Questions about two or more current accounts

positiveevibes

Hi everyone. I am new into the forum and I have a lot of questions and couldn’t find answer to all of them in the other threads so I am posting a new one. I have current account with Nationwide but I would like to open or to switch to another one as I no longer get good perks from my one. I am interested in Virgin Money Current account as I like the idea of 2.02% interest so let’s say I can get my salary to that account. However Virgin doesn’t give anything for switching (actually just the wine which I am not interested in) so that is why I don’t really see a point to close my Nationwide completely. From another side I don’t really want to keep 2 current accounts as I also have a Credit Card, ISA and by opening an account in Virgin Money they will also open Easy access account so it is just too many accounts. The thing is ideally I would like to benefit a bit more by switching and that is why I am not sure how I should proceed as there are not very good options at the moment. I was thinking to open an account in Virgin but not to close my Nationwide account and to wait for another potentially better option. My question is if I have 2 current accounts and later on I decide to switch to a new bank, do I have to close both of my accounts or I can only switch one of them? And does it matter which one (I presume it depends of criteria for the new account such as direct debits, money-in etc)? Also in the future if I need to show a bank statement for the last months do I have to show it for both of my current accounts or any of them? I am not very familiar with all of these and that is why ideally I would like to only have 1 account. I wanted to switch to Lloyds in October as they had very good offer but for some reason when I had to proof identity they only accepted passports from certain nationalities (not everyone from EEA was on the list) which is some type of discrimination I believe but doesn’t matter anymore. Thanks in advance for everyone who is going to help me out and I am open for another suggestions.

Mnoee

You choose which account you want to switch when switching, you don't have to close all other accounts. 

I showed every account I had when providing statements for my mortgage - it may depend on why you're showing bank statements as to whether they need one or all accounts. 

colsten

You can have as many current accounts as you like (and as the banks will give you), and you can individually switch them as you like. Many regulars here have several current accounts. I have several dozen at present myself. 

Having more than one current account, at completely separate financial institutions, is a good idea, in any case, to reduce the risk of being without an account should something go wrong with a bank. If you are in the switching game, having a spare account at all times, ready to switch, can be useful, too.

If you are concerned about tracking your accounts, get yourself a personal finance manager. I use AceMoney, others swear by MS Money, or by one of the more recent packages, such as Yolt or Emma.

positiveevibes

colsten said:

You can have as many current accounts as you like (and as the banks will give you), and you can individually switch them as you like. Many regulars here have several current accounts. I have several dozen at present myself. 

Having more than one current account, at completely separate financial institutions, is a good idea, in any case, to reduce the risk of being without an account should something go wrong with a bank. If you are in the switching game, having a spare account at all times, ready to switch, can be useful, too.

If it is that common to have more than one current account is there kind of “rule” how and what to use the different accounts for? Also can you just keep one of the accounts with some money in but not really use it? 

And if I have to switch an account with Direct Debits etc does it mean I have to also close the previous account or just to switch DD is enough?

evanescent

I've always had 2+ current bank accounts - as others said, it's a good idea to have a back up in case your main account gets blocked or you lose your card etc. Barclays is my main account and I use for everything - income, bills, spending - so when I applied for a (Barclays) mortgage I only showed statements from the Barclays account, as I don't really use the other accounts. I get £8 pcm in rewards from Barclays (£12 rewards minus the £4 account fee). 

Nationwide FlexPlus is my 2nd account and I pay £13 pcm in account fees, to benefit from the insurances that come with it. I only use the card when I travel abroad as it charges no fees for currency transactions.

I also have Virgin Money as my 3rd account. I got it in November because of the 2% interest rate and I'm using it as a savings account. Will very likely close it when the interest rate goes down. No harm in that, there are no conditions associated with keeping the account. (Before this, I used the Nationwide FlexDirect current account as a savings account, the interest rate was 5% for 1 year, good times. That is now closed). 

colsten

There are no rules, and not even recommendations, on how to use your accounts. You can use, or not use, each account as you like. You are obviously subject to the respective T&Cs, and might incur a charge if the account has a charge when a minimum amount doesn't get paid in each month.

