Martin Lewis Recommended Bank Account query

bery_451

friolento said:

propunter99 said:

BChow said:

There are a couple of websites that will let you setup low cost direct debits to meet the basic requirements for direct debits for switching: SwitchPiglet and 50PenceDirectDebit 

I'm new so the system wont let me paste links, yet, but I'm sure they'll come up if you Google them. 

Yep this is true, I've been using 30pence.co.uk  as it's the cheapest DD I could find and works well for me

There is an existing thread listing even cheaper DDs

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6445857/savings-investment-dds-and-debit-card-deposits-an-updated-list/p1

Is it safe to give these Direct Debit companies your bank details? What profit margin they operate on just by 30p a month? Or they get their profit by selling your bank details to fraudsters?

Bridlington1

bery_451 said:

friolento said:

propunter99 said:

BChow said:

There are a couple of websites that will let you setup low cost direct debits to meet the basic requirements for direct debits for switching: SwitchPiglet and 50PenceDirectDebit 

I'm new so the system wont let me paste links, yet, but I'm sure they'll come up if you Google them. 

Yep this is true, I've been using 30pence.co.uk  as it's the cheapest DD I could find and works well for me

There is an existing thread listing even cheaper DDs

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6445857/savings-investment-dds-and-debit-card-deposits-an-updated-list/p1

Is it safe to give these Direct Debit companies your bank details? What profit margin they operate on just by 30p a month? Or they get their profit by selling your bank details to fraudsters?

Yes it's safe to use the DDs on that list, I wouldn't include them on the list if they were unsafe and I've used some of them for a couple of years without any issues. In the DDs thread @friolento mentions there are several savings/investment accounts that allow you to make deposits by direct debit. Making deposits by into them by DD is no less safe than making deposits via open banking, debit card, cheque etc, it's just another way to pay into your account.

The likes of 30pence.co.uk make their money by spending some of the money on setting up/processing the DDs and then keeping the rest, whilst they don't make much money on each individual DD if lots of people are using them for DDs then those few pence here and there will add up. The only reason these websites aren't included on my lists is because you don't get anything in return for your money other than the DD itself (with savings accounts you can withdraw your money if you wish, with credit cards you're just paying off an existing debt etc, with 30pence.co.uk you get nothing but the DD).

bery_451

Barclays email me this, what does this mean and I be paying £5 a month for Blue Rewards still?:

We’re changing the way you get rewarded with Blue Rewards. Over the last couple of years, we’ve been changing the features available with your membership and introducing new ones, like access to high-interest savings accounts and cashback when you shop – all for the same £5 a month. We’ve now introduced subscriptions to Apple TV+ and MLS Season Pass – they’re available for you to activate in your app straight away. From‌ ‌4 September 2024‌, we’re removing the £5 monthly loyalty reward you get for having two or more Direct Debits, along with all other product cash rewards. There are some more changes too – here’s a summary of everything you need to know. Summary of key changes

• All Blue Rewards members can now access an Apple TV+ subscription worth £8.99 a month, and watch every Major League Soccer match with an MLS Season Pass subscription, worth £14.99 a month during the season (we’ll update your T&Cs to include this from‌ ‌1 July‌) • From‌ ‌4 September‌, we’re removing the £5 monthly loyalty reward for having two or more Direct Debits as well as all other product cash rewards at the same time: £3 residential mortgage reward, £1.50 life insurance and £5 life plus critical illness reward, and £1 Barclayloan reward – you’ll receive your last payment on‌ ‌3 September‌ • We want you to get value from your Blue Rewards membership, so we’re changing the way we assess this when the features change, as set out in the Blue Rewards FAQs – we’ll regularly review what you use and we’ll let you know if we don’t think you’re benefitting • From‌ ‌4 September‌, Premier customers will no longer be able to join Blue Rewards because all its features will be available as part of Premier • We’ve updated our T&Cs to reflect these and some other changes – full details are below.

