New to Current Account Switching - Where to begin

JamTomorrow

Foolishly I have up until now ignored the bonuses from current account switching.  Previously I had never considered switching my CA as it was offsetting against my mortgage but now I realise I could have just set up another current account and used this for the switch bonus.

So now to start and I want to check any issues with my approach -

1. For my main current account, where my salary is paid and all my DDs & SOs are held I think the Santander 123 account will be best for me but as there is no swicth bonus with them at the moment I will wait until that becomes available again.

2. Therefore need to set up a burner account for and thinking of going with Monzo for this.  Is there a list of good banks for burner accounts?

3. After Monzo CAs set up switch thisto Lloyds to take advantage of their £150 offer after fullfilling the requirements.

Questions - how long do I have to have the Monzo CA set up for before I swicth to Lloyds?  I assume the Monzo CA is then closed upon the switch so I cant use that as a burner account for anmother switch?.  Is the tactic here to then just use the Lloyds account for the next switch and rinse and repeat?  Can you then go back to those banks (Monzo & lloyds) and open another CA in the future to use as a burner?

Thanks for advice on these newbie questions.

TheBanker

Who's your main bank currently?

It's often easier to open a second current account with your existing bank because you already exist on their systems.

Remember some of the switcher offers need active direct debits to be switched. 

tryin

You can switch from an account as soon as you have received the debit card (you will need the debit card number of the donor account to apply for the switch). After you have received the cash from Lloyds you can then rinse and repeat. Or you can open multiple donor accounts and get multiple switch offers simultaneously. You should be able to go back and open another burner account with the same bank, although there are some banks that will ban you eventually if you open and close too many accounts.

Alex9384

I personally wouldn't switch away from Lloyds. You can open a second current account with them without another hard search! Once you have one Lloyds account, any other account (incl. credit card) can be opened without additional searches. If you want two donor accounts asap, open Monzo and Starling.

Alex9384

Also remember that these things will stay on your credit files for 6 years.
Multiple accounts opened and closed within 1-2 months may not look very good in the eyes of other lenders.

You can open for example 3 Halifax current accounts (again, you will only get a hard search for the first account) and keep them long term for rewards. Keeping multiple current accounts active for a long time will increase the average age of your accounts across the board, which is a positive factor on your credit files.

binao

Alex9384 said:

Also remember that these things will stay on your credit files for 6 years.
Multiple accounts opened and closed within 1-2 months may not look very good in the eyes of other lenders.

You can open for example 3 Halifax current accounts (again, you will only get a hard search for the first account) and keep them long term for rewards. Keeping multiple current accounts active for a long time will increase the average age of your accounts across the board, which is a positive factor on your credit files.

Can you confirm if you open and keep the 1st account, you can then open multiple burner accounts with out any searchs, soft or hard? Does this apply to all provider

PS
If you keep the initial account no one will see subsequent burner accounts, only internal records?

Thanks

Alex9384

binao said:

Can you confirm if you open and keep the 1st account, you can then open multiple burner accounts with out any searchs, soft or hard? Does this apply to all provider

PS
If you keep the initial account no one will see subsequent burner accounts, only internal records?

Thanks

No, this only applies to Halifax and Lloyds.
I had 4 current accounts and 2 credit cards with Halifax, so 6 accounts in total. With other banks it would mean 6 hard searches or even more if overdrafts are included, but with Halifax it was only one search for the very first account. I also have 2 accounts with Lloyds, again same thing.
I think all other banks will do a new hard search for every additional current account or credit card, some even for a credit limit increase (HSBC).
Soft searches don't matter but as far as I remember, I didn't have any soft searches from Halifax or Lloyds after opening any of the additional current accounts or credit cards with them.

All accounts will be seen on your credit files, including burner accounts even if you keep the initial account open. It will show the account opening date and account closing date. I'm afraid there's no quick fix to this. If you want to take advantage of multiple switch offers, you need to think in advance. Open 3 new Halifax accounts and keep them long term to show stability.

