NatWest/RBS/Ulster £200 Switching Offer 15/2/2024-2/4/2024

Dominic_Blake1

WillPS said:

Dominic_Blake1 said:

WillPS said:

Dominic_Blake1 said:

Nasqueron said:

Dominic_Blake1 said:

Nasqueron said:

superdayold said:

Dominic_Blake1 said:

My final switch to Ulster Bank just completed (around 11:30am).  I just transferred £1,255 into my new Ulster Bank account.  Let’s wait and see what happens, fingers crossed by Friday the £200 will arrive.  At that point I’ll be done with switching I think; although it’s obviously a very appealing thing to do (especially given how useful the money is), I have reached a point at which I no longer want to negatively impact my credit score.  As things stand, I think I am only now in a position to go for one or two more (assuming Santander introduces a new offer etc).

 Good luck everyone! 🤞

I am the same as you. Last switch (Ulster) completed yesterday, money went in this morning. Though I have been very naughty and used all the overdrafts I have to make it up! So I think, yeah might check out my credit score soon, if I dare!

Barclays, HSBC, Nationwide, Lloyds, TSB, the triple   

Think I missed a Co-op one, but wasn't sure about the referral thing.

Only started on this late last year, hadn't dared before. Got my husband on the gravy train now!

Dominic_Blake1 said:

My final switch to Ulster Bank just completed (around 11:30am).  I just transferred £1,255 into my new Ulster Bank account.  Let’s wait and see what happens, fingers crossed by Friday the £200 will arrive.  At that point I’ll be done with switching I think; although it’s obviously a very appealing thing to do (especially given how useful the money is), I have reached a point at which I no longer want to negatively impact my credit score.  As things stand, I think I am only now in a position to go for one or two more (assuming Santander introduces a new offer etc).

 Good luck everyone! 🤞

Fortunately for both of you, the fake credit score is a gimmick that can be ignored, though using an OD is a very expensive way to borrow to get a bonus rather than shifting money in and out in cycles and that will certainly show on your credit history for the next 6 years. A few account switches, especially without an OD in the application, however, is neither here nor there.

I don't think there is any evidence to back up your claim that credit scores are 'fake gimmick's'; while it is true to say that credit agencies act as mechanisms for financial institutions to generate money (and that the scores each agency uses might not relate to one another), the idea that you can ignore your credit score is the worst kind of financial advice which borders on being dangerous. 

I opted to switch banks because generating money is more important to me than having a good credit score right now (I'm not planning to take out a mortgage in the near future, nor do I require any other lines of credit).  However, were I attempting to do any of those things there is no way that I would have opened multiple accounts, each generating hard searches on my credit files in order to gain switch bonuses (accounts which would almost immediately be closed).  

Having had very low credit scores in the past, I know from personal experience how detrimental they can be to your ability to function.  Having also had the best possible credit score (999 with Experian), I know how very different my life was at that time.  Beyond that, as a number of people here and elsewhere have pointed out, banks have been known to withdraw banking services to people engaged in multiple switches.  

I have chosen to do this, however there is no way it is not without risk and we all have to determine whether it is worth taking that risk in the way we approach switching.  But to call credit scores a 'fake gimmick' is kind of the ultimately most arrogant thing to do.

Eh no

The SCORE you see is a gimmick, it is literally never seen by any lender.

I never said to ignore your credit file, so please don't use a strawman or put words into my mouth

When you apply for credit, the CRA(s) send data to the lender who asked for it, the lender puts it through their own internal scoring system (which you will never see) and that is what determines credit.

The 0 or 999 score is meaningless, it has no impact on whether you can get credit or not because it's never seen.

You don't even need to take it from me, think logically - do Experian lend you money? No - so what they score you is moot. Or just go on Experian's site:

https://www.experian.co.uk/consumer/guides/good-credit-score.html

Your credit score gives you an idea of how companies may view you when you apply for credit. 

Note my highlights - an IDEA, how they MAY view you.

Score is meaningless, data on your file isn't

Your premise is false though, lenders might not see your score, however your score is directly related to your financial activity not an arbitrary number plucked out of thin air (so it will, for instance, decrease if you make multiple switches, open and close multiple accounts in quick succession and reflect hard searches appearing within your credit file… it will also increase if you clear debt and maintain your accounts properly).  Ignore your credit score at your peril, basically!   

It's not as simple as things being good or bad though. Some things are always bad - CCJs, defaults, etc. But the rest is all shades of grey.

Lender 1 might see one missed payment as a sign of financial distress and decline as a result. Lender 2 might take the view that a small amount of missed payments might be a sign that they have a chance of making some money from you, and be more likely to approve you or give you a better limit.

This subtlety is all lost if you put any stock in "the score".

Your analysis of the (generic concept of) the credit score is more nuanced than the person I responded to, and to the largest extent accurate.  However, the point about a credit score (at least, this is how I interpret my own score, which I check regularly) is not so much that it provides a watertight and infallible indicator of what credit you may or may not be eligible to receive, rather that it’s a good indicator of the general health of your credit file.  

Credit scores allow you to make fairly accurate generalisations, and informed decisions.  The different agencies do not operate according to universal ratings, however through looking at each of your credit scores with them you can build up a very useful picture of your credit worthiness in the eyes of many institutions.  

If you witness a dramatic decrease in your respective credit scores, that should act as a warning worth heeding; perhaps it might be prudent to hold off pursuing lots of switches in quick succession! 

