First Direct Switch T&C

lindabea

I came across this statement in the FD's T&C and was hoping for some advice from you guys who had perhaps made the switch..  

To get the £175 cash offer you need to open a 1st Account, switch your everyday banking to us using the Current Account Switch Service and pay in at least £1,000 within three months of opening the account.

The bit I wanted clarified is what they mean by 'everyday banking'. The account I would like to use for switching is not my main account.  Although the account has one active DD, it's not by any means my main account.  So my question is would FD still pay the £175 if they deem my account as not my main account?      

eskbanker

There's no universal definition of 'main account', or 'everyday banking', so unlikely that there's anything there they can rely on to deny the incentive.

Nasqueron

I switched to FD and got the incentive, the account has never done anything except the initial cash payment to qualify and been used for the regular saver - no direct debits, only a SO into the regular saver

Ponchos

I've today received all my First Direct documents in the post and set up online banking in the app. I haven't started the switch just yet as I have a couple of thoughts and questions.

I applied for FD last week when it was the only switch deal available, and since TSB and Co Op popped up on Monday there are multiple offers, the TSB in particular seems to have a time limit as well as ongoing incentives. I currently have a Starling account (which I want to keep) and the Barclays account I switched into and which currently holds my Direct Debits (Barclays, I am happy to get away from!). However, I am thinking i might also keep the new FD account and use the regular saver option, so I don't want to switch into and then out of FD. First of all, how long do I have with FD to make a switch to get the incentive cash? The terms say you need to pay in £1000 within three months, does that mean I also have three months to switch in an account? I'm not thinking it will take that long to switch, just a thought as I don't want to miss out.

My current thinking is to keep my Barclays account with DDs (Barclays1) and open a second account with them (if they allow me to), and put just a bit of money in the new one with no DDs (Barclays2). Then switch Barclays2 to First Direct (as they don't require DDs being switched), and also open a TSB account and switch Barclays1 to that. This would meet both sets of criteria for FD and TSB, I can keep FD for the regular saver and starts working on the criteria for TSB.

Is there anything that would stop me doing this? Would Barclays allow me a second account, and would First Direct have a problem with me switching from an account that is only days old? My other idea was to open an account with Chase and then switch to FD from that, though again this would be after a few days. I figured opening a second account with Barclays might be quicker and less hassle than starting up with a completely different bank.

Bit long winded, sorry! Hopefully all makes sense. Thanks in advance for help!

Nasqueron

I have switched accounts that were literally created solely for a switch - as to whether Barclays or FD would allow you - apply and see, no-one can predict how they would react. You would likely need to wait for a card to come physically to do the switch, depending on whether the switch requires this or if they give yyou card details in the app