[AWBimmer]

The Mrs and I are keen to open a joint account and want to ask what you guys generally recommend a decent paying interest account.

We would like the option of accessing the money without paying any penalty but understand with that, interest rate is lower than those that stipulate the opposite.

We can also go without accessing this for 2-3 years so if that means a better paying interest account then we'd consider.

Which banks do you recommend for opening a joint account please, savings or current?

Thanks,

[Thermobaric]

Depending on who you're with and how much you're saving each month, you can get some decent interest rates.

Best to have a read through this and see what applies to yourself.

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/banking/

[AWBimmer]

Will take a read through - thanks. We could put away between circa a quarter to half our salaries away each month if I start being more wiser lol.

[col2611]

I have a Santander 123 current account with my Mrs just for savings. You get 3% on savings up to £20k
It costs £2 a month but you also get cash back on any bills etc that you pay via the account, also have to pay £500 a month in.

At the time when we got it there were no decent ISA's offering that rate. If you have more than £20k to pay in then just open one each

[AlwynMike]

Originally Posted by col2611

I have a Santander 123 current account with my Mrs just for savings. You get 3% on savings up to £20k
It costs £2 a month but you also get cash back on any bills etc that you pay via the account, also have to pay £500 a month in.

At the time when we got it there were no decent ISA's offering that rate. If you have more than £20k to pay in then just open one each

Santander are to charge £6 per month from early next year IIRC

You can get one each and a Joint Account if you have that much available in multiples of £20k

Mike

[AWBimmer]

Originally Posted by col2611

I have a Santander 123 current account with my Mrs just for savings. You get 3% on savings up to £20k
It costs £2 a month but you also get cash back on any bills etc that you pay via the account, also have to pay £500 a month in.

At the time when we got it there were no decent ISA's offering that rate. If you have more than £20k to pay in then just open one each

Originally Posted by AlwynMike

Santander are to charge £6 per month from early next year IIRC

You can get one each and a Joint Account if you have that much available in multiples of £20k

Mike

Cheers guys - yes I read that they are to charge £5/6 from Jan 2016. I should have been more specific - we don't have that much (£20k) liquid cash to enter in - not least to begin with and I'm merely looking for this to be a 2nd pot of savings to my initial account which I have in a current account and I'm only getting 0.45% interest p/a. It's low in comparison but it's convenient as it's a current account and I don't need to worry about being penalised for withdrawing for a rainy day.

This new account will be a place to regularly put in x amount each month and we do our very best not to touch it until a real needs be.

Hopefully this will help identify a suitable option or two ?

[richk84]

Originally Posted by AWBimmer

Cheers guys - yes I read that they are to charge £5/6 from Jan 2016. I should have been more specific - we don't have that much (£20k) liquid cash to enter in - not least to begin with and I'm merely looking for this to be a 2nd pot of savings to my initial account which I have in a current account and I'm only getting 0.45% interest p/a. It's low in comparison but it's convenient as it's a current account and I don't need to worry about being penalised for withdrawing for a rainy day.

This new account will be a place to regularly put in x amount each month and we do our very best not to touch it until a real needs be.

Hopefully this will help identify a suitable option or two ?

Why don't you just consolidate your accounts, set up a 123 account. You don't get penalised for taking cash out of a 123 account.

[col2611]

The Santander sounds perfect for you, transfer everything from your 0.45% account into there and the cash back on direct debits more than covers the fee every month (might not be the case when the few goes up, but the extra interest should cover it)

The paying £500 a month isn't a problem either, just transfer it in on payday and then straight back out the day after. We do that for our Halifax ultimate account. That one is £10 a month and gives both of us phone insurance, travel insurance and car breakdown cover with the AA.
No interest on your money though so it's just used for the benefits (I used to pay £7 a month for my own phone insurance)

[AWBimmer]

Originally Posted by col2611

The Santander sounds perfect for you, transfer everything from your 0.45% account into there and the cash back on direct debits more than covers the fee every month (might not be the case when the few goes up, but the extra interest should cover it)

The paying £500 a month isn't a problem either, just transfer it in on payday and then straight back out the day after. We do that for our Halifax ultimate account. That one is £10 a month and gives both of us phone insurance, travel insurance and car breakdown cover with the AA.
No interest on your money though so it's just used for the benefits (I used to pay £7 a month for my own phone insurance)

I didn't follow the part where you say to transfer it on payday and back out. Do you mean transfer it from existing account into 123 account ? Sorry for the confusion.

Didn't think of changing banks actually. Moving from 0.45% to Santander could well be the way forward given it is 3% and as you say the monthly fees should be more than enough to cover the fees and then some.

Do you guys have experience in changing banks altogether? I mean I don't actually get much benefit with my current provider although I've banked with them for 15 odd years now.

Thanks,
Sam

[Thermobaric]

I seem to recall reading the 123 account is free for a year if you have a Santander credit card. Not sure what the deal is with the rises next year though. Maybe something to look into.

[col2611]

Originally Posted by AWBimmer

I didn't follow the part where you say to transfer it on payday and back out. Do you mean transfer it from existing account into 123 account ? Sorry for the confusion.

Didn't think of changing banks actually. Moving from 0.45% to Santander could well be the way forward given it is 3% and as you say the monthly fees should be more than enough to cover the fees and then some.

