Graz

Might be a daft question but I couldn't find the answer on Google...

I've never switched current accounts before, stuck with Barclays since the dawn of time, but with the improved switching service I think it's about time I did. The wife and I have our own current accounts + a joint account for bills etc., can we switch all three accounts over to a single joint account? I understand switching a joint account to a sole one would be problematic but the other way round should be ok?

Don't worry, we're not getting divorced anytime soon and if we ever did (unlikely) I'm sure it would be amicable It would make our lives easier having everything in one place particularly as I've been having to top up her account from my own recently as she has been on maternity leave / pay.

jonc

You have a joint account already, just transfer all the DD from your separate accounts to the joint account and close the separate accounts. Job done.

Bugeting wise, having everything in one account is a nightmare in my experience. I have my own current account, an account for DD house hold bills and another joint account for groceries. I pay a set amount each month to each account which I review each year. That way i don't have to worry too much about house hold bills or groceries as the monthly spend on these is pretty consistent. The money left my my own current account is to do as I please.

Graz

Thanks for the suggestion but I don't want to carry on using the joint account we have, it pays next to no interest, doesn't have any perks, and the provider (Intelligent Finance) wrote to us to say our money may be better elsewhere. Weird I know but I think Lloyds who own them are trying to kill it off, certainly can't open a new account with IF now.

Budgeting wise, for us anyway, it would simplify things greatly. We've in the fortunate position of having a fair bit of disposable income so no worries about the mortgage / bills getting paid and neither of us are big spenders or impulsive.

PaulC72

In short yes. It's even easier these days as I believe it's now a 7 day switch.

Just make sure you have all the forms signed (if you aren't doing it online) as sometimes branch staff forget the simplest of things ;-)

FYI switching a joint to sole works just as well it's down to signatures etc, any issues the bank should try to call or write to you to discuss any problems.

Graz

Guess I'll give it a go and see if it all works out. Going to apply online but can resort to the phone / branch if it doesn't go to plan. Was thinking of Santander 123 as they pay upto 3% interest on the balance + cashback on bills and stuff. Sounds good on paper. Already have an ISA with them so may simplify the application.

donny andi

iTrader: (3)

I've just gone from rbs over to Santander ....you do realise your credit rating takes a right hit
I went from excellent down to good on the border of fair....*****
They are the only company that have done a search so I know it's them

PaulC72

Graz, just be mindful Santander are probably one of the worst to deal with if something goes wrong.

Silver Knight

Seconded!!!

Graz

I've heard they weren't the greatest a while back but have since bucked up their ideas and made improvements. Still a bit wary though.

To be honest they all seem pretty sh*t these days. Just moved our mortgage to HSBC and that was a painful experience. If I hadn't paid the £500 booking fee upfront I would have gone elsewhere after a while. Sometimes 15-20 mins to get through to someone on the phone because "due to interest in our recent mortgage promotion our lines are really busy right now....", should have thought of that perhaps and got some more call centre staff in? Even when you got through it was difficult to get a straight answer and often asked to call another number

Not sure why they should screw your credit rating? They will do a credit search, any bank would, but provided you don't have loads of recent searches it shouldn't effect things too much. I specifically left sorting our current accounts out until after the mortgage was sorted for this very reason.

PaulC72

Well I can assure you they are still ****e.

We have friends with them who have nothing but issues, I no longer work in banking and when I did 2 years ago they were really bad and that was on bank to bank comms too!

My wife still works in banking and has to deal with them and confirmed they are still just as bad.

Good luck maybe for your needs it'll be ok, like most things it's only a pain when you need to speak to them, if you don't it'll run smoothly