Plucking up courage to switch....

Brock_and_Roll

Dear all,


Been thinking that I really should give some thought to switching bank accounts, to take advantage of the apparently good offers..


Here is my current situation:

• With First Direct 30 or so years, no problems
• Relatively high salary going in
• Correspondingly high number of DDs etc going out!
• Have joint account with wife
• Wife also has account with Lloyds for her salary

Is it really that easy & hassle free to switch? Was looking at moving to HSBC (which does not seem to exclude First Direct customers from its offer)


Could I set up 2 new individual accounts (one each) thus doubling any signing on bonuses?


Can you be even smarter and move money around intra month to gain further advantages from new accounts?


Any advice much appreciated.

18cc

In general it is easy to switch BUT things can go occasionally wrong. It's important that you decide if £150 is worth the potential hassle , particularly if you are happy with FD.

a lot of people on here set up donor accounts to switch thus avoiding switching their 'main' current account. Some of course do switch their main account - I personally wouldnt

Mchambers

Done this loads of times. Any probs, I just complain and get compensation.

Nice and easy.

NineDeuce

Doesnt really require courage. It is very very easy to do. Never give any loyalty to banks.

colsten

Brock_and_Roll wrote: »

Could I set up 2 new individual accounts (one each) thus doubling any signing on bonuses?

You can set up as many accounts as you like, and switch to them if your application gets accepted. You'll only get any switching bonus according to the switch offer T&Cs, all of which now only pay once. A joint account can only be switched to a joint account, not to one or more sole accounts.

xylophone

Had you considered a 123 joint account (regular or LITE) for your DDs that are eligible for cashback?

https://www.santander.co.uk/uk/current-accounts/123-current-account?cid=ppc-123currentaccounts-google-dr-search-currentaccounts-Apr17&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIw5vbr4i42QIVZr7tCh2euATbEAAYASAAEgJO1fD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

System

Is your sole account a joint one but wife has her own too?

[Deleted User]

Mchambers wrote: »

Done this loads of times. Any probs, I just complain and get compensation.

Nice and easy.

Of which there is no need to do...

castle96

Do it. Mostly easy. Fun Rewarding. Nearly £3k earned over the last few years, though those 'easy' offers have gone. Have never earned anything from Nationwide re the 'refer a friend' though.

telemarks

18cc wrote: »

a lot of people on here set up donor accounts to switch thus avoiding switching their 'main' current account. Some of course do switch their main account - I personally wouldnt

Like you I've been very happy with Midland then First Direct over MANY years, there are accounts that would give me a few more £ each month, but FD have been good so I'll continue to support them.

Recently I decided to follow 18cc advice, and have set up extra current accounts just for switching. The hard part is moving a couple of the low value DD from the main FD account to each of these "switcher" accounts. Some are easy online, some not.

But once up and running its easy. My recent Tesco to Halifax switch has just paid me from no accounts to £125 in 6 working days, so why not :beer:

ValiantSon

!!! wrote: »

Of which there is no need to do...

To be fair, if errors are made in the switching process it is completely legitimate to complain about it.

I know Mchambers appears to make numerous vexatious complaints, but it doesn't mean that sometimes their complaints aren't justified.