Which current account?

gerrard88

Currently have an everyday santander current account but it offers me NOTHING

I want to switch and have looked at few options if anyone can give me some advice that would be great

Nationwide flex direct

Halifax reward current account

Thank!

eskbanker

My advice would be to decide what you're looking for (e.g. interest versus switching incentives versus cashback, etc) and then compare the leading products at https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/banking/compare-best-bank-accounts to see which fits your requirements the best....

Nick_C

gerrard88 wrote: »

Currently have an everyday santander current account but it offers me NOTHING

It offers you free banking. But that's the problem with not charging people for things; they don't appreciate the value of them!

The simplest change would be to upgrade to the 123 Lite current account and get cashback on your household bills (DDs) in exchange for a fee of £1 a month.

gerrard88

I stilll live with parents so only bill i really have is my Phonebill! I did look at stander lite but as i dont have lots of bills and own my house is it pointless?

Nick_C

Well if you only have one monthly direct debit, you are not going to get anything from a current account apart from free banking. Keep the minimum about necessary in there, and move your spare cash to an instant access savings account or a regular savings account.

gerrard88

Nick_C wrote: »

Well if you only have one monthly direct debit, you are not going to get anything from a current account apart from free banking. Keep the minimum about necessary in there, and move your spare cash to an instant access savings account or a regular savings account.

I have more than 1 but nothing like gas , water etc

DD i have are:
02
Car insurance
Car Tax

ValiantSon

gerrard88 wrote: »

I stilll live with parents so only bill i really have is my Phonebill! I did look at stander lite but as i dont have lots of bills and own my house is it pointless?

Yes, pretty much in your circumstances, 123 Lite would be of little to no benefit. Your mobile bill would need to be more than £33.50 to get any money back (cashback on telecoms is 3%, so £33.50 would cover the account fee only).

Nick_C wrote: »

Well if you only have one monthly direct debit, you are not going to get anything from a current account apart from free banking. Keep the minimum about necessary in there, and move your spare cash to an instant access savings account or a regular savings account.

Nonsense! There are other current account that offer different benefits and some of these may be useful for the OP. Easy access savings accounts will currently pay a maximum of 1.3% (or if you commit to a minimum monthly deposit with NatWest, 1.5%), but there are a number of current accounts that will pay more than that. Furthermore, other accounts offer additional incentives. Indeed, the OP has already identified options that will pay him for using their accounts.

OP, of the two accounts you have identified:

1) Nationwide FlexDirect will pay you 5% interest in the first year on a balance up to £2,500, but this reduces to 1% afterwards. If you have more than £2,500 and can leave that sum untouched then it is a good offer to take up now, but if not I'd hold it in reserve until you can take full advantage of it. The other benefit of this account is access to the Flexclusive regular saver which allows you to save up to £250 per month at 5%. No DDs needed.

2) Halifax Reward Account will pay you £3 p/m if you meet the minimum pay in of £750 p/m plus have two DDs going out. As you only seem to have one DD, however, you wouldn't benefit from this. Halifax will, at the moment, pay you £125 to switch to them.

There are other options, such as:

1) TSB Classic Plus paying 3% on balances up to £1,500 and cashback, until December, at £5 p/m if two DDs are paid out (would you have enough DDs?) and £5 p/m is 20 debit card transactions are made. No DDs needed for the interest.

2) First Direct will pay you £125 for switching to them. They don't pay any interest, but it would give you access to their regular saver, which pays 5% on up to £300 p/m. No DDs needed.

telemarks

As you have 3 DD's why not have a Halifax Reward account for the £125 bonus, then £3 p/m if you pay in £750. The interesting thing is you don't need to leave the £750 in there, you could then transfer any spare out into a higher interest savings (or other Bank) account for the rest of the month

YorkshireBoy

Just to expand on the Nationwide suggestion, if you havent got the means to max the benefit of the FlexDirect, then switching Santander into a FlexAccount would get you (and a friend) £100 each through their refer a friend promotion, as well as access to the 5% regular saver.

ValiantSon

telemarks wrote: »

As you have 3 DD's why not have a Halifax Reward account for the £125 bonus, then £3 p/m if you pay in £750. The interesting thing is you don't need to leave the £750 in there, you could then transfer any spare out into a higher interest savings (or other Bank) account for the rest of the month

Only if the car insurance and car tax are paying out every month.

gerrard88

ValiantSon wrote: »

Yes, pretty much in your circumstances, 123 Lite would be of little to no benefit. Your mobile bill would need to be more than £33.50 to get any money back (cashback on telecoms is 3%, so £33.50 would cover the account fee only).



Nonsense! There are other current account that offer different benefits and some of these may be useful for the OP. Easy access savings accounts will currently pay a maximum of 1.3% (or if you commit to a minimum monthly deposit with NatWest, 1.5%), but there are a number of current accounts that will pay more than that. Furthermore, other accounts offer additional incentives. Indeed, the OP has already identified options that will pay him for using their accounts.

OP, of the two accounts you have identified:

1) Nationwide FlexDirect will pay you 5% interest in the first year on a balance up to £2,500, but this reduces to 1% afterwards. If you have more than £2,500 and can leave that sum untouched then it is a good offer to take up now, but if not I'd hold it in reserve until you can take full advantage of it. The other benefit of this account is access to the Flexclusive regular saver which allows you to save up to £250 per month at 5%. No DDs needed.

2) Halifax Reward Account will pay you £3 p/m if you meet the minimum pay in of £750 p/m plus have two DDs going out. As you only seem to have one DD, however, you wouldn't benefit from this. Halifax will, at the moment, pay you £125 to switch to them.

There are other options, such as:

1) TSB Classic Plus paying 3% on balances up to £1,500 and cashback, until December, at £5 p/m if two DDs are paid out (would you have enough DDs?) and £5 p/m is 20 debit card transactions are made. No DDs needed for the interest.

2) First Direct will pay you £125 for switching to them. They don't pay any interest, but it would give you access to their regular saver, which pays 5% on up to £300 p/m. No DDs needed.

Thanks for all your replies

Yeah i have 3 direct debits.
02 goes out every month
Car tax goes out each month
Admiral insurance goes out every month

So this in mind is the Halifax reward account the best option

thanks for all your replies