How Many Current Accounts Do You Have?

captainlongtoes

2

Two:
Nationwide - my main account that I get paid in
Santander 123 Lite - for the direct debit cashback
Going to be starting little saving "pots" to help with budgeting, considering switching from Nationwide to Lloyds for this

RG2015

6-10

9 current accounts

From 1973 to 2015 just 1, NatWest
2015 Santander for 3% interest up to £20k and cashback (2 opened but 1 switched)
Followed by Nationwide for the 5% interest up to £2.5k and the £5k regular saver (2 opened but 1 switched)
Then First Direct for the 5% regular saver
Tesco Bank for the 3% interest up to £3k
NatWest Reward for the cashback (now just rewards for DDs/logging in with the cashback DDs moved to the 123
TSB for the 5% interest up to £2.5k
HSBC for the 5% regular saver
Virgin Money for the 2% interest up to £1k (and just to make sure I could open it following all the hoo hah)

I still find that NatWest offer the best banking services and will always use this for my standard transactions.

SlovakianGuy

6-10

9 current accounts in 7 banks (2x Tesco and 2x Metro)
+  Revolut   &  TransferWise

Most of them opened for switching offers and benefits like interest on balance or rewards for direct debits. Currently I'm also keeping them for showing "account stability" which is a positive factor on my credit reports.

stephenadarglas

2

Three current however in the process of closing down Santander.  The other is a Nationwide account for my wife's wages (we use this as an 'in and out' account).  The main account is Lloyds which gives me an average of 1.25% on £5000 and we also save £400 a month in the monthly saver @ 2.5% (which is really circa 1.25% annually).  Anything spare at the end of the month currently gets put into premium bonds.

colsten

stephenadarglas said:

Three current however in the process of closing down Santander.  The other is a Nationwide account for my wife's wages (we use this as an 'in and out' account).  The main account is Lloyds which gives me an average of 1.25% on £5000 and we also save £400 a month in the monthly saver @ 2.5% (which is really circa 1.25% annually).  Anything spare at the end of the month currently gets put into premium bonds.

Your Club Lloyds current account pays max 1.2% AER.

 The interest rate of the Club Lloyds monthly saver is exactly 2.5%, not anything lower. Whilst multiplying the final balance with half of the interest rate is a crude way of calculating the return from the monthly saver, the interest rate is exactly as published. You don’t get interest on money that isn’t in the account.

jonnygee2

2

I think there is good reason for there to be 90% of MSEers disagreeing with you.  There is no harm in having a second current account.  You can just leave it dormant, waiting for you should the need arise.  Better to have a proper backup for your current account and to play it safe

I think it's just a board that likes bank accounts ;-)

A backup account is okay but the vast majority of people will never need it. A backup payment method -eg cash or credit card - is a more common need but you don't need two current accounts for that.

Multiple accounts increases complexity and decreases security. A dormant account is always a risk, and a lot of people with multiple accounts will repeat PINS or login details over them, or write the details down somewhere, or other such security shortcuts.

Generally I think two accounts might not be a bad idea, but I don't think it's a simple case of more = better for the average person.

phillw

6-10

jonnygee2 said:
I think it's just a board that likes bank accounts ;-)

Only bank accounts with incentives to have them.