When I was in debt around ten years ago, and starting to emerge out of that very stressful period, I found it so useful watching my scores improve in tandem with my financial situation.

Ultimately, I find it kind of irritating that anyone should be so determined to rubbish information that has real value to customers, possibly vulnerable people attempting to gain control of their finances.  Telling people that credit scores are fake, or hoaxes, or meaningless, is actually a pretty dangerous thing to do.

Congratulations on your improvement. I think you're attributing too much of your success to an opaque number.

It's pretty easy to determine an improvement from what sounds like financial distress to a position of relative stability. If the score didn't exist, this could have been communicated to you in some other way. 

I disagree with your point about dramatic drops in credit rating acting as a useful warning. I've completely stopped paying attention to them in fact, because they seem to happen whenever I open a product, and yet come the next time I want to open one I usually get it. I don't miss payments or anything like that, but if I was waiting for a credit rating update I'd potentially be months in arrears by the time I realised!

I'd add that quite a lot of the frustration with them around these parts is because of the question we see all the time which is 'why can't I get HSBC Advance/x/y/z even though my credit rating is perfect'. The score has sold them a comforting myth that they're perfect and can get whatever they want, but that doesn't match the reality.

I’m not attributing my improvement to my credit score at all, it has / had nothing whatsoever to do with it. 

superdayold

I’m no expert, but to me it sounds like a problem with ID. Maybe the photo want clear enough on that one?
like you say ‘can’t’

traceyaj

Hi , sorry for not trailing back through the 115 pages, but I just need to know what kind of ID you ned to open these accounts. I have no passport and my driving licence is the old style paper one. TIA

harz99

traceyaj said:

Hi , sorry for not trailing back through the 115 pages, but I just need to know what kind of ID you ned to open these accounts. I have no passport and my driving licence is the old style paper one. TIA

Probably best ring whichever bank it is and ask them the question then.

Aidanmc

Aidanmc said:

abz88 said:

Looks like I'll only be getting £200 out of a possible £600. I've had bonus payments from RBS and NatWest since January 2020 so I technically wasn't eligible but decided to try and switch into my existing accounts. Switches went through, but no bonus payments have come through. I have never had an Ulster account so opened a new one and had my £200 payment come in (this switch completed after the RBS and NatWest one's so I am fairly confident this is my only bonus payment). 

Hmmm......i thought some people were getting the bonus even though they had an incentive since Jan 2020!

Maybe they were just lucky.

I complete all criteria for Ulster and Natwest on 4th March

Natwest paid the bonus on 8th. Still waiting on Ulster though, i may possibly have received an incentive here since 2020

Just an update, contacted Ulster to see why i never received the bonus and was told i received an incentive Jan 2021 and therefore not eligible.

Ed-1

Aidanmc said:

Aidanmc said:

abz88 said:

Looks like I'll only be getting £200 out of a possible £600. I've had bonus payments from RBS and NatWest since January 2020 so I technically wasn't eligible but decided to try and switch into my existing accounts. Switches went through, but no bonus payments have come through. I have never had an Ulster account so opened a new one and had my £200 payment come in (this switch completed after the RBS and NatWest one's so I am fairly confident this is my only bonus payment). 

Hmmm......i thought some people were getting the bonus even though they had an incentive since Jan 2020!

Maybe they were just lucky.

I complete all criteria for Ulster and Natwest on 4th March

Natwest paid the bonus on 8th. Still waiting on Ulster though, i may possibly have received an incentive here since 2020

Just an update, contacted Ulster to see why i never received the bonus and was told i received an incentive Jan 2021 and therefore not eligible.

Did you switch into a new account or the same account you had that incentive on?

Aidanmc

Ed-1 said:

Aidanmc said:

Aidanmc said:

abz88 said:

Looks like I'll only be getting £200 out of a possible £600. I've had bonus payments from RBS and NatWest since January 2020 so I technically wasn't eligible but decided to try and switch into my existing accounts. Switches went through, but no bonus payments have come through. I have never had an Ulster account so opened a new one and had my £200 payment come in (this switch completed after the RBS and NatWest one's so I am fairly confident this is my only bonus payment). 

Hmmm......i thought some people were getting the bonus even though they had an incentive since Jan 2020!

Maybe they were just lucky.

I complete all criteria for Ulster and Natwest on 4th March

Natwest paid the bonus on 8th. Still waiting on Ulster though, i may possibly have received an incentive here since 2020

Just an update, contacted Ulster to see why i never received the bonus and was told i received an incentive Jan 2021 and therefore not eligible.

Did you switch into a new account or the same account you had that incentive on?

It was a new account. Havent had account there for couple of years, but i had online banking profile.

steven141

My Ulster Bank account still hasn’t received the bonus. The switch completed yesterday but I’ve read that they take a while. 

Dominic_Blake1

steven141 said:

My Ulster Bank account still hasn’t received the bonus. The switch completed yesterday but I’ve read that they take a while. 

I’m in exactly the same position, I didn’t expect it to arrive quite so soon though, judging from other ppls experience I think it might on Friday … will be interesting finding out either way!

steven141

Dominic_Blake1 said:

steven141 said:

My Ulster Bank account still hasn’t received the bonus. The switch completed yesterday but I’ve read that they take a while. 

I’m in exactly the same position, I didn’t expect it to arrive quite so soon though, judging from other ppls experience I think it might on Friday … will be interesting finding out either way!

I’ll post an update when it arrives