Questions about two or more current accounts

Zanderman

positiveevibes said:

funkycredit said:

I wouldn't worry too much about the amount of accounts you have. I have a purge every so often and literally bin all my card providers & banks and then open new ones. In last 6 months I've opened errrr 😂

Has little effect as I still get great offers and high limits. But that's me until 2022 now. No need for any more. 

Alright, so I really shouldn't be worried about having 2 accounts The things is when Ive been checking the T&C for most switches it says you won't be eligible to get the offer if you had an account with some banks in the last 3 years etc. So if you now have so many accounts that means you cannot really get advantage from any other good offers for the same account in that bank for the next years. So that's why I thought for myself would be good just to have 1-2 accounts and once you don't really get benefits from it, just open another ones and close these ones (hope that makes sense).  

For most on here the reason they have multiple accounts is precisely because they've taken advantage of account opening or switching offers. So being excluded from new offers from those banks isn't necessarily an issue - they've had the offer already. True, it may be a few years before being eligible again, but when that time comes it will be a second offer, additional to the first. 

Though you really need to be up for that - having lots of accounts can be confusing. 

But it is very sensible to have at least two! 

Alex9384

I would definitely keep at least 2 current accounts in 2 different banks (not the same banking group). Close all the saving accounts if you want, but keep those current accounts. Ideally, one with MasterCard and the other with Visa, just in case one network has an outage, just like Visa had, I think in 2018?

I have over 10 current accounts in several banks and I can't imagine how having 2 accounts might be confusing to anyone.

Remember, lenders like to see stability, which means well managed accounts with long history. That's why I have 10+ accounts. I will always keep my oldest 3 or 4 accounts as they increase the average age of all my accounts. If you only have new accounts, the average age is very short. But I don't switch newest accounts either. I keep them for 1-2 years, then switch. CRAs may tell you "it seems like your relationships with banks are typically short" if you only keep new accounts for a couple months and then switch them again and again.
Like I said, close your old easy access and other savings as those are not reported on your credit files, but keep the current account with established history.

positiveevibes

Alex9384 said:

I would definitely keep at least 2 current accounts in 2 different banks (not the same banking group). Close all the saving accounts if you want, but keep those current accounts. Ideally, one with MasterCard and the other with Visa, just in case one network has an outage, just like Visa had, I think in 2018?

I have over 10 current accounts in several banks and I can't imagine how having 2 accounts might be confusing to anyone.

Thank you for the whole answer, it is very helpful indeed. 

I really did not know it is common to have 2 or more current accounts in UK. I am coming from a country where to have a Credit Card is not seen the same way as here where you need it for credit rating so it took me time to get used to that idea as well. 

If having more accounts is the right thing to do then I will learn to manage them properly as well. Thanks a lot! ☺️

Alex9384

positiveevibes said:

Thank you for the whole answer, it is very helpful indeed. 

I really did not know it is common to have 2 or more current accounts in UK. I am coming from a country where to have a Credit Card is not seen the same way as here where you need it for credit rating so it took me time to get used to that idea as well. 

If having more accounts is the right thing to do then I will learn to manage them properly as well. Thanks a lot! ☺️

You're welcome! In my home country almost all current accounts come with a monthly fee, so I was happy to learn that most UK current accounts are free and even give you rewards, just for having some direct debits or positive balance or spending on a debit card.

Once you have multiple accounts, take a sheet of paper and write it down.. Remember, some accounts have minimum monthly pay-in, so always read about the account before you open it. Minimum monthly pay-in is not a problem though.
Just set up standing orders from one account to another, like I have. From account A to account B, from B to C, from C to D and from D back to A. You only need to do it once and then it's all automatic.

positiveevibes

Alex9384 said:

You're welcome! In my home country almost all current accounts come with a monthly fee, so I was happy to learn that most UK current accounts are free and even give you rewards, just for having some direct debits or positive balance or spending on a debit card.

Once you have multiple accounts, take a sheet of paper and write it down.. Remember, some accounts have minimum monthly pay-in, so always read about the account before you open it. Minimum monthly pay-in is not a problem though.
Just set up standing orders from one account to another, like I have. From account A to account B, from B to C, from C to D and from D back to A. You only need to do it once and then it's all automatic.

I have actually just create a Note on my phone and wrote all of the accounts I have and used to have incl savings and credit card (not many so was easy to check the info lol) and wrote when I have opened/closed them and whether I had some bonus and some important bits of T&C.

I have also just discovered the Rewards bank accounts of Halifax and RBS so I do not necessarily have to wait for a good switch offers to open an account so will definitely look a bit more deeper into Reward ones. There is so much to learn if you are interested in that. In my country you pay fees as well to keep the account open (just a basic one) and even recently they added a fee each time you withdraw cash. It would be difficult to get used to their way if one day I go back to live there. 

