Which bank?

tina.thorpe

We have just sold our house, bought a smaller cheaper 1.That needs some renovation. We was mortgage free anyway. 
So from the proceeds,  is it wise to open say a chase account,  and get cashback from purchases for the renovation. 
Our current account is hsbc, I don't wish to switch that, leave that as is.
Your advice is welcome 

geordiejon

i have a chase account and find it good for everyday spending, the rewards are good but i don't know if the rules have changed yet, my account for the year doesn't have any limits but for new members they were going to change the rules where you had to deposit £500 a month and the rewards were a max of £15 per month(a £1,500 spend).
the rewards doesn't pay interest so set up a savings account to get the higher interest rate.

SiliconChip

How much surplus cash do you currently have, and how much of it will you need for the renovations? While Chase may be a good option your answers will help us to decide if other recommendations are appropriate.

Also, if you are buying items for the renovation that are valued at more than £100 you might want to consider using a credit card rather than debit card so that you have S75 protection should you experience any problems - if you get the right credit card you can get some cashback although probably not as much as Chase offer.

Zanderman

tina.thorpe said:

We have just sold our house, bought a smaller cheaper 1.That needs some renovation. We was mortgage free anyway. 
So from the proceeds,  is it wise to open say a chase account,  and get cashback from purchases for the renovation. 
Our current account is hsbc, I don't wish to switch that, leave that as is.
Your advice is welcome 

The 'proceeds', assuming that's a decent sum, are best put somewhere that has a decent interest rate. 

So going for Chase for because it pays cashback on spend seems irrelevant.  You also want somewhere that pays interest on what's not spent.

Chase do have a savings account earning 3.1% variable, so if you go with Chase it would be best to put the proceeds into that, and dripfeed into a current account as needed.  [Chase's headline figure of 5% is only on the relatively - and often very - trivial 'round-up' money] 

Other banks have better rates than 3.1, so Chase wouldn't be my first choice, especially if the proceeds are significant.

km1500

Just to add if you dripfeed from Chase savings to current that does NOT count towards the £500 monthly you need to deposit to get cashback.on the following month

mab3000

km1500 said:

Just to add if you dripfeed from Chase savings to current that does NOT count towards the £500 monthly you need to deposit to get cashback.on the following month

It looks like as a new customer the OP would  still get 1% cashback for 1 year from when they activate cashback without the £500 monthly deposit requirement. 

pridehappy

Have you considered applying for a reward credit card? If you fly regularly, check out the Virgin Atlantic Credit Card. Otherwise, American Express usually offer welcome cash back offers. Chase accounts do offer more cash back, but you have to actively use the account on a monthly basis and it’s for a limited time.