Current accounts exist whether they have some, many or no DDs. Whatever makes you think you would need to close a current account if you remove a DD from it, for whatever reason? 

positiveevibes

evanescent said:

I also have Virgin Money as my 3rd account. I got it in November because of the 2% interest rate and I'm using it as a savings account. Will very likely close it when the interest rate goes down. No harm in that, there are no conditions associated with keeping the account. (Before this, I used the Nationwide FlexDirect current account as a savings account, the interest rate was 5% for 1 year, good times. That is now closed). 

I can't remember when I was reading back in October and I cannot find information about  Virgin Money and if you get the 2.02% interest only if paid from a different of your name account - like from a salary or I can also transfer my money from another account and get the 2.02%?
I am currently with Nationwide FlexDirect and I have opened because of that interest rate but I no longer earn it (for a while now) and that is why I am looking for a new one.

evanescent

Read the Terms and Conditions. 

evanescent said:

I also have Virgin Money as my 3rd account. I got it in November because of the 2% interest rate and I'm using it as a savings account. Will very likely close it when the interest rate goes down. No harm in that, there are no conditions associated with keeping the account. (Before this, I used the Nationwide FlexDirect current account as a savings account, the interest rate was 5% for 1 year, good times. That is now closed). 

positiveevibes said:

I can't remember when I was reading back in October and I cannot find information about  Virgin Money and if you get the 2.02% interest only if paid from a different of your name account - like from a salary or I can also transfer my money from another account and get the 2.02%?

https://uk.virginmoney.com/virgin/assets/pdf/Virgin-Money-Current-Account-Tariff.pdf
https://uk.virginmoney.com/virgin/assets/pdf/Virgin-Money-Current-Account-Terms.pdf

ZeroSum

positiveevibes said:

colsten said:

You can have as many current accounts as you like (and as the banks will give you), and you can individually switch them as you like. Many regulars here have several current accounts. I have several dozen at present myself. 

Having more than one current account, at completely separate financial institutions, is a good idea, in any case, to reduce the risk of being without an account should something go wrong with a bank. If you are in the switching game, having a spare account at all times, ready to switch, can be useful, too.

If it is that common to have more than one current account is there kind of “rule” how and what to use the different accounts for? Also can you just keep one of the accounts with some money in but not really use it? 

And if I have to switch an account with Direct Debits etc does it mean I have to also close the previous account or just to switch DD is enough?

Whatever suits you.

I have Halifax as my "main" account which is an ordinary account. I've got 2 additional reward accounts with them which I recycle money through for a free £10

I've got Santander for bills for the cashback.

I have first direct one purely for the regular saver, plus I got £125 for switching.

I have Lloyd's I use as my stooze hub

I have a tesco account which was originally used for stoozing, but now just for the extra clubcard points on tesco shopping 

I have a co-OP account which I get a few quid cashback on small spends.

I've also just switched my TSB account to virgin since the interest rate is now 0% for a box of free wine 

positiveevibes

colsten said:

Current accounts exist whether they have some, many or no DDs. Whatever makes you think you would need to close a current account if you remove a DD from it, for whatever reason? 

I am sorry, probably I haven't explained my self well enough. I wanted to know if "switch" means completely closing your old account or just transferring DD would be enough to meet criteria to get the perks (if that is the criteria). But I just found some information that in majority of cases you get the perks only if you switch your account which means you have to close your old one. 

ZeroSum

positiveevibes said:

colsten said:

Current accounts exist whether they have some, many or no DDs. Whatever makes you think you would need to close a current account if you remove a DD from it, for whatever reason? 

I am sorry, probably I haven't explained my self well enough. I wanted to know if "switch" means completely closing your old account or just transferring DD would be enough to meet criteria to get the perks (if that is the criteria). But I just found some information that in majority of cases you get the perks only if you switch your account which means you have to close your old one. 

To get the switching perks, the old account gets closed