The best current account for me?

bp5678

I'm currently with Nationwide Flexidirect because I wanted to get the £100 sign up bonus (i actually got a further £100 as a family member was with Nationwide and kindly let me have their £100 too). On top of this I'm getting 5% interest but it's only on £2,500.

I've seen this page on Moneysavingexpert: https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/banking/compare-best-bank-accounts/

To be honest I'm quite interested in just jumping between different banks short term to make the most of their signing up perks. Working out which is right for me is so tough because they each have their own perks. If I get good interest from it, that is a bonus but not the main priority (the joining bonus is the main priority).

Not so bothered about cashback, insurance, overdraft.

If it helps, I earn about £1600 a month, have 2 direct debits, and about £7000 currently in there (this number should increase).

Willing2Learn

M&S pay you £185 to stay with them for a year. I don't think that can be beaten.

xylophone

You would wish to keep the Nationwide account for the 5% interest on £2,500?

You could open another account with NW, change your DDs to that account and switch it to Halifax for a cash bonus?

PRAISETHESUN

If you just want to tart around for switching bonuses, open up a second FlexAccount with Nationwide and use that to switch rather than switching the FlexDirect account... the 5% is probably the best on the market at the moment.

Not many banks are offering good switch incentives at the moment, but M&S Bank offer a £125 gift card if you switch, and a further £5/month for a year if you pay out 2 DDs (£185 total as mentioned above). Halifax has a £75 bonus which is (apparently) fast to pay out. First Direct has a voucher for tech products that are supposedly worth around £150 - you could sell the item for cash on eBay I guess. IMO it's worth keeping all those open (except Halifax) for the 5% regular saver that those banks offer - so nothing stopping you opening multiple 3 more Nationwide accounts and then switching them individually to all three banks to get the switching bonuses, then also reaping the rewards for keeping an account open with them longer term.

Basically all the best options are in the link you posted. Good luck!

bp5678

@Willing2Learn - Yes the money you get in M&S vouchers is very good, however as M&S is very expensive the £185 worth of food could be bought in Lidl/Aldi for £70.

You almost have to look at the £185 voucher they give you as a £120 voucher since their food is very expensive if you know what I mean.

bp5678

@xylophone - Yes I would like to (ideally) continue to receive the 5% on £2500 with Nationwide but realistically I won't be able to open 2 current accounts yet still meet the full requirements so the account reaches its potential.

Zanderman

bp5678 wrote: »

@Willing2Learn - Yes the money you get in M&S vouchers is very good, however as M&S is very expensive the £185 worth of food could be bought in Lidl/Aldi for £70.

You almost have to look at the £185 voucher they give you as a £120 voucher since their food is very expensive if you know what I mean.

Those two statements are a little contradictory! Do you consider the M&S £185 is worth £70 or £120?

Actually I'd disagree on both - you just have to be canny in how you spend the £185, wait for decent offers etc,

bp5678 wrote: »

@xylophone - Yes I would like to (ideally) continue to receive the 5% on £2500 with Nationwide but realistically I won't be able to open 2 current accounts yet still meet the full requirements so the account reaches its potential.

Not sure what you mean here - the FlexAccount has no requirements, so no problem with opening one. Switching it to another bank for benefits may need you to add DDs or other conditions but those can be met fairly easily by adding new small DDs etc to charities, paypal etc, You just need to be creative in the way you approach these things.

colsten

bp5678 wrote: »

@Willing2Learn - Yes the money you get in M&S vouchers is very good, however as M&S is very expensive the £185 worth of food could be bought in Lidl/Aldi for £70.

You almost have to look at the £185 voucher they give you as a £120 voucher since their food is very expensive if you know what I mean.

There is food and there is food. You always get what you pay for. I have, for instance, stopped buying berries in either Aldi or Lidl as they barely last a day before they go off. That just doesn't happen with M&S berries. I do buy other stuff, mainly in Lidl, not least because M&S simply don't stock it. I loved spending my free M&S money in M&S - - and worth noting, they don't only sell food :cool:

colsten

Zanderman wrote: »

Those two statements are a little contradictory! Do you consider the M&S £185 is worth £70 or £120?

Actually I'd disagree on both - you just have to be canny in how you spend the £185, wait for decent offers etc,

I agree, if you have a Sparks card, and perhaps also an M&S credit card, there are some super deals to be had, on an ongoing basis.

One thing though: opening an M&S current account does test your patience. Lots of recent reports that it takes weeks. It's worth it though, not least because you get access to their 5% regular saver if you play your cards right. I never used my M&S current account as my main current account, though - their app is behind the times, and so is their online banking.