Incoming payments when switching bank accounts

Debtfreestudentnurse

Apologies if this is in the wrong section, or has been covered.

I have taken advantage of the Natwest switching offer, and today received an email stating my account would be running by Monday 29th, and my old one closed.

I understand that all direct debits are being swapped over by Natwest, but I'm unsure what I need to do about incoming payments (tax credits).

My tax credits go in my account on a Wednesday - with my new account not being open until Monday, it only leaves me two days to have my tax credits paid into my new account. I'm told tax credits take a couple of weeks to swap over.

I'm worried I'll be left without the money to pay for child care, and they'll be sent to a closed account.

Is there any way to keep my Barclays account open until all my incoming payments have been changed over?

eskbanker

Debtfreestudentnurse wrote: »

I have taken advantage of the Natwest switching offer, and today received an email stating my account would be running by Monday 29th, and my old one closed.

There are two separate processes involved here - opening a new account and then switching an old one into it. Generally, and especially if you're switching your main account used for income and day-to-day spend, it makes sense to ensure that the new account is fully up and running before committing to the switch, just to validate that you have all required access to your funds via debit card, online banking, etc, etc. If you don't already have full access to the account, make sure you do well before that date.

Debtfreestudentnurse wrote: »

I understand that all direct debits are being swapped over by Natwest, but I'm unsure what I need to do about incoming payments (tax credits).

My tax credits go in my account on a Wednesday - with my new account not being open until Monday, it only leaves me two days to have my tax credits paid into my new account. I'm told tax credits take a couple of weeks to swap over.

I'm worried I'll be left without the money to pay for child care, and they'll be sent to a closed account.

There's no need to worry - as part of the switch service, all payments sent to the old account are are automatically redirected to the new account - you don't need to do anything, although it is good practice to notify senders.

Debtfreestudentnurse wrote: »

Is there any way to keep my Barclays account open until all my incoming payments have been changed over?

The short answer to your question is no; if you're using the Current Account Switching Service to make the switch (and qualify for the incentive) then you can't delay the closing of the old account, but as above, there's no need to worry anyway.

tryin

Any payments coming into the old account should be automatically redirected to the new one for a full year after the switch. But I don't know if this takes time to be processed. Call the bank and ask.

agrinnall

tryin wrote: »

Any payments coming into the old account should be automatically redirected to the new one for a full year after the switch. But I don't know if this takes time to be processed. Call the bank and ask.

It's at least 3 years, and may actually be indefinite now.



There was a thread recently about the timing of forwarding incoming payments in which posters gave examples of it taking just a few seconds, sometimes passing through a chain of accounts before arriving at the final destination with little delay.