UPDATE: NatWest Switch bonus

abz88

Another switch incentive (£175) released from NatWest for new and existing customers, although interestingly not from RBS or Ulster Bank at this stage.

Folk aren't eligible for it if they have received switch incentives from NatWest, RBS or Ulster Bank since October 2017. Just banked a switch bonus from RBS but will likely attempt it as from previous posts it sounds like people have had luck in claiming rewards from NatWest and then RBS without them cross checking.

Update: Message received via text from NatWest confirming the £175 incentive will be paid early on 13/05/2020.

PRAISETHESUN

Switch offer: https://personal.natwest.com/personal/current-accounts/switch-your-banking-to-natwest.html
Offer T&CS: https://personal.natwest.com/content/dam/natwest/personal/current-accounts/documents/nw-switch-offer-terms-and-conditions-feb-2020.pdf

abz88

Thanks Praisethesun, makes interesting reading especially,
"• You won’t be eligible for this offer if you’ve already taken advantage of a cash offer from NatWest, The Royal Bank of Scotland plc (‘RBS’) and/or Ulster Bank Limited (‘Ulster’) between October 2017 and 11th February 2020 for: (i) opening a new current account and switching to RBS/NatWest/Ulster or (ii) upgrading your existing NatWest current account."
It doesn't say anything about not being eligible for having previously had a switch bonus for transferring a current account into an existing rewards account.

pinkdalek

Deposit £1500 before 10th May 2020, does this have to be in one transaction and does it have to stay in the account?

oli356

I find these switch incentives a bit odd. I recently switched my unused Natwest account to HSBC. I did use  Natwest up until the point I started using Monzo and I switched manually myself to them. But then my Natwest account sat there.
So what stops me from creating a new Natwest current account, switching over from an unused Nationwide account that I've not used in over a decade, paying in £1500, removing the majority of it. Then waiting on the bonus?

Natwest could give away tens of thousands and the customers never intend to actually use the new account. Are they that desperate for new customers that they accept this? There's nothing in the terms and conditions about needing DD or SO or not closing the account within a certain duration, or the money being in the account for so long.. Its just open to 'abuse' 

eskbanker

oli356 said:

I find these switch incentives a bit odd. I recently switched my unused Natwest account to HSBC. I did use  Natwest up until the point I started using Monzo and I switched manually myself to them. But then my Natwest account sat there.
So what stops me from creating a new Natwest current account, switching over from an unused Nationwide account that I've not used in over a decade, paying in £1500, removing the majority of it. Then waiting on the bonus?

Natwest could give away tens of thousands and the customers never intend to actually use the new account. Are they that desperate for new customers that they accept this? There's nothing in the terms and conditions about needing DD or SO or not closing the account within a certain duration, or the money being in the account for so long.. Its just open to 'abuse' 

It's easy to get caught up in the MSE bubble and perceive this as a widespread issue, but if you look at the quarterly account switching stats and correlate individual incentives with numbers of switchers, you'll see that the spikes aren't massive, and in many cases switchers will be 'real' sticky ones rather than MSE tarts looking to make a quick buck.  Naturally those setting up such incentives are well aware of how they can be misused so they'll know what they're doing!

oli356

eskbanker said:

oli356 said:

I find these switch incentives a bit odd. I recently switched my unused Natwest account to HSBC. I did use  Natwest up until the point I started using Monzo and I switched manually myself to them. But then my Natwest account sat there.
So what stops me from creating a new Natwest current account, switching over from an unused Nationwide account that I've not used in over a decade, paying in £1500, removing the majority of it. Then waiting on the bonus?

Natwest could give away tens of thousands and the customers never intend to actually use the new account. Are they that desperate for new customers that they accept this? There's nothing in the terms and conditions about needing DD or SO or not closing the account within a certain duration, or the money being in the account for so long.. Its just open to 'abuse' 

It's easy to get caught up in the MSE bubble and perceive this as a widespread issue, but if you look at the quarterly account switching stats and correlate individual incentives with numbers of switchers, you'll see that the spikes aren't massive, and in many cases switchers will be 'real' sticky ones rather than MSE tarts looking to make a quick buck.  Naturally those setting up such incentives are well aware of how they can be misused so they'll know what they're doing!

Interesting to see the stats, thanks for those. I figured the 'average joe' wouldn't be creating accounts with the intention of these incentives so I guess the ones who do are just a small minority. Plus I suppose you can typically only do them once, though the TSB one for example you can recruit a friend and get £100 each, 5 friends a tax year. So you could round up 5 mates to create quick Starling accounts and switch for £500 a year. Maybe they would pick up on how all the accounts could be from the same bank or not contain much money. Or as long as you meet the terms, then no further checks are done. 

fenwick458

I've long thought that  if everyone took up the banks on their switching offers, I mean every single customer of a bank, the banks would be bankrupt!
won't happen though as folk are either thick or lazy. I try and talk people into it sometimes (so I can get a referral bonus) and the way i'm describing it I'd expect their response to be "really!!! it's that simple!! they just give you money for opeing accounts? i'll do that later thanks" but in reality most people just groan and say "aww that sounds like a lot of hassle. i've been with my bank since i was 12"

eskbanker

fenwick458 said:

I've long thought that  if everyone took up the banks on their switching offers, I mean every single customer of a bank, the banks would be bankrupt!
won't happen though as folk are either thick or lazy.

Or greedy (or even happy!), as per https://www.moneywise.co.uk/news/2019-06-14%E2%80%8C%E2%80%8C/most-bank-customers-want-ps500-switch-accounts:

Most consumers are not switching banks because they are happy with their bank and the incentives on offer are not high enough, according to a new study.
Consumer group Fairer Finance says that the average consumer would need to be offered a switching bonus of nearly £500 before they would consider switching banks.

SlovakianGuy

I have a friend who even opened a 'donor' Starling account but is too lazy to set up two DDs on it. Now he "doesn't remember if he still have that account". No comment...
A few more people told me it sounds good to get free 100 quids (or 300 as a couple) and agreed to use my recommendation, but all of them later backed out . Most of them don't want to close their old account so I tell them about opening a new account which they can use to switch elsewhere and then elsewhere and so on while keeping their beloved old account. They say it sounds good, but they're not willing to do anything for it. It seems to be almost impossible to persuade someone to switch. Yes, I think people are thick.

sfc87

Anyone have experience of any credit rating impact switching could have? Looking to remortgage and get a AIP within the next couple of months so don’t want to hinder that, but if there’s unlikely to be an impact then it’s an easy £350 for my partner and I (I’ve switched accounts 3 times before and understand the process etc).