Do you guys have experience in changing banks altogether? I mean I don't actually get much benefit with my current provider although I've banked with them for 15 odd years now.

Thanks,
Sam

We have to pay £750 into our Halifax account every month to bring the fee down to £10 from £15.

So what we both do is use our online banking from our personal (non-joint) current accounts and transfer about £400 each in on payday and then the day after use Halifax mobile banking to transfer it back out into our own current accounts. That make sense now? It's our way around having the account but not changing the account that our wages are paid into.

[djgandy]

Originally Posted by col2611

We have to pay £750 into our Halifax account every month to bring the fee down to £10 from £15.

So what we both do is use our online banking from our personal (non-joint) current accounts and transfer about £400 each in on payday and then the day after use Halifax mobile banking to transfer it back out into our own current accounts. That make sense now? It's our way around having the account but not changing the account that our wages are paid into.

I have two halifax accounts and just transfer £1k between each, twice each month :-)

Job done.

[AWBimmer]

So you transfer from existing account to new account on payday... and then transfer this back into existing account?

[col2611]

Originally Posted by AWBimmer

So you transfer from existing account to new account on payday... and then transfer this back into existing account?

Yep. It's just a workaround for paying the minimum in every month.

For the Santander we usually pay enough in anyway because all our bills come out of it

[AWBimmer]

Originally Posted by col2611

Yep. It's just a workaround for paying the minimum in every month.

For the Santander we usually pay enough in anyway because all our bills come out of it

So if you pay a minimum of £500 into 123 Santander, what does that enable account wise? Sorry for the silly Questions but best to ask those who have done it than to play guess games.

Thanks for your help - I'm getting a good idea of what I need to do.

[col2611]

Originally Posted by AWBimmer

So if you pay a minimum of £500 into 123 Santander, what does that enable account wise? Sorry for the silly Questions but best to ask those who have done it than to play guess games.

Thanks for your help - I'm getting a good idea of what I need to do.

To qualify for the 3% interest you need to pay a minimum of £500 a month in, have 2 direct debits and pay the £2 account fee.

No other benefits to the account, just the really good interest rate

[AWBimmer]

Thanks matey!

[gangzoom]

Your struggle to beat the 1-2-3 account at the moment.

Don't forget you also get 'cash back' on gas/water/electricity/council tax/phone bills. That lot alone should cover the £2/month fee (going up to £5 soon).

We've got two individual 1-2-3 accounts, but I'm thinking about opening a third joint account. You get more interest putting £20K into the 1-2-3 account than most ISA's, unless your willing to fix for 5 years.

We also have two Halifax accounts - Which pays us £5/month for putting in £500/month and in addition both of us use the Halifax Reward credit cards, that give you another £5/month as long as you spend £300/month - So that's £20/month from Halifax for doing nothing.

My actual 'daily' bank account is NatWest - Been with them since a student, they give me nothing at all, so might actually change soon...Damn that free mug they gave me when I signed up at Uni

Lloyds will pay 5% interest on upto £2500, so might also be worth a look....I've thought about it, but having 4 active current accounts seems abit crazy!!

I move a set amount of money each month between the various accounts with pre-set standing orders, as you can imagine come pay-day, it's all very chaotic. But as they say, every penny counts

[AWBimmer]

Really useful info guys, thanks.

Next questions is, for those who run a LTD company, what bank do you bank with? I'm looking to ALSO open one on a LTD company name.

What banks do people recommend that has the least fee (£) and least stipulations etc etc. Just need it to be simple and reliable.

Thanks,

[Somerset Jim]

I use a Lloyds business bank account mainly because they were the most reliable with what they said when setting it up.

I tried Santander first but having had the person come out to our office and me sign all the paperwork they wanted a lot more information.

I spoke to Lloyds and they opened an account the next day and gave me the account number that afternoon. They offer free banking for 18 months and then I think it is £7.50 per month.

Santander I think are cheaper but the facilities are not as good and having worked there (3 years ago) it used to be that the business banking people you spoke to were only there to open accounts - any servicing was farmed off to the phone and used to cause no end of problems with clients.

[AWBimmer]

Originally Posted by Somerset Jim

I use a Lloyds business bank account mainly because they were the most reliable with what they said when setting it up.

I tried Santander first but having had the person come out to our office and me sign all the paperwork they wanted a lot more information.

I spoke to Lloyds and they opened an account the next day and gave me the account number that afternoon. They offer free banking for 18 months and then I think it is £7.50 per month.

Santander I think are cheaper but the facilities are not as good and having worked there (3 years ago) it used to be that the business banking people you spoke to were only there to open accounts - any servicing was farmed off to the phone and used to cause no end of problems with clients.

Useful info buddy - thanks. I'm going with HSBC business banking as it's £5.50 a month after 18months free banking and most I've spoken to have enjoyed the services from HSBC. Not to play down TSB and they were right up there in my options.

Thanks.

[un1eash]

If you have an advanced account with HSBC you can open a instant access loyalty cash isa where you pay £300 in and they'll give you £10 a month for 12 months, rate is 1.4%.
You can also get a fixed for 12 months regular saver account that will offer 6% on savings upto £3000 earning you upto £97 at the end of the 12 months.