Switching bank accounts

[tigwig]

my main current account is with the Natwest where my wage is paid in and all direct debits go out etc. I was in the Halifax yesterday where I have an account for my daughter and they said if I switch to them they will give me �50 just like that! I don't know whether to or not. I am happy with the Natwest and have been with them for 16 years so will this effect my future credit rating from going to having a bank account for 16 years to starting again? Any advice would be welcome on this thanks

[Davethedog]

Your credit rating wont be affected anyway as all you are doing is changing financial services.

As far as changing, if you are happy and have peace of mind, is it worth it? Although the Halifax will do all the changes you will have to do all 3rd party stuff yourself.

i.e re-direct your pay reset any debit card payments that you have set up.

I bank with Barclays and although every time I have any face to face contact I find it far from satisfactory, it works, and how do I know anyone else is any better.

Are there any other benifits apart from the �50?

[Postdog]

Probably conflicting advice really.

Firstly, on a personal level, if I am happy with something, I have learned the hard way, don't change it, no matter how green the grass seems.

I don't think it will affect you credit rating, as to some extent this is shared info. You do, as you say, have a long relationship with them, which I agree SHOULD count, but that is not always true.

I was actually with the Halifax for 20 years. Still am on paper, because a year after I asked them to, they still haven't closed my account and refunded me the money in it. I asked them to close it because they had the cheek to impose bank charges when they withdrew my overdraft without telling me. They say they did, but they did so by a web letter, and for three months I had no PC for anything, so I was not aware. Whatever, the long - and mostly good - relationship amounted to nothing. As such I have finished with the halifax for life.

[Twenty20]

What are the conditions to get the �50? Can you not just open an account with them and pocket the money?

If you are considering changing then you should look at all the costs (bank charges) and compare them. You might find it better to switch to a free bank (if you pay charges at the moment) where you might save more than �50 every year in charges.

No, it wont affect your credit rating.

[innocenti]

I am with the Halifax...... for now. I have just had a joint account opened with my OH at the Natwest and overall the Natwest is better.

Their charges are lower (might not affect you!!) but their cheque clearance is a lot quicker, on average 4 - 5 days, where as the Halifax is 14 days for a non current account (I have a Visa Electron card so my account is not classed as a current account, even though it has DD and SO and a debit card) You cant canel DD's in branch anymore you have to ring their call centre.

[spudqueen]

The cheque clearance thing mentioned by innocenti is because the Halifax is not a clearing bank, unlike NatWest, Barclays, HSBC etc. The Halifax have to pay all the cheques they receive into a clearing bank (yes, they will have a bank account there) so the whole clearing process takes much longer as obviously you have to wait for the Halifax to pay the cheques in before they can start the clearing process, they then have to get the okay that the cheques have cleared from their bank before they tell you that they are cleared!
Personally I would prefer to bank at a clearing bank, and if you have not had any problems with NatWest I would stick to them. If it ain't broke, don't fix it!

[tigwig]

thanks for all your answers, as broke as I am at the moment I have decided to stay with Natwest. Halifax were supposed to be ringing me last night and they didn't even bother so I am not impressed with them anyway!