they did not like people with middle names, and then threw a hissy fit when one of my proofs of ID included my middle name and one did not (not every bank or council will bother with middle names). After complaining they saw sense, then came the switching debacle - they kept moving back the switch date due to internal office problems, so my first £1800 into the account was actually 7 days *before* the switch was actioned. This they say violated the terms of their £100 offer (which says a balance must with credited "within 30 days" of the switch -- I argued successfully that 7 days before is in fact "within" 30 days -- but had to argue the point).

M&S Bank - (not in original article, but should be considered). Their online banking platform is a bit simple at present, but my main problem is that it seems to be down a lot (its not that I cannot log in, its just you go to the log in back and its says its unavailable). I would guess they are a bit swamped by demand at present. Their customer services are very good, polite and seem to be all UK call centres.

First Direct - Absolutely the best and friendliest when it comes to customer service. They have a good high interest regular saver (coming to the end of my 3rd year of this), reliable platform, but sadly no interest on their current account. I keep it just for the regular saver and as an easy way to post cheques to my bank when I get them.

Yorkshire Bank / Clydesdale bank - a lengthy application process, and a small amount of interest (interest on a small amount) - hardly worth the hassle.

Sadly Nationwide have limited their 5% offer to just one account of £2,500. Worth it for a year, plus the free travel cover. Oh, and cashback when you switch to them (with topcashback or quidco).

Santander - excellent and innovative account. Cashback on regular bills and excellent interest on a sensible amount of balance - you can't beat this one. Customer service has been good, except when you fall foul of their security team the first time you do an online transfer -- don't bother calling, just wait for the team to look at your transfer and approve it (they cannot tell you anything and like to make up time limits if you push them -- basically the guys on the phone don't know what the security team behind the scenes are doing). Otherwise -- absolutely excellent, if you want just one current account, get this one. I make loads back on my standard bills!

danielm2014uk

Can someone clarify this as it is not very clear. when signing up to these bank accounts that give you interest on amounts, they request a minimum monthly pay in, e.g. Lloyds wants £1500 minimum. Can this be money transferred from another account or does it have to be from a specific source say like a pension or wage credit?

YorkshireBoy

danielm2014uk wrote: »

Can someone clarify this as it is not very clear. when signing up to these bank accounts that give you interest on amounts, they request a minimum monthly pay in, e.g. Lloyds wants £1500 minimum. Can this be money transferred from another account or does it have to be from a specific source say like a pension or wage credit?

I'm not aware of any accounts that stipulate salary/pension/benefits in the form of a BACS Direct Credit. Some do exclude internal transfers though, so be sure to read the small print.

polymaff

danielm2014uk wrote: »

Can someone clarify this as it is not very clear. when signing up to these bank accounts that give you interest on amounts, they request a minimum monthly pay in, e.g. Lloyds wants £1500 minimum. Can this be money transferred from another account or does it have to be from a specific source say like a pension or wage credit?

According to my local branch, Lloyds recognised that they made a mistake in the past and now require that these regular payments be PAYMENTS and not TRANSFERS (i.e. same-bank, same-signatory. transactions).

The most cash-efficient way of doing this is as a Faster Payment from some other bank/building society - or, more to the point, once you've got a balance equal to the interest-earning cap - two Faster Payments, one in and then, immediately, the same amount back out again - maybe as part of a "daisy-chain" paymenting of your Lloyds, TSB, Nationwide, Santander, Yorkshire etc. etc. interest-bearing bank accounts.

Incidentally, not all banks/building societies start their "months" on the first of the calendar month. I guess that the safest day of the month for Lloyds is the 15th of the calendar month.