M&S Bank closing all current accounts

cfw1994

We only opened the M&S account last year to use to keep our holiday cottage accounts separate....that lasted well 
Bit bizarre that their weak excuse was “ The bank's said the move is due to customers switching to online banking, during the last year in particular.”. Yes, we ONLY use it online: that is a reason to keep it open   

We do have a Nationwide joint account that we only really have for the benefits (insurance, breakdown cover)...the M&S FAQ suggests we can use the current account switching service to move it to an existing account: might make our lives simpler, rather than adding another account into the mix.   Hopefully that would still work even though the M&S account was in one name and the Nationwide one is a joint account?

Not sure there are any switches that appeal....think we read somewhere switches into HSBC-owned accts would not get switch bonuses?

colsten

cfw1994 said:

 Hopefully that would still work even though the M&S account was in one name and the Nationwide one is a joint account?

Yes, you can switch a sole account into a joint account (though not the other way round)

cfw1994 said:

think we read somewhere switches into HSBC-owned accts would not get switch bonuses?

The only authoritative for switches are the switch offer T&Cs. The HSBC ones are here: https://www.hsbc.co.uk/current-accounts/switching-to-hsbc/

Lightning360

Zanderman said:

colsten said:

I just remembered, there is another current switch offer which one or two people may still be able to go after: Virgin Money.
The offer is not for 'real' money but for 15,000 Virgin Red points, which may or may not turn you on. Gregg's sausage roll fans could be set for life, or at least until the end of summer, with 75 sausage rolls. Or you could learn how to make chocolate truffles, exchange them into wine etc etc.

Isn't the Virgin Money Wine offer still running too?

Yep, but a slightly different one.

A £50 donation to a Virgin Money Giving charity and a £138 wine case.

cfw1994

colsten said:

cfw1994 said:

 Hopefully that would still work even though the M&S account was in one name and the Nationwide one is a joint account?

Yes, you can switch a sole account into a joint account (though not the other way round)

cfw1994 said:

think we read somewhere switches into HSBC-owned accts would not get switch bonuses?

The only authoritative for switches are the switch offer T&Cs. The HSBC ones are here: https://www.hsbc.co.uk/current-accounts/switching-to-hsbc/

Thanks: that first point wasn’t clear to me in what we’ve read so far.  Have you done this?

On the latter: so if M&S account opened since 1stJan2018, *not* eligible.

StevieJ

pollypenny said:

Wow. That was a surprise. I thought it was a scam, so checked here.  

Especially as the Email was from Mr Spencer

SamDude

I closed my account yesterday due to the announcement - I had to close the Monthly Saver as well, which had 3 months of contributions paid in (3x £250). I had the £750 paid to me and the account was closed - but this does not include the 12 months of interest (approx £45) that would have been due at maturity.
Looking at the wording now it is ambiguous about if the full interest is due if you close the account before it matures, or if M&S close it in August and it was due to mature later. 
I would have left the account running if it was clear that the interest would be forfeited...

General_Grant

I read the notice about the savings interest as being that it would be paid up to the date of closure using the interest rate which would have applied if open for a full year, not that a year's interest would be paid.

SamDude

General_Grant said:

I read the notice about the savings interest as being that it would be paid up to the date of closure using the interest rate which would have applied if open for a full year, not that a year's interest would be paid.

We may be referring to different things - I'm referring to the Monthly Saver, from their information:

M&S Monthly Saver
We'll make sure you don't lose out on interest you would have earned if your Monthly Saver had remained open for the full 12 month term. If your account is closed before maturity, we'll assume a maximum contribution of £250 has been made in each remaining month to calculate your interest.

To me it reads as 'close early and you still get the full interest as if it had matured at 12 months'.

eskbanker

SamDude said:

We may be referring to different things - I'm referring to the Monthly Saver, from their information:

M&S Monthly Saver
We'll make sure you don't lose out on interest you would have earned if your Monthly Saver had remained open for the full 12 month term. If your account is closed before maturity, we'll assume a maximum contribution of £250 has been made in each remaining month to calculate your interest.

To me it reads as 'close early and you still get the full interest as if it had matured at 12 months'.

That seems an optimistic interpretation - surely they'll only offer the compensatory interest if they close it?

SamDude

eskbanker said:

SamDude said:

We may be referring to different things - I'm referring to the Monthly Saver, from their information:

M&S Monthly Saver
We'll make sure you don't lose out on interest you would have earned if your Monthly Saver had remained open for the full 12 month term. If your account is closed before maturity, we'll assume a maximum contribution of £250 has been made in each remaining month to calculate your interest.

To me it reads as 'close early and you still get the full interest as if it had matured at 12 months'.

That seems an optimistic interpretation - surely they'll only offer the compensatory interest if they close it?

The don't state "If WE close your account" or "if YOU close your account".
The fact that it can be misinterpreted is the issue.