Virgin Money Cashback Switch Offer August 2022

Daliah

callum9999 said:

Daliah said:

Milarky said:

25% cashback? Something is off about that. That's the kind of thing phishers would say. Could anyone confirm actually getting their cashback at some stage (down the line of course)?

"It a trap™"

It's not a trap. It's just a somewhat complicated way of paying you up to £160 as a switch bonus.

I wouldn't call it particularly complicated, but I'm surprised more banks aren't doing this.

I got incentives on my foreign accounts for actually using the account (£X for paying in salary, £X for using the debit card, £X for direct debits etc) and I ended up keeping them going once the incentives ran out. In the UK I just switch, get the incentive then leave it empty until the next switch comes along.

If you wish, you are free to keep any switched accounts once you had the incentive, whether it was a simple or complicated incentive.

soulsaver

I know OH should have done it during the application...
But I've now got the job
... and I can't see how to switch in to an existing (but new) ac online by PC.

Does it have to be via the app to switch into an existing account? 

ETA  Found it... but AFAICS you still need the app to complete. 
Existing Customer - Switch Your Old Account | Virgin Money UK

EarthBoy

soulsaver said:

I know OH should have done it during the application...
But I've now got the job
... and I can't see how to switch in to an existing (but new) ac online by PC.

Does it have to be via the app to switch into an existing account? 

You can switch in the app, yes.  Open your M Plus Current account, click on the three dots in the top right-hand corner, and select Switch to Virgin Money.

OceanSound

eskbanker said:

OceanSound said:
Regardless is not correct. The last condition has an effect. If I've not taken advantage of the offer previously (since 1 November 2020) then I'm eligible (provided all the other conditions are met). Simple! No need to complicate things with examples of how many 1p coins you have in your wallet.

Not sure you're in any position to criticise others for complicating things - it is indeed simple, in that there are four conditions laid out for eligibility, all of which must be satisfied, or, to put it the other way round, if you fail any one of them then you're ineligible.

The fourth condition is "haven’t previously taken up an incentive for switching a current account to Virgin Money since 1 November 2020" (not 'the offer'), so if you've received any VM switching incentive in that timeframe then you're ineligible for this one, or if you haven't received an incentive in that period, you'll be eligible if, and only if, you satisfy the other three conditions too.

Rather than endless hypothesising, why not spell out exactly what your circumstances are, and an informed discussion can ensue about your eligibility in your specific scenario?

eskbanker said:

OceanSound said:
Regardless is not correct. The last condition has an effect. If I've not taken advantage of the offer previously (since 1 November 2020) then I'm eligible (provided all the other conditions are met). Simple! No need to complicate things with examples of how many 1p coins you have in your wallet.

Not sure you're in any position to criticise others for complicating things - it is indeed simple, in that there are four conditions laid out for eligibility, all of which must be satisfied, or, to put it the other way round, if you fail any one of them then you're ineligible.

The fourth condition is "haven’t previously taken up an incentive for switching a current account to Virgin Money since 1 November 2020" (not 'the offer'), so if you've received any VM switching incentive in that timeframe then you're ineligible for this one, or if you haven't received an incentive in that period, you'll be eligible if, and only if, you satisfy the other three conditions too.

Rather than endless hypothesising, why not spell out exactly what your circumstances are, and an informed discussion can ensue about your eligibility in your specific scenario?

Not sure you're in any position to criticise others for complicating things... 

It's more an observation than a criticism.  

By the way, has Virgin Money ever had an incentive for switching a current account to Virgin Money on or before 1 November 2020? If no, why not just say 'if you've EVER had an incentive from us for switching a current account'? Does 'since' mean that day is included or excluded? Maybe it doesn't matter because no one has taken up the incentive exactly on 1 November 2020 (they've only done so later)? Then we're back to the why not say 'EVER had an incentive for switching....'.

I've spoken to Virgin money at 7:46 am today. After nearly 13 minutes on hold, the call was answered by a staff member. They are open at 7 am, so anyone calling try call as early as possible.

Asked about our point of discussion. She was able to confirm. I already have an M-Plus account. That is enough to make me ineligible for the current offer. 

