Switching Bank accounts - Maximising rewards

Drazik101

Hi, I have been with First Direct for many years but I want to switch away to gain a reward from another bank and stay with them for a period of time before switching back to First Direct to gain their joining rewards, so effectively x2 reward just for moving away from them and back to them. What is the timescales I can do this in, 6-12 months? Are there any t&c's regarding this?

Thanks,

badger09

Drazik101 wrote: »

Hi, I have been with First Direct for many years but I want to switch away to gain a reward from another bank and stay with them for a period of time before switching back to First Direct to gain their joining rewards, so effectively x2 reward just for moving away from them and back to them. What is the timescales I can do this in, 6-12 months? Are there any t&c's regarding this?

Thanks,

yes, there are indeed T&Cs covering this

https://www1.firstdirect.com/1/2/banking/switching-bank-accounts

PRAISETHESUN

First Direct usually state that you can't get a switching bonus if you've EVER held an account with them before - but you should definitely check the T&Cs of any switching offers carefully to make sure you are eligible. Otherwise there is nothing stopping you doing exactly as you've proposed. Unless the T&Cs state the account has to be open for a minimum period (eg. Nationwide), then as soon as you receive the switching bonus you can generally switch the account to another bank to get more rewards. The only problem might be the hit to your credit file from opening/closing multiple accounts in a short period of time, but if you do 1-2 accounts every few months you should be okay I would think.

https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/banking/compare-best-bank-accounts/

Check the link for the best accounts that offer switching bonuses. I can also give advice on switching to Nationwide using their refer a friend scheme - PM me for details.

Cotta

As the First Direct reward is no longer financial, is it worth doing this?


Also on a separate note has anyone every received two switching awards from the same bank?

colsten

Cotta wrote: »

Also on a separate note has anyone every received two switching awards from the same bank?

Yes it has been seen in the past but not in the recent past. It's never been seen with First Direct though, and as you say, their present offer might not even be worth going for any longer.

PRAISETHESUN

Cotta wrote: »

As the First Direct reward is no longer financial, is it worth doing this?


Also on a separate note has anyone every received two switching awards from the same bank?

If you are doing it solely for the financial incentive, its probably not. But IMO the 5% regular saver is worth opening an account for. You can always try flog the tech products on eBay or something, but its a bit more faff since it's not cash - I could guess that's probably why they moved away from a cash incentive in the end, so less people would take them for a ride like this.

As for receiving multiple incentives, it's possible but depends upon the T&Cs for that particular banks switching offer. Some offers clearly state that you can never have held an account before, others simply state a date from which they consider a customer "new" - see the latest HSBC offer for an example of that.