Impossible to use SWITCH service as parent with child account!!
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mtw
Posts: 5 Forumite
Using the current account switching service means closing the old account. However if you have a child's account associated with the old bank account closing it means you must also close the child's account (or sometimes must use in branch+passbook to access the child's account). This seems to be true of many banks/BSs including Nationwide and Halifax. This effectively means that you cannot use the Switch service and certainly cannot get any of the current rewards on offer.
Seems very unfair on and discriminates against parents. Plus also seems that banks/BSs are using this ( deliberately?) to stop people moving current accounts. See Nationwide's Future Saver child account... it insist on having a Flexaccount with NW - so once you open a Future Saver account for your child ...you are tied to NW bank account unless you close both accounts ( with large potential interest loss)!
Seems very unfair on and discriminates against parents. Plus also seems that banks/BSs are using this ( deliberately?) to stop people moving current accounts. See Nationwide's Future Saver child account... it insist on having a Flexaccount with NW - so once you open a Future Saver account for your child ...you are tied to NW bank account unless you close both accounts ( with large potential interest loss)!
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There are a range of cross-selling offers available in the market, whereby holders of certain current accounts have access not only to children's accounts but also regular savers, preferential ISAs, credit cards, etc. In each case, closing the current account (whether via CASS switching or not) will lose the eligibility for associated products, so this isn't specific to parents in the way you seem to be suggesting.
If you want to take advantage of switching offers without closing a current account that qualifies you for associated products, then open a second account with your current bank and switch that instead....0 -
Where you got your info from as you are talking garbage. Halifax does not stipulate that to have a child's account the parent has to bank with them.
Switch your child's account across too if that bank is preventing you, why would anyone want to bank with someone who enforces such dogmatic rules is beyond me.0 -
Just open a donor account and switch that. You're making a mountain out of a pimple.0
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Thanks for the replies - but the point I was making was that the Current account SWITCH service absolutely forces closure of the main bank account - and this in turn would force closure of the associated children's accounts ( see Nationwide's terms and conditions) . Yes you can find ways of leaving the old bank account open ( e.g. doing a lengthy partial switch) but then you cannot use the Switch 7 day service and therefore you cannot benefit from the various "rewards" on offer which demand closure of the old bank account.0
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That's correct - the switch service closes the old account.
Open a different child account elsewhere or with the bank you are moving too.
It's not the end of the world and hardly warrants words like unfair and discriminating!0 -
Seems to be you who's missing the point - banks offer switching bonuses specifically to incentivise people to move all their banking business to them, so (given the existence of CASS) it's hardly surprising that the key term of such offers is that they're conditional on using a service that inherently closes the old account.Yes you can find ways of leaving the old bank account open ( e.g. doing a lengthy partial switch) but then you cannot use the Switch 7 day service and therefore you cannot benefit from the various "rewards" on offer which demand closure of the old bank account.
However, the mechanisms available to them to enforce this transfer of business are readily worked around - I've already explained how you can take advantage of switching offers without closing your account (which didn't involve a "lengthy partial switch") so if you're after some free money then you have to play by their rules....0 -
Thanks for the replies - but the point I was making was that the Current account SWITCH service absolutely forces closure of the main bank account - and this in turn would force closure of the associated children's accounts ( see Nationwide's terms and conditions) . Yes you can find ways of leaving the old bank account open ( e.g. doing a lengthy partial switch) but then you cannot use the Switch 7 day service and therefore you cannot benefit from the various "rewards" on offer which demand closure of the old bank account.
You are the banks perfect customer, you think that you have to switch your main account and all your other accounts to them and give them all your business to get the reward.
You can simply open another current account with your bank online and then switch that one to get the reward, easy!
I have 8 current accounts to get the best rewards/interest and i switch them as new offers come up. There will be a lot of people who have more than 8, there is no reason to have just one current account and it's a bad idea to have no backups at all.0 -
Plus also seems that banks/BSs are using this ( deliberately?) to stop people moving current accounts. See Nationwide's Future Saver child account... it insist on having a Flexaccount with NW - so once you open a Future Saver account for your child ...you are tied to NW bank account unless you close both accounts ( with large potential interest loss)!
Yes, some banks offer products to current account holders to try to build loyalty. Saying it's discriminatory to parents is like saying it's discriminatory to regular savers.
There is no automatic entitlement to current account switch payouts, you have to meet their requirements & it seems fair to me that if you are being paid to switch your account then it should be closed and you lose any benefit from it. If you want the simplicity of only having one current account, then you can only benefit from the offers from one current account provider.
If on the other hand you are prepared to open more than one current account and make sure that each one meets monthly direct debit and deposit requirements, then you can benefit from as many as you can manage.
There are plenty of discussions on this site how to conjure up direct debits and deposits can be money that you cycle through your accounts once a month.0
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