Questions about opening 'burner accounts' (with view to switch to get 'switch bonuses')

grizzlegrizzle

Monzo and Starling are really quick accounts to set up if you want a completely separate bank for your donor account and send the debit cards out quickly.

Monzo won't let you open another account for a month if you switch away though and for Starling it's longer I believe. 

I've often opened donor accounts at my existing banks Lloyd's, Nationwide and Halifax and have never had any issue switching these out and keeping my long held accounts. It's an easy process opening a second account at an existing bank as you won't need to submit any identification documents. 

Bridlington1

One thing to be aware of regarding switching offers is that many require you to switch at least x number (usually 2) DDs over as part of the switch. You can easily get round this by setting up DDs to savings accounts, i.e. ecology, moneybox etc or using credit cards.

Also Virgin often do switching offers for new customers, so avoid using them as burner accounts.

One other thing that may be worth doing is opening a Bank of Scotland account and getting as big an overdraft limit as possible. If you switch an account to them they'll give you a 3 month 0% overdraft, which you can stooze. You can get this every 12 months so a nice "bonus switch" for you there, not as lucrative as the other switching offers but still a nice little bonus all the same.

gary1312

Lily78_2 said:

Hi all, 

I am trying to understand best and fastest way around opening a new bank account with view to use it to switch to one with a 'switch bonus' ( I think that is what I have seen referred to as 'burner account'?). 

I have current accounts with HSBC (advance) and First Direct and don't want to switch either of those and basically I have been missing out on the first wave of switch bonuses pre-Xmas as a results... [I got blocked when I realised these days to "switch" to a new bank and get their 'switch bonus', one need to use the automated switch service and CLOSE the original account, as it wasn't the case when I did it years ago -- and didn't think straight away of a way around it...]. 

I have read with interest the thread posted by @pecunianonolet [List of bank doing hard vs soft searches] and realised there was many things I should consider before going ahead and picking a bank at random to open 'burner account(s)'! 

So I have a few questions to you all to help me decide best way forward to open one or more 'burner' accounts so I can use it/ those to 'switch' and not miss out on those bonuses (again!). 

Given where I hold current accounts atm (HSCB and First Direct):

1.       Would you say it is easier/better if I open another current account (e.g. a 'basic' account) with either of them, or if I open one elsewhere? 
2.       What are the pros and cons? 
3.       Which would be fastest? 

 What else do I need to consider? 

Many thanks in advance!

I would normally echo the advice given by @Katiehound regarding opening another account with your current bankers but I know from experience that HSBC don't look kindly on people who use accounts as burners (I'm no longer permitted to open accounts with them :-) ) so if you want to keep a good relationship with your main bankers then I'd actually advise against it in your case.

I would advise applying for Basic accounts to use as your burners so there's no credit check. TSB and Santander both allow you to apply for their Basic Cash accounts without applying for a mainstream one first plus both have easy account opening procedures. TSB also allow you to open more than one basic account.

WillPS

Katiehound said:

when I did a switch offer with Co op they took forever,  might/ might not take as long just to open an account

Barclays certainly have had switch deals because I have done 2 to them, but not very recently.

They had a very generous switch/upgrade bonus last Autumn: Get 100,000 Avios with amazing new Barclays and Barclaycard offers (headforpoints.com)

It's been a while since they did the 'double Blue Rewards for a year' (which turned out to be more than a year) switch offers though.

WillPS

Katiehound said:

Sometimes the bank concerned may let existing customers switch into an account they already hold- Lloyd & Halifax have done that so I would be wary of using them for donor accounts.

Not sure I follow your logic. You can open additional accounts with Lloyds and Halifax very easily and they don't tend to hard search existing customers for them. That doesn't stop you from getting offers on your 'keeper' Lloyds/Halifax accounts, or future accounts you open - unless LBG bin you off as a customer, which they only seem to do if you take the mickey...

So just don't take the mickey - open one account at a time and wait at least a few months (but preferably longer) between applications.

Katiehound

  ^^^^^^^
I was just pointing out that some banks allow switch offers into existing accounts- that is not always the case.

 I keep Halifax & Lloyds as my main accounts & I have only switched from them when the t&cs have changed so much that I have intended to close the account!
I think I have switched just one account from each of them, but they were accounts that I had held for some years not just a few weeks.

In other words if you like the bank where you have a main account already think carefully before you open several accounts as donor accounts: it might backfire on you.....