Is it time to change your bank account?
Research shows that we change our partners more often than we do our bank accounts! Probably because we think it is too much hassle, or that if things go wrong it will take a long time to put right. For some of us, we don’t really think about these things, and don’t realise that sometimes a different bank account will save us money.
This month the banking industry finally introduces a stream lined system for changing your bank account. It has been forced to do this otherwise the regulators were going to require banks to give us all portable bank account numbers – just as you can have with mobile phones.
So if you go overdrawn every month you might well be better off with an account that allows for this automatically. Some banks are better than other at providing online banking. If you have money left over at the end of each month then some accounts will pay interest on this. There are also a number of deals available which give reward points on accounts, or even pay you to change.
The new bank switching system means that the banks will do all the work for you, that they guarantee to do to within seven days, and that if anything does go wrong they are required to put it right, and to make sure that you are not put at a disadvantage.
You can find out more about the different sorts of bank accounts that are available from the various money advice web sites, or check out the Sunday ‘quality’ news papers which have comparison tables. Now is a very good time to think about whether your current bank account is meeting your needs, or costing you too much.
For help from Salford Citizens Advice visit your local bureau in Eccles, Irlam and Cadishead, SalfordCity, Swinton, Walkden or at Salford Royal.
Telephone our advice line: 0844 826 9695 (if calling from a landline or if calling from a mobile 0300 456 2554).
For more details of our service visit our website at: www.salfordcab.org.uk
Tom Togher.