Which bank account?

chriiiiiiiis

What is the best bank account for me?

I pay in over £1000 per month.
I am always in credit by atleast £400, never overdrawn, never had a charge.
Do not want an overdraft.

I currently have the Barclays basic account and am earning more or less zero interest.

Been looking at the Abbey Preferred In-Credit account after coming across it on a comparison website. Is this any good?

I heard that packaged accounts are usually a waste of money, is this true?

Thank you.

skyrider007

Top Accounts if you earn over £24,000

First Direct £100 sign up bonus. When new customers sign up to First Direct's* 1st account it pays a £100 bonus; provided you earn over £24,000 (explanation). The bonus is earned as long as you ensure your monthly salary starts being paid in; within three months of opening the account. There is also a further £100 on offer if you decide to switch away from First Direct within twelve months of opening the account, providing you've maintained the monthly £1,500 deposits.

The £100 bonus makes this a winner; for anyone who has less than £1,250 in the account on average over a month; as then the bonus beats the interest earnable elsewhere (if you’ve got more go for the accounts listed below). Alternatively if you get the account and ditch and switch between six months and a year; the double bonus makes it a winner then too.

If you've heard about First Direct introducing charges for their customers, there's no need to worry; that was for people on lower salaries than £24,000.

In-credit interest: NONE Overdraft Cost: 0% up to £250, 12.9% above that Min Pay-in: £1,500 (explanation)
Top Account if you earn over £6,300.

Alliance & Leicester 8.5% interest and cash bonuses. Alliance and Leicester's* online Premier Direct account pays a huge 8.5% interest on balances up to £2,500 for the first year, though after that drops to 1% below the Bank of England base rate . It also has the advantage of being the top pick for overdrafts (see later) at 0% for the first year.

It also offers a bonus of £25 both to you and a friend if you recommend them. So team up and join at roughly the same time you can be quids in (see Refer a Friend Loophole) and you can continue to earn by recommending more friends.

In-credit interest: 8.5% AER up to £2,500 for year 1. Overdraft Cost: 0% for year 1 Min Pay-in: £500 (explanation)
Specialised alternatives

Are you a big earner – do you hold a lot in the account? If you’re consistently more than £2,500 in-credit, the Coventry Building Society’s* First account is a hybrid current/savings account paying 5.6% interest on all balances up to £250,000, although 0.85% of this is a bonus lasting only a year. This is a high rate, yet it's beatable by the Top Savings Accounts. As such, it’s sensible to sweep any cash which isn’t in everyday use into savings.

In-credit interest: 6.35% AER up to £250,000. Min Pay-in: £1,000 (explanation)
Earn under £6,300? A few banks have no 'pay-in' threshold, meaning there's effectively no earnings limit; Cahoot is the highest payer at 3.75%, followed by Intelligent Finance and Smile at 2.5%. Yet you’ll need a good credit score to get them, and if you’re on a low income that’s likely to be difficult.

Source: http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/banking/compare-best-bank-accounts#credit

ktj

I have current accounts with several banks.
I have one with Abbey, opened 'cos it was giving 8% interest on balances up to £2500, if funded with £1k per month, which is great, but I have to say that for various reasons Abbey drive me to distraction. Also they are one of the few banks who, as far as I know have no immediate plans to implement the one day movement of funds that most banks are now introducing. However 8% interest prevents me from ditching Abbey.
My favorite bank until recently was HBOS (current account 6.18% same conditions as Abbey) I have lots of accounts with them and until recently I loved their website and found it brilliantly easy to use and would have definitely recommended them, but unfortunately they have updated their website and I now find it more awkward, but I still intend to persevere with them.
Hope my input is helpful.

Night-owl_6

I have to say, I would highly recommend to you Alliance and Leicester if you are going to pay that sum in each month.
They have a number of accounts that offer a number of great deals so long as you pay in a minimum of £500.00 per month.
Have a look at there website, you can apply online and you get a reply within 48hrs normally.

Goodluck and hope you find the right account

chriiiiiiiis

Hello again.

Barclays have a new account, Current Account Plus, which costs three pounds per month. I would rather just upgrade accounts at Barclays than opening a new account at a different bank.

If I'm in credit by atleast £400 per month, every month, and pay in over £1000, with an interest rate of 3.00% AER (2.96% gross pa) (don't have a clue what this means)... Am I likely to make back the £36 per year that I'm going to pay to have the account open?

Thanks.

Chris

skyrider007

chriiiiiiiis wrote: »

If I'm in credit by atleast £400 per month, every month, and pay in over £1000, with an interest rate of 3.00% AER (2.96% gross pa) (don't have a clue what this means)..

Unfortunately no. You'll get interest of something like £5-10 per year max.

CLAPTON

why not simply open the barclay's esaver a/c... instant transfers online between it and your current a/c .. not a great rate but better than nothing and saves the hassle of moving bank.

Inactive

5.05% at linked savings account on the Nationwide FlexAccount ( current Account ) instant online transfers.