I have 6 different current accounts which I'm not going to swtich away. They already have years of history on my credit files. Then I have another 6 current accounts (which are already around 1 year old) ready to switch at any time. You can do the same thing, but you need to open them one by one, over time, not 10 new accounts in 1-2 months.

[Deleted User]

Current account applications without an overdraft have minimal impact on any long term lending, it's very common these days for people to have 2-5 credit cards and 1-3 current accounts without any issue. A couple of hard searches for a current account for a switch bonus isn't going to have any long term impact 

Players4you

Alex9384 said:

Also remember that these things will stay on your credit files for 6 years.
Multiple accounts opened and closed within 1-2 months may not look very good in the eyes of other lenders.

You can open for example 3 Halifax current accounts (again, you will only get a hard search for the first account) and keep them long term for rewards. Keeping multiple current accounts active for a long time will increase the average age of your accounts across the board, which is a positive factor on your credit files.

Not sure I understand. Surely if you are going to take advantage of the 3 switch offers that currently expire by November then you are going to have, at least, opened and closed 3 accounts?

JamTomorrow

Thanks for all the advice and think i know what I need to do to set up my first switch.  

Spoke to my current bank (FD) about setting up an additional current account but as they said this will take 30 mins (no idea why) I need to call back when I have time.  My plan is just to say this is to help with household budgeting rather than to take advantage of a switch  offer   Any tips on which reasons usually work best with a bank for a second current account or do they not care?

Once that is set up I want to take advantage of the £200 Nationwide offer but this requires 2 active DDs.  Any advice on where I can get low cost DDs set up with payment taken quickly?

Once this is done I assume I then just apply to switch this new FD current account to Nationwide, pay in £1.5k for 5% interest on this balance, then pay in £1k each month (then pay it straight back out again using offsetting standing orders a day apart) in order to meet requirements to be able to get the 5% interest on £1.5k for a year.

Also, once the Nationwide account is set up am I best to call Nationwide and set up a second current account (say again it is for budgeting) and then use this second current account for next switch?  The alternative would be to create no more accounts with Nationwide but instead create my next swicth account with Monzo but not sure which is best for hard/soft credit checks or if it even matters.

Thank you.

[Deleted User]

JamTomorrow said:

Thanks for all the advice and think i know what I need to do to set up my first switch.  

Spoke to my current bank (FD) about setting up an additional current account but as they said this will take 30 mins (no idea why) I need to call back when I have time.  My plan is just to say this is to help with household budgeting rather than to take advantage of a switch  offer   Any tips on which reasons usually work best with a bank for a second current account or do they not care?

Once that is set up I want to take advantage of the £200 Nationwide offer but this requires 2 active DDs.  Any advice on where I can get low cost DDs set up with payment taken quickly?

Once this is done I assume I then just apply to switch this new FD current account to Nationwide, pay in £1.5k for 5% interest on this balance, then pay in £1k each month (then pay it straight back out again using offsetting standing orders a day apart) in order to meet requirements to be able to get the 5% interest on £1.5k for a year.

Also, once the Nationwide account is set up am I best to call Nationwide and set up a second current account (say again it is for budgeting) and then use this second current account for next switch?  The alternative would be to create no more accounts with Nationwide but instead create my next swicth account with Monzo but not sure which is best for hard/soft credit checks or if it even matters.

Thank you.

There is no reason to choose FD over any other quick one but equally no reason you have to give a reason why you want another account.

There are many threads on switching that cover easy direct debits - mobile phone bill, savers like Ecology (though they can take a month!), unused credit cards, robo-savers like Plum, £1 direct debit site etc

You're overthinking all this, there is no need to setup new accounts with the new switched account, just open up a couple of simple basic ones either with someone like Monzo or Starling, and do the moves

Searches for credit accounts are neither here nor there, unless in the middle of a mortgage application just apply away. Your fictitious score might change but no-one sees that. I keep being spammed by the CRAs for scores falling or new credit agreements because of the recent switches, they'll all be immaterial in 6 months.