A reminder of what you can get with Blue Rewards

Access to the Rainy Day Saver account – open with as little as £1 and earn interest of ‌5.12% AER/5% gross1 p.‌a. – currently our highest interest rate for instant-access savings on balances up to £5,0002 3

Access to the Blue Rewards Saver account – open with as little as £1 and earn 3.56% AER/3.50% gross1 p.‌a. interest on your savings in the months you don’t make any withdrawals, and a lower rate when you do2 3

Barclays Cashback Rewards – earn up to 15% cashback4 at participating retailers when you pay with the debit card for the current account linked to your Blue Rewards membership. And, between‌ ‌September and ‌November this year, we’re giving you an additional 1% cashback on all eligible debit card spend,4 where you could earn up to an extra £5 each month. You’ll need to be registered for our app5 to activate cashback and start earning

Apple TV+ and MLS Season Pass subscriptions – you’ll need to be registered for our app to activate your subscriptions and link your Apple ID. Our FAQs at www.barclays.co.uk/appletvplus have more information.

jameseonline

bery_451 said:

Barclays email me this, what does this mean and I be paying £5 a month for Blue Rewards still?:

We’re changing the way you get rewarded with Blue Rewards. Over the last couple of years, we’ve been changing the features available with your membership and introducing new ones, like access to high-interest savings accounts and cashback when you shop – all for the same £5 a month. We’ve now introduced subscriptions to Apple TV+ and MLS Season Pass – they’re available for you to activate in your app straight away. From‌ ‌4 September 2024‌, we’re removing the £5 monthly loyalty reward you get for having two or more Direct Debits, along with all other product cash rewards. There are some more changes too – here’s a summary of everything you need to know. Summary of key changes

• All Blue Rewards members can now access an Apple TV+ subscription worth £8.99 a month, and watch every Major League Soccer match with an MLS Season Pass subscription, worth £14.99 a month during the season (we’ll update your T&Cs to include this from‌ ‌1 July‌) • From‌ ‌4 September‌, we’re removing the £5 monthly loyalty reward for having two or more Direct Debits as well as all other product cash rewards at the same time: £3 residential mortgage reward, £1.50 life insurance and £5 life plus critical illness reward, and £1 Barclayloan reward – you’ll receive your last payment on‌ ‌3 September‌ • We want you to get value from your Blue Rewards membership, so we’re changing the way we assess this when the features change, as set out in the Blue Rewards FAQs – we’ll regularly review what you use and we’ll let you know if we don’t think you’re benefitting • From‌ ‌4 September‌, Premier customers will no longer be able to join Blue Rewards because all its features will be available as part of Premier • We’ve updated our T&Cs to reflect these and some other changes – full details are below.

A reminder of what you can get with Blue Rewards

Access to the Rainy Day Saver account – open with as little as £1 and earn interest of ‌5.12% AER/5% gross1 p.‌a. – currently our highest interest rate for instant-access savings on balances up to £5,0002 3

Access to the Blue Rewards Saver account – open with as little as £1 and earn 3.56% AER/3.50% gross1 p.‌a. interest on your savings in the months you don’t make any withdrawals, and a lower rate when you do2 3

Barclays Cashback Rewards – earn up to 15% cashback4 at participating retailers when you pay with the debit card for the current account linked to your Blue Rewards membership. And, between‌ ‌September and ‌November this year, we’re giving you an additional 1% cashback on all eligible debit card spend,4 where you could earn up to an extra £5 each month. You’ll need to be registered for our app5 to activate cashback and start earning

Apple TV+ and MLS Season Pass subscriptions – you’ll need to be registered for our app to activate your subscriptions and link your Apple ID. Our FAQs at www.barclays.co.uk/appletvplus have more information.

Already a thread on this https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6535509/barclays-blue-rewards-removing-5-reward#latest

bery_451

Should I keep it?

HillStreetBlues

bery_451 said:

Should I keep it?

Dunno, should you?