Virgin Money Current Account

SlovakianGuy

Hmm, I've got 10 current accounts so it would be easy to switch one of them but... After reading so many negative posts about Virgin I can't decide whether it's worth it or not.

One question for those who already have an account with them:
If you're a current account customer and you later apply for an overdraft or a  credit card with them, will they hard-search you again? Because Halifax will not. Obviously some banks don't hard-search you on every occasion if you've been with them for a while and they already know you.  How it works with Virgin?

NJA22

colsten said:

quirkydeptless said:

I have added 2 DDs to my donor account which will become active on 27th Nov. I think I will wait until then before applying for the Virgin account and ask for the switch as part of that process. Hopefully that will allow enough time to get the offer.

I read somewhere that Virgin Money plan to keep the offer as a permanent feature. So there's no extreme urgency. And you have to request the switch as part of the application, as otherwise you'd be an existing customer and not eligible for the plonk. Sit tight.

That is generally true as there is no seperate link for the switching service... However it is possible to open the account online as a new customer (so long as this is no earlier than when the promotion began) and ring up the switching department and action a CASS switch that way. I know as I stupidly closed my browser tab down when it got to the switching stage of the application on the Thursday. Got through to the switching team on the phone on Friday who did switch on their end saying as a new customer and so long as the other criteria was met I should (hopefully!) get the codes to the wine offer.

Zanderman

couth said:

Hi, I'm about to apply for the VM account as I plan to use it for the interest rate (2%) and when traveling abroad. I noticed that, to benefit from the switch offer (the wine case), you need to keep £1000 in the linked savings account at least until you get the incentive. My question is, when do you need to transfer this money to the linked savings account, is it on account opening? Can it be transferred later e.g. if I open the VM account today can I transfer in £1000 on the 25th of November and still benefit from the switch offer? Thanks! 

The requirements are on the terms and conditions page, always worth reading!.
At https://uk.virginmoney.com/current-accounts/brighter-money-bundle#terms-and-conditions
Where it says (my highlighting):

Your Virgin Money Current Account comes with a linked savings account. You’ll need to credit this with at least £1,000 within 31 days of your account opening date. You need to keep at least £1,000 in your linked savings account until we send your Virgin Wines offer code.

[Deleted User]

SlovakianGuy said:

Hmm, I've got 10 current accounts so it would be easy to switch one of them but... After reading so many negative posts about Virgin I can't decide whether it's worth it or not.

One question for those who already have an account with them:
If you're a current account customer and you later apply for an overdraft or a  credit card with them, will they hard-search you again? Because Halifax will not. Obviously some banks don't hard-search you on every occasion if you've been with them for a while and they already know you.  How it works with Virgin?

This isn't true with Halifax. 

SlovakianGuy

dahj said:

This isn't true with Halifax. 

It is.
I've been with them since 2018 (current account). When I opened that first account, that was the only time they did a hard search. I applied for their credit card in May 2020 and no hard search on any of my credit reports. I also applied for an overdraft, first 250, then increased to 500 and then again increased to 750. Not a single hard search for any of those. If you do the same thing with NatWest, they will hard search you every single time. I asked them and they said this is how they do it.

Edit:  I opened a second current account with Halifax 2 weeks ago. My Credit Karma doesn't show any hard search so far. Let's see after few weeks. But Credit Karma gives you instant notifications when there's a new hard search on your file. This time there's no notification.
I opened my first Lloyds current account (same group as Halifax) 1 month ago and I received notification about Lloyds hard search from Credit Karma immediately. When opened my second Halifax account later, there was no notification about any search, so I assume they did not hard search me, same like they didn't when I applied for Halifax CC in May.

veryintrigued

Legacy current account holders of Virgin who've highlighted these rewards are unfair especially for those who were moved from Yorkshire Bank have received the following reply on Virgin's FB promotion for this:

Virgin Money UK

Hi xxx, good to hear from you. Don't worry we haven't forgotten about you. Look out for some exciting rewards very soon as a thank you for being part of the Virgin Money family. Keep an eye on your app for news on this soon. APM

MovingForwards

SlovakianGuy said:

dahj said:

This isn't true with Halifax. 

It is.
I've been with them since 2018 (current account). When I opened that first account, that was the only time they did a hard search. I applied for their credit card in May 2020 and no hard search on any of my credit reports. I also applied for an overdraft, first 250, then increased to 500 and then again increased to 750. Not a single hard search for any of those. If you do the same thing with NatWest, they will hard search you every single time. I asked them and they said this is how they do it.

Edit:  I opened a second current account with Halifax 2 weeks ago. My Credit Karma doesn't show any hard search so far. Let's see after few weeks. But Credit Karma gives you instant notifications when there's a new hard search on your file. This time there's no notification.
I opened my first Lloyds current account (same group as Halifax) 1 month ago and I received notification about Lloyds hard search from Credit Karma immediately. When opened my second Halifax account later, there was no notification about any search, so I assume they did not hard search me, same like they didn't when I applied for Halifax CC in May.

There's more than one CRA.
Have you looked on Clearscore and MSE credit club?

Zanderman

veryintrigued said:

Legacy current account holders of Virgin who've highlighted these rewards are unfair especially for those who were moved from Yorkshire Bank have received the following reply on Virgin's FB promotion for this:

Virgin Money UK

Hi xxx, good to hear from you. Don't worry we haven't forgotten about you. Look out for some exciting rewards very soon as a thank you for being part of the Virgin Money family. Keep an eye on your app for news on this soon. APM

They're just quoting from the FAQs on the offer page https://uk.virginmoney.com/current-accounts/brighter-money-bundle#i-already-have-an-account--joint-current-account-with-you-why-cant-i-get-this-offer
where it says:

I already have an account / joint current account with you, why can't I get this offer? 

We've launched this special offer just for new customers. Don't worry though, we haven't forgotten about you. Look out for some exciting rewards very soon as a thank you for being a Virgin Money current account customer. Keep an eye on your Virgin Money app for news on this soon.

SlovakianGuy

MovingForwards said:

There's more than one CRA.
Have you looked on Clearscore and MSE credit club?

Yes I have. All my 3 files. Experian, TransUnion and Equifax.
Halifax reports to all 3 CRAs. If it's not on Credit Karma (TransUnion), I highly doubt it will appear on Equifax and/or Experian.
None of the 3 CRAs is showing any hard search from Halifax (or BoS) apart from the first one in 2018 when I was a new customer switching to Halifax, and I'm 100% sure they did not hard-search me any more, either for the credit card (May 2020) or 3 separate overdraft applications (2019 and 2020). And I believe there will be no hard search for my second current account either.

Aidanmc

Regarding the Virgin Money free wine offer i see its necessary to register for the app.

Could this be done on some elses phone do you think? Don't have a smart phone myself!

Is there delivery charge for the wine?