Applying for new current account for switching purposes

MrFrugalFever

Hi,

I currently have two NatWest Current Accounts (one Reward and one Select), both of which i've had for over 17 years now. I don't really use my Select account (just kept £1.00 in it to keep it live) as I use my Reward account for 2 x direct debits, a few standing orders to savings accounts and to pay off my CC's that I do virtually all of my spending on wherever possible.

As i'm currently with NatWest and don't wish to close a longstanding account, could I apply for a third current account with them without a Hard Credit search? When I upgraded my current account to Reward account there was no hard credit check. I want to have a third one to use as a donor account so I can make use of the switching incentives, they seem quite lucrative.

Does anyone know if its possible to open an account as existing customer without a hard credit search?

Bridlington1

Whenever I've opened accounts with Natwest/RBS they've done a hard search even when it has been a second account as an existing customer but there's nothing stopping you from opening another Natwest select account to act as a donor account and then switching that round all of the banks that are offering switching incentives.

Many of the switching offers require you to have some direct debits set up on them so if you need a couple of spare direct debits for your donor account there's a few ideas in this thread:
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6445857/savings-investment-dds-and-debit-card-deposits-an-updated-list/p1

boingy

I don't know whether it will result in a hard search but, really, don't worry about notching up a hard search - this forum tends to worry too much about a few searches. Lenders don't really care how many accounts you have opened. They care about whether you have any missed payments or other misdemeanours.

I'm wondering why you don't want to switch your unused Select account. You'll still have the other longstanding account.

MrFrugalFever

boingy said:

I don't know whether it will result in a hard search but, really, don't worry about notching up a hard search - this forum tends to worry too much about a few searches. Lenders don't really care how many accounts you have opened. They care about whether you have any missed payments or other misdemeanours.

I'm wondering why you don't want to switch your unused Select account. You'll still have the other longstanding account.

I've had both accounts for a significant period of time and the rest of my accounts are starting from 2021 (when I settled an IVA in full and got back in to the financial market) so I was worried that the only accounts I had that fulfilled 6 years worth of history across all 3 CRA's were my 2 x natwest current accounts and 1 x O2 account. BTW My credit files no longer show anything negative at all everything has surpassed 6 years and been wiped that was closed/settled/defaulted as a result of the IVA.

My intention is to take out a 80% LTV mortgage mid-2024 so didn't want to dip my chances of this either so wanting to maximise free cash (to help towards deposit etc) but not put application at risk.

tryin

Take a look at the discussion here https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6422051/list-of-banks-with-hard-vs-soft-searches-for-current-accounts for banks that do soft searches