How to find a bank?

fottoppe

Hi.. Need to switch banks due to the closure of Intelligent Finance current accounts.
How do I find banks that will give me and my wife a current account each, plus a joint account, plus three linked savings accounts, plus offset mortgage?
Or will most major banks do this?
We've been with IF for 16 years, so a little out of the loop.
Thanks in advance for any knowledge..

400ixl

Why one bank? You really need to be looking at the right accounts for the right purpose which may well be across several banks / building societies. With modern online banking having different providers for different services is not really an issue.

Emmia

fottoppe said:

Hi.. Need to switch banks due to the closure of Intelligent Finance current accounts.
How do I find banks that will give me and my wife a current account each, plus a joint account, plus three linked savings accounts, plus offset mortgage?
Or will most major banks do this?
We've been with IF for 16 years, so a little out of the loop.
Thanks in advance for any knowledge..

As you've discovered, having all your eggs (so to speak) in one basket means you've got to replace everything in one go.

I'd probably look at where you could switch the mortgage to first, as offsets are not offered by everyone, and you'll need a linked savings account with that provider, who you could also use for the joint account.

Then open the other savings accounts with two other providers (you could use something like Chip, which is app based) and the sole current accounts with another bank. 

fottoppe

400ixl said:

Why one bank? You really need to be looking at the right accounts for the right purpose which may well be across several banks / building societies. With modern online banking having different providers for different services is not really an issue.

Good challenge.
Just makes it easier and quicker to move money around when the JA runs out of money at the end of most months. Also we have a fair amount of savings that can offset a mortgage. And I'm too lazy to keep checking for best deals for savings etc.
I guess your last sentence is saying - I can do all this across multiple providers with less fuss than I realise.

frugalmacdugal

Hi,

have a look MSE best accounts, up to £200 to switch.

Rob5342

fottoppe said:

400ixl said:

Why one bank? You really need to be looking at the right accounts for the right purpose which may well be across several banks / building societies. With modern online banking having different providers for different services is not really an issue.

Good challenge.
Just makes it easier and quicker to move money around when the JA runs out of money at the end of most months. Also we have a fair amount of savings that can offset a mortgage. And I'm too lazy to keep checking for best deals for savings etc.
I guess your last sentence is saying - I can do all this across multiple providers with less fuss than I realise.

With faster payments transferring money between accounts.at different banks is usually just as quick as transferring money between accounts at the same bank. It might take a few seconds longer to open the other app but the transfer itself is near instantaneous.

You are far better off picking the best bank/account for each purpose and then moving just that one when you find something better.

fottoppe

Thanks all. Honestly didn't realise that bank transfers were so quick these days

Yorkie1

It usually says it will take up to 2 hours to transfer. In practice, I've found that it's almost always within 5 minutes, if that.

400ixl

Offset mortgages are limited, First Direct may be an option though. You could get paid to switch to them and they do joint accounts and off-set mortgages.

Normal savings account rate is pretty dire with them though, but the regular saver (up to £300 a month has a 7% rate paid annually).

Rob5342

Yorkie1 said:

It usually says it will take up to 2 hours to transfer. In practice, I've found that it's almost always within 5 minutes, if that.

Yorkshire Building Society is the only place I've had an account where the transfers took more than a few seconds, with them the transfer didn't happen until the next morning. I switched again as soon as I saw how slow they were.

xylophone

https://www.money.co.uk/mortgages/offset-mortgages

might be worth a  browse.

https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/banking/compare-best-bank-accounts/

https://moneyfactscompare.co.uk/news/savings/best-uk-savings-rates-this-week/