Martin Lewis has shared a key principle for managing your bank account and your wider finances. He reminded listeners of his BBC podcast of the “golden rule” after hearing an inspiring success story where an account holder had tried a novel approach to fixing their issue.
A person called into the show as they had previously managed to get a Barclays switch bonus of £400 back in November, for moving over to a Barclays Premier Account. It’s worth checking if you can take advantage of one of these offers, as several banks are offering bonus payments to switch your current account over to them.
The bank customer explained that he wanted to move over from First Direct, but he had a regular saver attached to it which he didn’t want to lose. You need to have a 1st Account current account with First Direct to access the regular saver, which pays 7 per cent on deposits of between £25 and £300 a month.
‘Extremely helpful’
Fortunately, he called up the customer service line and the woman who served him was “was extremely helpful” and managed to set him up with a second current account, to attach the regular saver to.
This meant he could move his primary current account away to Barclays and claim the switching bonus. Mr Lewis it was “really impressive” that he managed to do this.
The consumer expert said he didn’t know you could do this. He explained: “Thank you so much for getting that really interesting feedback about First Direct regular saver: I’ve not heard of that happening before.”
‘Golden rule’
Mr Lewis said this points to a vital principle for everyone to be aware of. He said: “It just shows it’s the golden rule of finance. So many people ask me questions, ‘You know, what would happen if…?’
“And my answer is, ‘Well, ask them. Just call them up and ask.’ And you did it, and it shows the result of that, brilliant.” Mr Lewis said people often worry about switching and how it could mean they lose access to other products with their previous bank.
He said: “In the vast majority of cases that isn’t true because they’re not linked. Your credit card is very rarely linked to your bank account.” But he said a linked regular saver is one exception to this rule.
Mr Lewis said: “One of the sweeties that many banks offer you for getting their current account is a linked regular saver where you can put a small amount of money away each month and get a very high interest rate on it.”
He explained further: “So yes, that is one of the few things that are linked to your current account. You seem to have got through it very well.”
Top regular saver rates
At the time of writing, you can get regular saver rates up to 8 per cent. The top rates are with the monthly savers on offer from Lloyds Bank and Bank of Scotland, each paying 8 per cent.
Santander also has a regular saver at 8 per cent. Zopa will pay you 7.1 per cent while First Direct pays 7 per cent. You can also get 7 per cent with the Co-Operative Bank, or 6.5 per cent with Nationwide Building Society.
