club lloyds free benefits?

Supa

I wanted to get the free £250 and Disney+ (Standard with Ads) through a Club Lloyds account while avoiding the monthly fee, open a Club Lloyds Current Account, deposit £2,000+ per month, and activate the Disney+ benefit via the "Lifestyle Benefit" portal. I'm wondering if anyone has done it before?

1) I've never done anything like this before, I have 2 Natwest accounts so I will switch from one, what exactly are the steps to set up a £2000 standing order each month between my old and new account? 

2) After reading the terms, is it ok to set up 3 £1 annual payment direct debits into a charity to fulfill the requirement? 

flaneurs_lobster

That all sounds fine.

I'd question setting up 3 x £1 annual payments to charities - not so much finding the charities who will accept such a "gift" but that the actual admin cost to the charity in processing such a miniscule donation is almost certainly more than the £1 collected.

Read the dedicated thread about switching to Lloyds, amongst other things it has links to sites who will set up cheap (<£1) DDs just for switching.

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6649192/lloyds-switch-offer-6-january-to-3-february-2026/p1

Be aware that the switch has to start by 3 Feb, and the terms say that the DDs have to have actually paid out on your old account before it's switched. It'll be tight to get this done in time.

Supa

flaneurs_lobster said:

Be aware that the switch has to start by 3 Feb, and the terms say that the DDs have to have actually paid out on your old account before it's switched. It'll be tight to get this done in time.

I don't mind making the 3 direct debit payments monthly, but are you saying even if I make the first payments today, they won't go through by 3rd? How long would they usually take to go through?

flaneurs_lobster

Supa said:

flaneurs_lobster said:

Be aware that the switch has to start by 3 Feb, and the terms say that the DDs have to have actually paid out on your old account before it's switched. It'll be tight to get this done in time.

I don't mind making the 3 direct debit payments monthly, but are you saying even if I make the first payments today, they won't go through by 3rd? How long would they usually take to go through?

What do you mean by "make the first payments today"?

You need to ask a third party(s) to set up a direct debit(s) to take payments (a charity, a cheap DD provider, a credit card etc). You can't set up DDs directly yourself. They will all take time to set up the DD at their bank. If the payment is to be paid immediately (they often are not) then it would typically take 5 or 6 working days before the money leaves your account.

Supa

flaneurs_lobster said:

What do you mean by "make the first payments today"?

Oh I see, so if I paid a monthly £1 amount to a charity, on the donation page it doesn't actually say if it's a DD. But if I understand correctly, basically even if I tick the box 'to pay in full today' on paypal, for them to actually set up a DD (if that's indeed how they would do it, they haven't specified) then it's extremely unlikely to actually be set up by the 3rd.

On top of that paypal has greyed out the option to pay with my bank account, I would have to use my debit card. So I don't know if it would even count anyhow. It sounds like I'll prob just end up going through the hassle for nothing if I try now.

Zanderman

Supa said:

flaneurs_lobster said:

What do you mean by "make the first payments today"?

Oh I see, so if I paid a monthly £1 amount to a charity, on the donation page it doesn't actually say if it's a DD. But if I understand correctly, basically even if I tick the box 'to pay in full today' on paypal, for them to actually set up a DD (if that's indeed how they would do it, they haven't specified) then it's extremely unlikely to actually be set up by the 3rd.

On top of that paypal has greyed out the option to pay with my bank account, I would have to use my debit card. So I don't know if it would even count anyhow. It sounds like I'll prob just end up going through the hassle for nothing if I try now.

A debit card payment via PayPal is not a direct debit, so you're right, that won't work. 

Paypal can be used to set up DDs but only if you first have a bank account - not just a debit card for a bank account - linked to the PayPal account. Have you got an actual bank account (not just a debit card) linked to your PayPal account?

Supa

Zanderman said:

Have you got an actual bank account (not just a debit card) linked to your PayPal account?

Yes I do. What is my best option in the time-frame?

flaneurs_lobster

Supa said:

 It sounds like I'll prob just end up going through the hassle for nothing if I try now.

I do recommend that thread I linked to earlier - it'll give you a much better idea of how these things work.

This switch offer started on 6th Jan, it's now the 20th and there's a (small) chance that Lloyds might end the thing before the 3rd Feb. 

I'd be tempted to continue to set up the three DDs you need for this offer and see how long it is before they actually draw funds. You might be better waiting for the next switch offer (from Lloyds or someone else), they are not too long between offers. You will be in good shape to go straight into a switch in future.

molerat

The timescale of these offers is likely set to prevent what you are trying to do.

Supa

flaneurs_lobster said:

I'd be tempted to continue to set up the three DDs you need for this offer and see how long it is before they actually draw funds. You might be better waiting for the next switch offer (from Lloyds or someone else), they are not too long between offers. You will be in good shape to go straight into a switch in future.

Thank you for the advice! One of the issues I am having is that I assumed the charity payment would be a DD. I set a monthly one up on my main account and I seem to recall it was a DD, but on the donation page there is no indication. Is there any way to know?

flaneurs_lobster

Supa said:

Thank you for the advice! One of the issues I am having is that I assumed the charity payment would be a DD. I set a monthly one up on my main account and I seem to recall it was a DD, but on the donation page there is no indication

There is always a clear form when you are setting up a Direct Debit, it has to be a standard set text and list the terms - a Direct Debit is covered by specific rules and regulations that the payee (the organisation getting the money) has to abide by and one of those rules is telling you that you are setting up a Direct Debit.