Taking Advantage of £125 Halifax and £200 Refer a Friend Nationwide

KieranMac · 9 October 2017 at 5:35PM

Hi there,

I am a little confused about this whole switching malarky.

I am going to switch my current account (Santander) to Halifax in order to take advantage of the £125 switching bonus, which closes my Santander account. But I also want to do the refer-a-friend scheme with a friend who already has a Nationwide account, so we both get £100 each.

Is there a way I can have both accounts, or do they both have to be my current account?

Alternatively, can I set up a bank account with another bank (say Natwest) and then 'switch' to Nationwide and close this Natwest account?

Thanks in advance

KM

binaryuniverse · 9 October 2017 at 5:53PM

KieranMac wrote: »

Is there a way I can have both accounts, or do they both have to be my current account?

I've read this 4 times now and can't work out what you mean.

Alternatively, can I set up a bank account with another bank (say Natwest) and then 'switch' to Nationwide and close this Natwest account?

Yes. You will have to do this as you will only have the one account to switch. You could switch from Halifax to Nationwide at a later date, of course.

KieranMac · 9 October 2017 at 6:10PM

Having both accounts I meant - have the Halifax account and the Nationwide account at the same time, because the conditions on switching mean closing my current Santander account and opening an account with Halifax.

As I do not have another account after that to close down and switch for the Nationwide refer-a-friend scheme, this is why I asked if it was okay to just set up a new account with e.g Natwest, then switch this Natwest account to the Nationwide one, and thus recieving the £100 refer-a-friend bonus.

Hope that makes sense.

Cheers,

KM

david78 · 9 October 2017 at 6:19PM

KieranMac wrote: »

I asked if it was okay to just set up a new account with e.g Natwest, then switch this Natwest account to the Nationwide one, and thus recieving the £100 refer-a-friend bonus.

You can do that. But you need to "groom" the current account by setting up two direct debits to be paid from it. It can take a bit of work. Be aware there will be two credit searches on your credit file(s), one for each current account you apply for. Its probably not sensible to do this too many times.

KieranMac · 9 October 2017 at 6:30PM

Thanks for the response.

Yeah, that all makes sense. Cheers.

Final question then, is there a limited amount of time I need to keep my account open with Halifax before switching it?

Surely they don't want people taking advantage of the £125 switching bonus then hopping over to another bank?

bigadaj · 10 October 2017 at 12:07PM

KieranMac wrote: »

Thanks for the response.

Yeah, that all makes sense. Cheers.

Final question then, is there a limited amount of time I need to keep my account open with Halifax before switching it?

Surely they don't want people taking advantage of the £125 switching bonus then hopping over to another bank?

Check their terms and conditions but I don't believe there is a minimum time or a clawback.

You can of course keep,the Halifax as a reward account and earn the additional £3 a month, not a lot but better than a poke in the eye.

Then set up another sacrificial account for any additional switch you might want to make, using an existing provider this should be open instantly or within a few days.

Taking Advantage of £125 Halifax and £200 Refer a Friend Nationwide

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