Oh and the tip for standing order in between accounts is also very helpful. I was definitely looking for tips like that. Thanks a lot for sharing. I always thought the in-credit has to be from a salary etc and not from another of my accounts, but looks like I wasn't reading properly T&C. Actually I have a question about it - does the in-credit have to be from one transaction or it is count in for the whole month? For example if I decide to have my salary in anyways but now with furlough I am not sure how much it would be each month, then can I top up the rest of the required amount from another of my accounts? Hope that makes sense. 

General_Grant

positiveevibes said:

Alex9384 said:

You're welcome! In my home country almost all current accounts come with a monthly fee, so I was happy to learn that most UK current accounts are free and even give you rewards, just for having some direct debits or positive balance or spending on a debit card.

Once you have multiple accounts, take a sheet of paper and write it down.. Remember, some accounts have minimum monthly pay-in, so always read about the account before you open it. Minimum monthly pay-in is not a problem though.
Just set up standing orders from one account to another, like I have. From account A to account B, from B to C, from C to D and from D back to A. You only need to do it once and then it's all automatic.

I have actually just create a Note on my phone and wrote all of the accounts I have and used to have incl savings and credit card (not many so was easy to check the info lol) and wrote when I have opened/closed them and whether I had some bonus and some important bits of T&C.

I have also just discovered the Rewards bank accounts of Halifax and RBS so I do not necessarily have to wait for a good switch offers to open an account so will definitely look a bit more deeper into Reward ones. There is so much to learn if you are interested in that. In my country you pay fees as well to keep the account open (just a basic one) and even recently they added a fee each time you withdraw cash. It would be difficult to get used to their way if one day I go back to live there. 

Oh and the tip for standing order in between accounts is also very helpful. I was definitely looking for tips like that. Thanks a lot for sharing. I always though the in-credit has to be from a salary etc and not from another of my accounts, but looks like I wasn't reading properly T&C.

You do need to be a little careful with this because of the timing, particularly around weekends and bank holidays, as different banks may treat these slightly differently and money may be due to leave Account B before Account A has sent the funds.  For example Account A may work on the basis that something they send by 10 pm meets the requirement to pay that day but Account B requires the funds to be deposited before 3.30 pm to count and either won't pay out or will say the account used the overdraft facility that day.

positiveevibes

General_Grant said:

Alex9384 said:

Once you have multiple accounts, take a sheet of paper and write it down.. Remember, some accounts have minimum monthly pay-in, so always read about the account before you open it. Minimum monthly pay-in is not a problem though.
Just set up standing orders from one account to another, like I have. From account A to account B, from B to C, from C to D and from D back to A. You only need to do it once and then it's all automatic.

You do need to be a little careful with this because of the timing, particularly around weekends and bank holidays, as different banks may treat these slightly differently and money may be due to leave Account B before Account A has sent the funds.  For example Account A may work on the basis that something they send by 10 pm meets the requirement to pay that day but Account B requires the funds to be deposited before 3.30 pm to count and either won't pay out or will say the account used the overdraft facility that day.

Alright, that is very good to know. Perhaps depending of how many accounts I would have I can just set up the date on the Standing order with 1 week apart or something like that.

RobM99

My main one is Santander, I have a basic account with Metro with a few £££ in case, as said before, the system is down and I need a back-up.

Alex9384

General_Grant said:

You do need to be a little careful with this because of the timing, particularly around weekends and bank holidays, as different banks may treat these slightly differently and money may be due to leave Account B before Account A has sent the funds.  For example Account A may work on the basis that something they send by 10 pm meets the requirement to pay that day but Account B requires the funds to be deposited before 3.30 pm to count and either won't pay out or will say the account used the overdraft facility that day.

I have spaced out standing orders so there are always 3 day between them, just in case it falls on weekend, bank holiday, etc.

2nd day of the month from A to B, 5th day from B to C, 8th day from C to D, etc.

Alex9384

positiveevibes said:

Oh and the tip for standing order in between accounts is also very helpful. I was definitely looking for tips like that. Thanks a lot for sharing. I always thought the in-credit has to be from a salary etc and not from another of my accounts, but looks like I wasn't reading properly T&C. Actually I have a question about it - does the in-credit have to be from one transaction or it is count in for the whole month? For example if I decide to have my salary in anyways but now with furlough I am not sure how much it would be each month, then can I top up the rest of the required amount from another of my accounts? Hope that makes sense. 

It doesn't have to be in one payment. You can send 1500 once, or 3x 500 on different dates within the same month. In both cases you will meet the criteria. Just remember, with some banks, payments from the same bank don't count. For example, you have 2 accounts with Halifax and you pay from account 1 to the account 2, this will not meet the criteria. Better to send it from a different bank.