Starting out Bank switching

BankingOff

Hey everyone, 

I finally after many, many years done my first bank switch and it was as painless as stated.  I'm genuinely gutted I didn't do it sooner.  Anyway, I'm wanting to see if I can maximize this with an account that I can switch every few years that just has some DDs that rarely change. 

On the MSE website there are the basic accounts / bad credit and so could I potentially create one of them (with no overdraft) and have DDs come out of them, with me transferring in the required amount each month, and use that as a Current Account switch?  Or do I have to open a fully fledged CA?

BankingOff

Sorry I can't see how to edit my post afterwards -

• I am not looking to apply for credit anytime soon
• I am not looking to impact my credit score, hence no overdraft
• I am not likely to default at any point, I have funds for this

And I hope everyone gets a nice cookie

lr1277

I haven't switched recently but the advice on this board seems to be:

Keep your 'main' account.

Create a 2nd account with the bank that has your main account. This is easiest because the bank already know you so you won't have to go through ID verification.

Then switch this 2nd account.

You are of course free to set up regular current accounts with other banks with a view to switching them.

Bridlington1

If you are going to open donor accounts for switching just make sure you don't keep using the same banking group for donor accounts as the banks can get pretty annoyed if you open lots of accounts in a relatively short timeframe then switch them out soon after as I found out with LBG.

What it may be worth doing is opening a few different donor accounts with different banks with DDs attached so you have them ready for future switches.

WillPS

You only really need 1 donor account, right? Limit yourself to one switch at a time and work through the offers over the course of 2-3 years as they come up.

MikeJXE

I was in a similar position at the end of November and spotted the switching community on MSE

I followed the guidance on various threads, kept my usual current account and opened 3 burner accounts, Metro Monzo and Starling, the accounts unlikely to offer incentives

I opted to attach a few £2 direct debits to them 

Over the course of December to April I attracted £1650 in total with RBS being the slowest 

I guess now I have exhausted the switch programme for a couple of years 

PRAISETHESUN

BankingOff said:

Hey everyone, 

I finally after many, many years done my first bank switch and it was as painless as stated.  I'm genuinely gutted I didn't do it sooner.  Anyway, I'm wanting to see if I can maximize this with an account that I can switch every few years that just has some DDs that rarely change. 

On the MSE website there are the basic accounts / bad credit and so could I potentially create one of them (with no overdraft) and have DDs come out of them, with me transferring in the required amount each month, and use that as a Current Account switch?  Or do I have to open a fully fledged CA?

A basic current account is a fully fledged current account and can be used for switching. That said, most banks will force you to apply for a standard current account first though, only offering you a basic account if you fail to meet their criteria. Having one or two donor accounts ready to go can be helpful if you intend to jump on switch offers as/when they pop up, otherwise you can just daisy-chain accounts you've already gotten the incentive for your next switch if you don't want to keep them - you usually disqualify yourself for a few years after you take advantage of an offer anyway, so there's usually not much of a reason to have too many donor accounts lined up.

834843

Try www.switchtracker.co.uk to keep track of all the available switches and tick off your progress completing each offer step. It’s free and super handy. I’ve made over £1000 from switches using it.