New Natwest / RBS / Ulster Bank £200 Switch Incentive

ih8stress

Interested in the Nat West Switch BUT I do not have a smartphone.

It says I can apply online and then log into their mobile banking service within 60 days.

Can I log into the banking ONLINE instead or am I discriminated against because I can't afford or want a smartphone?

Thanks

Bridlington1

ih8stress said:

Interested in the Nat West Switch BUT I do not have a smartphone.

It says I can apply online and then log into their mobile banking service within 60 days.

Can I log into the banking ONLINE instead or am I discriminated against because I can't afford or want a smartphone?

Thanks

You will need to log into the app so logging in online won't count. I believe you can get the app on a tablet, or log into the app on someone else's smartphone then deregister afterwards.

The way I see it though you can currently get a smartphone that is compatible with the app for about £35 on Argos (you may be able to get one cheaper if you shop around). Spending £35 to get a £200 switching incentive leaves you £165 up for very little effort so it seems like a no brainer to me.

ih8stress

Thank you for the quick reply @Bridlington1 - I have got an old Fire Tablet I could try, wouldn't trust using it for a banking app permanently (though that could just be me).

boingy

ih8stress said:

Thank you for the quick reply @Bridlington1 - I have got an old Fire Tablet I could try, wouldn't trust using it for a banking app permanently (though that could just be me).

I'm a fairly recent convert to apps. They are very convenient but I have opted to keep them on my iPad which rarely leaves the house rather than on my phone which obviously does. You just need to make sure the whole tablet/phone has a PIN number, gesture or similar to unlock it in addition to the individual apps having a PIN or password.

Banking apps may not be available on your old Fire tablet because I don't think they have the normal Google app store on them but it is very quick to check.

AmityNeon

ih8stress said:

Interested in the Nat West Switch BUT I do not have a smartphone.

It says I can apply online and then log into their mobile banking service within 60 days.

Can I log into the banking ONLINE instead or am I discriminated against because I can't afford or want a smartphone?

Buy a budget smartphone, keep it at home and use it only for mobile banking purposes (less of a security risk). You’d probably have to upgrade it every few years as they lose app support, but the overall cost over time would still be far cheaper than buying more expensive models.

Quite a few forumites have taken advantage of all three offers (NatWest/RBS/Ulster) and are now £600 better off, which would cover budget smartphone costs for 15-20 years.

clivep

Old tablets probably won't work. Latest versions of app (for both RBS and NatWest) require Android 7.0 or above.

My smartphone uses Android 6 and I've received notifications that I won't be able to use the existing app after this month.

ih8stress

Thank you to everyone for all the replies

@boingy - I was able to put the Google App Store on my tablet but checking the reviews for the Nat West App it doesn't seem to work very well.

@AmityNeon @B@Bridlington1 - this probably sounds like a better option

@clivep - thank you for the information

So, I will probably be looking for a cheapo smartphone that is compatible with all or most of the banking apps - I could not see the First Direct one on the Google Store (unless I missed it) for example.

Is Android 7.0 the least version I need to be looking at?

Any phone suggestions would be greatly appreciated, thanks

dealyboy

@ih8stress said:

So, I will probably be looking for a cheapo smartphone that is compatible with all or most of the banking apps - I could not see the First Direct one on the Google Store (unless I missed it) for example.

Is Android 7.0 the least version I need to be looking at?

Any phone suggestions would be greatly appreciated, thanks

MSE phone finder ... https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/cheap-mobile-finder/phone-finder/

Android 11 and 12 phones £60-£80.

Zaul22

Does anyone remember when this offer ended last year?

clivep

Zaul22 said:

Does anyone remember when this offer ended last year?

The RBS £175 offer ran from 13th September to 20th October 2022.