What is the best deal for a new joint bank account (not switching accounts)

HFB

My wife and I have always had separate accounts (been together 15 years) and it's worked fine so far.

We both have our own houses which are rented out and up until this week, we have rented a third house together and I have been responsible for making all of the payments (she will transfer me a lump sum to meet half of the costs each month).

We are due to complete on buying our house together on Monday (buying the one we've been renting) and have agreed that we should open a joint account that both of us can access and pay a lump into each month to cover all of the outgoings.

Most new account deals seem to be for switching, which is not what we are doing.

What do people recommend as the best account to open as a separate, joint account that will give us the best deal possible?

Thank you.

eskbanker

You won't find many, if any, deals for opening new accounts without switching, but could open a joint account with one bank, e.g. yours or hers, and then switch that to one of the banks offering a switching incentive.

PRAISETHESUN

The only offer I'm aware of that doesn't require a switch is this one for TSB (via Quidco): https://www.quidco.com/tsb-spend-save-plus-current-account/

Even then, you'll get better value for money if you each open a sole account and then convert one of them to a joint account - this goes for pretty much all bank incentives which typically only pay one incentive per account.

Daliah

The only bank currently offering an incentive to open an account without switching is TSB. It's a miserly £20 via a cashback site, which may or may not pay out in the end, and it's with a bank with a questionable track record regarding reliability.

If you plan to use the new account for household bills, Santander is potentially best as you get ongoing cashback on some of your DDs. I think they still have a switch offer going, so you could do as suggested above - open a joint account with one of your existing banks, and then switch that account for a switch bonus.

anotheruser

Define "deal".
Cashback?  Monthly offers?  Free cinema tickets?

I can't think of any banks that have any sort of deals like cashback just for opening as people would open hundreds.
Monthly offers is where it's at.

Don't really bother looking at interest as most of it is capped or only on balances up to £5000 or something.
We're with Lloyds and have their free magazine subscription.
HSBC offers ZERO interest, so has ZERO of my interest.
Santander annoyed a lot of people when they stripped back their 123 account, that's when we left.
Natwest have had a lot of issues over the years, their card design is a little too snazzy for me.  Plus, they promised not to close their bank if they were the last one in town.  Years later, they closed the bank, despite being the last one in town.
TSB - heard they are in trouble and need a buyer.

There's more banks but sticking with a well known one will mean you will have better access to a counter if needed.

wmb194

Daliah said:

The only bank currently offering an incentive to open an account without switching is TSB. It's a miserly £20 via a cashback site, which may or may not pay out in the end, and it's with a bank with a questionable track record regarding reliability.

If you plan to use the new account for household bills, Santander is potentially best as you get ongoing cashback on some of your DDs. I think they still have a switch offer going, so you could do as suggested above - open a joint account with one of your existing banks, and then switch that account for a switch bonus.

I also know of Nationwide for £10 for a normal savings account and £11 for a cash Isa via iMutual.

Brewer21

First Direct if you just want to open an account, joint or sole. Many years ago we opened a joint account first then our own individual accounts.
If you want a little return on paying bills/spending then Santander or Halifax offer different levels of rewards to name just two.
Of course you don't need to switch an account, you just don't get the switch incentive paid by some, your choice.
I mentioned FD above as they have served us well for over 25 years as just a bank, not many incentives, well none really apart from the switch one currently but do ok in most other stuff.

HFB

Thanks for the advice everyone.

We decided to go for a Halifax Ultra Reward joint account.

For £17 a month account fee, we both get AA breakdown cover, mobile phone insurance, travel insurance and basic home accident damage insurance.

Just the AA cover alone will save us more than the £5-6 a month I was earning in my Santander 123 plus we both get individual cover for all of the other benefits too.