BTW, I have had the Virgin Wines incentive, but asking for a 'friend', are there any other banks (or financial institutions) that have done similar? i.e. prevented those already holding a current account with them (but not taken up a switching offer after a certain date) from being eligible. Reason I ask is, I was able to apply for the nationwide switching offer recently (in December 2021) even though I have been a Nationwide customer since December 2015 but had never had a switch incentive. 

Just curious if Virgin is the first to do it, or if there have been others. Is this a new trend? or do we not know yet? Should we be concerned and close the switched to account soon after the switch so we don't get caught out by condition (3) of the term. i.e. "don’t already have an M, M Plus or Club M current account, and haven’t closed one recently (since 30 April 2022);and...". But then we would have lost out on the interest from M-Plus current and M-Plus saver. 

EarthBoy

OceanSound said:

 asking for a 'friend', are there any other banks (or financial institutions) that have done similar? i.e. prevented those already holding a current account with them (but not taken up a switching offer after a certain date) 

Yes, First Direct.  They won't pay the switching bonus to anybody who has ever had an account with them, whether they've had a previous switching bonus or not.

OceanSound

OceanSound said:

.........

....Just curious if Virgin is the first to do it, or if there have been others. Is this a new trend? or do we not know yet? Should we be concerned and close the switched to account soon after the switch so we don't get caught out by condition (3) of the term. i.e. "don’t already have an M, M Plus or Club M current account, and haven’t closed one recently (since 30 April 2022);and...". But then we would have lost out on the interest from M-Plus current and M-Plus saver. 

I suppose it wouldn't matter if I had closed the Virgin M-Plus current account soon after opening, because I'd still be caught out by condition (4). i.e. haven’t previously taken up an incentive for switching a current account to Virgin Money since 1 November 2020.

overspender22

STILL waiting for a decision to open the account. Ridiculous 

callum9999

Daliah said:

callum9999 said:

Daliah said:

Milarky said:

25% cashback? Something is off about that. That's the kind of thing phishers would say. Could anyone confirm actually getting their cashback at some stage (down the line of course)?

"It a trap™"

It's not a trap. It's just a somewhat complicated way of paying you up to £160 as a switch bonus.

I wouldn't call it particularly complicated, but I'm surprised more banks aren't doing this.

I got incentives on my foreign accounts for actually using the account (£X for paying in salary, £X for using the debit card, £X for direct debits etc) and I ended up keeping them going once the incentives ran out. In the UK I just switch, get the incentive then leave it empty until the next switch comes along.

If you wish, you are free to keep any switched accounts once you had the incentive, whether it was a simple or complicated incentive.

I think it's beyond obvious that you're allowed to keep your bank accounts open after you receive the switch incentive (why you felt the need to tell me this I have no idea!?).

My point was that if you make people actually use the account to get the incentive, they're more likely to continue using the account afterwards. Which is no doubt why Virgin are offering this money as cashback instead of just giving it to you.

It's standard practice in several other countries to structure bonuses in this way - I'm surprised it's not already more widespread over here but I can imagine it will start happening more frequently.

OceanSound

overspender22 said:

STILL waiting for a decision to open the account. Ridiculous 

Best to call and ask what's going on. 

I just checked the screenshots of when I applied for Virgin Money current account back in December 2020. Had the 'we need more time to look at your application' message at the finish.

Datestamp of that screenshot says 11 December 2020. 

I checked my emails and can see there is an email from 'Concierge Team Inbox on 15 December 2020 asking for: 

*Proof of ID

- Passport or driving licence

*Proof of Address

- recent utility or council tax bill

to be uploaded. I must've done it straightaway as there is an email from Virgin Money on 17 December 2020 saying they have 'news' about my application and to login to online banking.

Looks way quicker than HSBC for example. My credit card application with them took months on end, when I contact support, they said it's still in 'pending' status. A few months later lodged a complaint. They investigated and found no trace of my application. HSBC said 'there has been a glitch in our system' and paid £100 in compensation.

anotheruser

I do wish people wouldn't dial down into the Ts and Cs if it doesn't actually affect them.
Who cares if their conditions actually inadvertantly cover everyone?  It's wasting space and you're not doing anyone a service.  Perhaps the persons time should be spent doing something that actually matters instead of trying to catch companies out - no wonder everything has pages and pages of terms to agree to these days!


In regards to the account though, seems like a one shot deal, of which most of these incentives are these days.
I rinsed all the "money to join" banks a few years back but no bank has got a real contender for leaving my current bank for.