Closing Natwest reward account

leshoopers11

I recently switched my Natwest Reward account to the Santander's 123 Lite account.  Somewhat annoyingly and surprisingly this has meant an almost immediate denial of access to my transaction history on my Natwest reward account.  Also perhaps - I do not know at the moment - a loss of any pending rewards.  I phoned Natwest to ask for a transaction history and was told that I will need to visit a branch.  Luckily there is one not too far away from me, but this is a very poor way to treat people for closing their accounts.  I suggest people take this as a warning, especially as the current removal of benefits from many bank accounts, as in the case of the Natwest Reward account, means that the incentive to switch in an attempt to keep up with the best offers, is not always as straightforward as you might think.

blue.peter

If you're going to have to go to a NatWest branch anyway, I suggest bringing up the pending rewards when you do so. I think I read somewhere that branch staff can get pending rewards released in these circumstances (but that you can't). I might even have read this on the MSE forum, in which case a search might reveal more information.

Please report back. This is a subject of interest to me - I have an RBS Reward account, and plan to dump it in the summer.

water4444

This is normal. I was asked by Barclays if I wanted a copy of the statements when I closed my account (they sent me a letter). 

The account switching guide advises you to get any statements prior to switching. So I assume there is no regulation forcing banks to keep your online login active. 

blue.peter

water4444 said:

This is normal. I was asked by Barclays if I wanted a copy of the statements when I closed my account (they sent me a letter).

Different banks behave differently.

When I closed my Santander account, my online access remained valid. It still works, eight months later (I've just tried it) but there are no accounts showing. Anyway, I was able to download a closing statement a day or so after my account was closed.

When I came to open a Virgin regular saver a few weeks ago, I found that my old access to their online banking was still functional. It's about three or four years since I'd last had an account with them. Even more surprising, a couple of old savings accounts were still visible, albeit in read-only mode.

RCI Bank and Paragon allowed access for downloading closing statements for a day or so after account closure, but then turn it off.

colsten

I am afraid, losing your old transaction history is one of the consequences of using CASS without having informed yourself of any potential pitfalls. They do mention this, and other potential pitfalls,  on the CASS pages. I believe all banks refer to these pages in their switch applications, or even point out all the consequences during the switch application process.

So all you can do is grovel to Natwest and ask for your data, which they will still hold for some time. You might not get the data in a very digestible form though as your account has been closed (at your request) and they may no longer be able to produce a nicely formatted statement or transaction list.



The rules for reward payments are as per the T&Cs you agreed to when you took out the Reward account. It seems you have to call CS but may be they can help you with this in Branch, too.

northwalesd

I recently switched a Natwest Select account and have a received a letter detailing exactly how to request my transaction history up to five years after account closure. It is a rolling five years, so if I ask for my transactions four years after account closure then I'd only receive the final 1 year's history.

leshoopers11

blue.peter said:

If you're going to have to go to a NatWest branch anyway, I suggest bringing up the pending rewards when you do so. I think I read somewhere that branch staff can get pending rewards released in these circumstances (but that you can't). I might even have read this on the MSE forum, in which case a search might reveal more information.

Please report back. This is a subject of interest to me - I have an RBS Reward account, and plan to dump it in the summer.

Thank you for your comment which unfortunately I did not see before popping into the branch yesterday.  They were helpful in that they have arranged for statements to be posted to me.  They could not provide anything there and then.  I was comfortable with the concept of switching accounts until now - I had not realised how the differently banks behaved.  It also seems to reduce the benefit of switching, especially in a digital world where paper statements are no longer the norm.  I am cautiously optimistic about my rewards but will update you.

leshoopers11

northwalesd said:

I recently switched a Natwest Select account and have a received a letter detailing exactly how to request my transaction history up to five years after account closure. It is a rolling five years, so if I ask for my transactions four years after account closure then I'd only receive the final 1 year's history.

Thank you.  Presumably you switched from Natwest to somewhere else?  If so its curious that you received a different letter for a Natwest Select account.  My account was a Natwest Reward one.  My letter explained that if I had closed all my Natwest accounts that I could only obtain access by visiting a branch.  Then the branch simply checked my ID and passed my request on.  Statements etc will arrive in a week or two - all this for an account that I closed 10 days ago. For the Halifax, an account that I stopped using and closed a few years ago I still have access. Ditto for Santander. They all have their own approach.  Confirming that switching isn't as easy as you might think and read the small print!

northwalesd

leshoopers11 said:
Thank you.  Presumably you switched from Natwest to somewhere else?  If so its curious that you received a different letter for a Natwest Select account.  My account was a Natwest Reward one.  My letter explained that if I had closed all my Natwest accounts that I could only obtain access by visiting a branch.  Then the branch simply checked my ID and passed my request on.  Statements etc will arrive in a week or two - all this for an account that I closed 10 days ago. For the Halifax, an account that I stopped using and closed a few years ago I still have access. Ditto for Santander. They all have their own approach.  Confirming that switching isn't as easy as you might think and read the small print!

Yes, Natwest to HSBC, and that was the only Natwest account I had, so I too have closed all my accounts there. Really odd that they would treat two account types differently. Anyway, glad to see you seem to have it sorted.

blue.peter

leshoopers11 said:

blue.peter said:

If you're going to have to go to a NatWest branch anyway, I suggest bringing up the pending rewards when you do so. I think I read somewhere that branch staff can get pending rewards released in these circumstances (but that you can't). I might even have read this on the MSE forum, in which case a search might reveal more information.

Please report back. This is a subject of interest to me - I have an RBS Reward account, and plan to dump it in the summer.

Thank you for your comment which unfortunately I did not see before popping into the branch yesterday.  They were helpful in that they have arranged for statements to be posted to me.  They could not provide anything there and then.  I was comfortable with the concept of switching accounts until now - I had not realised how the differently banks behaved.  It also seems to reduce the benefit of switching, especially in a digital world where paper statements are no longer the norm.  I am cautiously optimistic about my rewards but will update you.

You might like to look at the thread "Natwest stole my Rewards" from earlier today - see https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6109917/natwest-stole-my-rewards . I was mistaken about needing to go into the branch. The subject is covered in the MyRewards Ts & Cs. essentially, you need to phone their customer service team, who will release the outstanding rewards to a bank account (not necessarily with NatWest/RBS). I can't remember the phone number, though it's in the thread to which I've just referred you.

Edit: I've just noticed that colsten has posted a copy of the relevant part of the Ts & Cs above.

phil7445

I started the "Natwest stole my Rewards" thread earlier. The branch suggested downgrading my account to a standard account then getting the money when it clears from pending to available. Then the reward section disappeared from my account. I did an online chat this afternoon, they said when the money is available (for me 11th March) I can do another online chat and they will release it. Their phone number was added to my thread if you prefer to phone.