Best Intelligent Finance alternative

johnjamesmarsh

Hi All,

I have had an Intelligent Finance current account for the last 18 years and it's really good. I have a £4100 free overdraft (except for the 10% apr - no daily fee) which I use occasionally. Lloyds Bank are not putting any work to modernise it and I would like to use Open Banking with my account. So the question is:

Does anyone know of a current account with a virtually free overdraft where they give you such a large overdraft? £500 just isn't really enough in this day and age.

Thanks

John

[Deleted User]

You shouldn't be using your overdraft, fee free or not.

Can you not get by day-to-day as well as putting savings aside?

Ben8282

This is not a free overdraft. It is an overdraft with a 10% APR. Living in your overdraft is not good.
Why exactly can't you use open banking with this account?
Not quite sure what the £500 refers to, but if you are talking about Lloyds the £500 interest and fee free overdraft is for the no longer available to new customers Premier account. But this is not a maximum overdraft. The actual overdraft limit you are given will depend on your circumstances. You say that £500 is not enough in this day and age. I would disagree. There was a time decades ago when overdrafts were the normal way of short term borrowing. But that was before 0% credit cards. These days people don't use their overdrafts.

roddydogs

Thought IF got all their customers to jump ship?

johnjamesmarsh

!!! wrote: »

You shouldn't be using your overdraft, fee free or not.

Can you not get by day-to-day as well as putting savings aside?

My finances are in fine fettle. I have plenty of money in other accounts but sometimes it takes me a day or two to notice I need to move money around. Like I say:

occasionally (once or twice a year)
I go overdrawn by a couple of thousands (sometime £3K)
for a couple of days (whilst money comes out of a savings account)

Does anyone know of a current account that would allow that to happen up to £4,100 without the fee per day & transaction charges!

johnjamesmarsh

Ben8282 wrote: »

Why exactly can't you use open banking with this account?

On the Open Banking question I think your bank needs to do some work to make it happen. Like I say and roddydogs points out Lloyds want to close these accounts as they are all very low charging (and rather good compared to the others).

eskbanker

johnjamesmarsh wrote: »

Does anyone know of a current account that would allow that to happen up to £4,100 without the fee per day & transaction charges!

Daily fees are on the way out and will be prohibited from next April - not all banks have announced their new cost structures yet but any that currently charge daily will stop doing so.

https://www.fca.org.uk/news/press-releases/fca-confirms-biggest-shake-up-overdraft-market

Overdraft limits are set on a case by case basis according to credit status, etc, so nobody knows what limit you'd be offered if you were to go elsewhere, but I think it's fair to say that it would be very unlikely that any bank would offer anywhere close to £4,100 to a new customer, so chances are you'll need to review the way you manage your money!

johnjamesmarsh wrote: »

On the Open Banking question I think your bank needs to do some work to make it happen. Like I say and roddydogs points out Lloyds want to close these accounts as they are all very low charging (and rather good compared to the others).

Yes, enabling Open Banking entails investing in systems to support the relevant APIs, and it's only to be expected that a product/brand deemed obsolete isn't going to justify that sort of investment....

Ben8282

johnjamesmarsh wrote: »

My finances are in fine fettle. I have plenty of money in other accounts but sometimes it takes me a day or two to notice I need to move money around. Like I say:

occasionally (once or twice a year)
I go overdrawn by a couple of thousands (sometime £3K)
for a couple of days (whilst money comes out of a savings account)

Does anyone know of a current account that would allow that to happen up to £4,100 without the fee per day & transaction charges!

This is very odd. I could understand accidental small overdrafts but surely £2-3K does not suddenly get taken from your account once or twice a year without you being aware of the expense in advance and being in a position to properly plan for it.

johnjamesmarsh

eskbanker wrote: »

Daily fees are on the way out and will be prohibited from next April - not all banks have announced their new cost structures yet but any that currently charge daily will stop doing so.

** (Apparently I'm not allowed to post links!) **

Overdraft limits are set on a case by case basis according to credit status, etc, so nobody knows what limit you'd be offered if you were to go elsewhere, but I think it's fair to say that it would be very unlikely that any bank would offer anywhere close to £4,100 to a new customer, so chances are you'll need to review the way you manage your money!

Yes, enabling Open Banking entails investing in systems to support the relevant APIs, and it's only to be expected that a product/brand deemed obsolete isn't going to justify that sort of investment....

Thanks for the reply and info. I had a feeling that would be the case with Open Banking. Having had this account for 18 years I've got rather used to the low charges & £4100 overdraft so I will probably keep it until I'm forced to change.

That's good news about the daily charges though. I wonder where they will add them next!

On a side note I did look a while back at changing my account and was totally shocked at how inflexible they all are and how much they all charge. It's a real shame IF didn't continue. The Offset mortgage I had was truly excellent. I applied for it at 9pm on a Friday (down dodgy dial-up), had a decision in principle email at 11pm and got all the paperwork on Tuesday. Of the 10 or so mortgages I've had since none of them come close. Aside for the Open Banking it's still an awesome account (Lloyds bank - please take note)

johnjamesmarsh

roddydogs wrote: »

Thought IF got all their customers to jump ship?

Nope, there are a few of us hanging on in there. They've not really done anything except regulatory changes but it appears to be better than anything else on the market (except Open Banking).

johnjamesmarsh

Ben8282 wrote: »

This is very odd. I could understand accidental small overdrafts but surely £2-3K does not suddenly get taken from your account once or twice a year without you being aware of the expense in advance and being in a position to properly plan for it.

Once I rather rashly bought a car on my debit card at auction. It cost £13K. I had £10K in my current account The other £3K was overdraft. I paid £5 in interest before I took money out of savings. It's a little hard to judge how much a car at auction will cost. Especially as it wasn't the one I was going to buy.

Fun though. Loved driving it. Well worth the £5 in bank charges