Earn up to 5% AER on your cash!
Some of the best rates of interest you will get on cash currently are on current accounts. E.g Nationwide offer 5% AER fixed (4.89% gross pa) in credit interest on balances up to £2,500 for the first 12 months
You can also benefit from switching your account. A number of banks now offer switch incentives. HSBC are currently offering £150 if you switch your current account to them. The good news is that switching is a lot easier than it used to be – basically the new bank account provider will do all the work in setting up your direct debits and standing orders etc.
For students looking for a good account Santander UK are offering a free railcard for 4 years as long as you are 18 and are in or are about to enter into full time further education.
High Interest Current Account Offers
Current Account Offers With Switching Incentives
There are no tables for this criteria
Building Society Current Accounts
As you compare different building society current accounts with those offered by banks, you may wish to consider the following:
- Rewards and benefits offered with the current account
- Interest rates offered
- Overdrafts and applicable fees
- Whether there is a minimum monthly contribution to the current account
- Whether you would have access to online banking
- What type of card you would get with the current account.
Please see the comparison tables above for information on a number of current accounts that could be available to you.
If you are looking for a new current account, you may wish to consider one of the many building society current accounts available to you. With introductory deals and long term benefits offered that could rival those of larger banks, comparing a range of building society current accounts could be the best way to find a current account suited to you.
With such an array of different current accounts on the market, all offering different benefits, it is surprising how few people opt to switch to a different current account and make their money work harder for them. It is, in fact, fairly easy to switch current accounts, with many banks and building societies offering a straightforward switching service.
At present, many different banks and building societies offer a number of different appealing offers to new customers who wish to open new current accounts, or to switch their existing current account.
With so much competition in the market place, there has never been a better time to find yourself a great deal on current accounts from a building society or bank.
What if there are any problems?
And the switching service is covered by a guarantee: the new bank must refund you if there are any charges because payments didn’t go through on time. But you have to ask them for this.
Can I keep my old current account open when I switch?
What about transferring “recurring payments”?
Because they’re linked to a card rather than directly to your bank account, they’re not included in the switching service (or covered by the guarantee).
It’s not always clear which are your continuous payment authorities: you won’t find them listed on your online banking portal. When you set them up you were asked for you card details (“please read me the long card number”) rather than your bank account and sort code numbers.
You’ll need to check your monthly card statements: any regular payments going out each month that are not marked as DD (direct debit) or SO (standing order) are likely to be continuous payment authorities.
If you want to keep paying for this service (or loan) in this way, you’ll need to contact each provider and tell them your new card details as soon as you have them.
This may sound like a lot of bother, but it is useful to check periodically what’s going out of your account regularly: there may be services you’re not using (such as fast delivery, or additional online data storage) that you want to cancel.
What about the individuals who have my bank account details, for sending occasional payments?
It’s probably not a good idea to just email all your Contacts with your new account details. If you’re concerned about email security, the most secure way of sending bank account details to specific people is via WhatsApp.
And if any payments are accidentally made to your old account, for 36 months (three years) after you’ve switched, your new bank or building society will arrange for any payments to be automatically redirected to your new account. They will also contact the sender and give them your new account details.
When should I choose to make the transfer?
If all your regular payments tend to go out of your account around the same time it’s best to choose a time of the month when your bank account isn’t so busy.
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