Current account switch (to NatWest) - will this work?

Larches · 20 November 2019 at 6:39PM

Hello all. Mrs and I are hoping to take advantage of NatWest's current account switch offer (£150 thank you very much), but here's the thing... the account we want to switch over is a secondary current account that Mrs opened ages ago, and doesn't have any Direct Debits or other regular payments set up on it. Does anyone know if that's likely to cause problems with the Current Account Switch Service and qualifying for the offer?

It would be easy enough to set up a DD on there (we'll be setting up a new one imminently anyway) but I understand that can take up to 10 working days, and the offer will be ending before long and could in fact be withdrawn at any time, so not sure whether this would help or hinder.

The other thing is that the account is currently a sole account in Mrs's name, but the one we want to open would be a joint account. Anyone know if that's possible using the Current Account Switch Service? (I know it's not possible the other way round, for obvious reasons I suppose, but hoping sole to joint would be OK?)

Thanks in advance for any help.

[Deleted User] · 20 November 2019 at 6:42PM

I don't believe Direct Debits are a requirement for the NatWest switch offer.

You can switch an account with no DD's or SO's and it won't cause any problems.

Likewise you can switch a sole account to a joint account, but not vice-versa.

Ghostcrawler · 20 November 2019 at 9:02PM

Me and my partner just completed the switch to NatWest, everything was smooth and easy. No requirement of DD or any kind of set up, just transfer £1500 once (you can take out the money after transfer) into your account and also login to online banking and mobile banking app before 24th Jan. Reward will be paid before 21st Feb.

I believe single to joint should be fine but not other way round.

Larches · 20 November 2019 at 10:20PM

That's great, thank you both for the good news.

Scooy78 · 20 November 2019 at 10:56PM

My full switch from a secondary Lloyd's to natwest has just completed 12th of this month.

I had money in but no direct debits. My direct debits was in my main Lloyd's account.

Before the switch my account was already live... I had errors when making the application, and ended up not being able to switch during the application. This was later rectified via their complaints department.

On the day my switch completion, I rang up and changed my direct debits from my Lloyd's to my natwest. A call back from my contact at the complaints department confirmed the direct debits have been set up correctly, and that i have met the requirements for the switch incentive.

PRAISETHESUN · 21 November 2019 at 1:47PM

I'd make sure you both each apply for a sole account rather than a joint one, as you then both get the incentive (ie. 2 x £150). You can then convert one of them to a joint account down the line. Switching a joint account will mean that you only get a single incentive payment but will also potentially exclude BOTH of you from offers down the line. Otherwise as above there is no DD requirement, so your existing account should be fine to switch. I like to put a few quid in it to make sure that you can see when the switch completes, but it is not strictly necessary.

Larches · 21 November 2019 at 4:10PM

PRAISETHESUN wrote: »

I'd make sure you both each apply for a sole account rather than a joint one, as you then both get the incentive (ie. 2 x £150). You can then convert one of them to a joint account down the line. Switching a joint account will mean that you only get a single incentive payment but will also potentially exclude BOTH of you from offers down the line. Otherwise as above there is no DD requirement, so your existing account should be fine to switch. I like to put a few quid in it to make sure that you can see when the switch completes, but it is not strictly necessary.

At present, it's only Mrs who has an existing account that we can use to switch, but you make a good point - maybe no point in excluding myself from taking up this or a similar offer in future by opening it as a joint account now.

PRAISETHESUN · 22 November 2019 at 10:18AM

Larches wrote: »

At present, it's only Mrs who has an existing account that we can use to switch, but you make a good point - maybe no point in excluding myself from taking up this or a similar offer in future by opening it as a joint account now.

I think it should work out alright if she opens a new sole account for the switch incentive and then adds you as a joint account holder after it is paid. She'll get paid the bonus and technically you'll never have received one, so you should be free to open a sole account down the line to take advantage of any future offer if you were so inclined.

Larches · 22 November 2019 at 10:01PM

Argh. Having gone right through the application process, the darn thing failed with an obscure error message at the very end, so Mrs has to ring them tomorrow to sort it out.

Something interesting though - at the stage where you can specify that you want to use the Current Account Switch Service, it asked whether the existing account is a current account or a savings account. Does this imply that you can use the service with an existing savings account I wonder? Or is the check just there as a bit of validation (i.e. doesn't let you continue if you select savings account)... anyone know about that?

Scooy78 · 22 November 2019 at 10:12PM

Sounds exactly what happened with my application with Natwest, and I described it as a rather vague error message too!!!

However raising a complaint, resulted in a win win! I got well compensated for my troubles, and my switch is still going ahead as normal,

Maybe it may be worthwhile filing a complaint? It may make your incentive even better!:T:T:T

Larches · 22 November 2019 at 10:27PM

What a way to get new customers on board eh, having to complain before we're even on board! Anyway, thanks for the tip and we'll see if we get lucky too!

Current account switch (to NatWest) - will this work?

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