Do you have more than one current account?

MarkM88

I’ve never thought about it before but had a chat with a friend that says it gives you a back up if you have issues with your current account. 

Do you have more than one account? 

janer1967

No just the one account 

vikingqueen

 I've always had 2, one has wages paid in the other is my spending money account 

MarkM88

One reason I was asking for and I asked on another forum too was because the home loss compensation payment the housing association have offered, it’s £6500 and they said they would do it as a direct bank transfer. 

I was thinking, you often hear stories of people receiving lump sums and the bank querying where it’s from and suspending accounts. 

I never receive payments that large or have a balance that large so thought gosh what happens if the bank wonders what it’s for or where from?

it got me thinking though, surely the bank would see where it was from and that it was from a registered organisation and know it’s not dodgy. 

Yes, I am a worrier, I get that from my mum! 

Someone pointed out to me that you should always have a back up current account in case that ever happened. 

Jean Eveleigh

I have 2 current accounts:-

I have my main account that my benefits are paid into and my bills come out of;

Then I have a second that my Direct payment money from social services is paid into and my carers wages and all associated costs agreed in m care plan are paid out of

And then I have a savings account that is used to store money for vets bills etc.

MarkM88

woodbine said:

It might be an idea Mark when you know the payment is due to phone your bank and tell them.

Good point, I think its just the fact the internet is full of horror stories and I should avoid those,

OverlyAnxious

I have 2 current accounts.

One for rent and bills, and the other for adjustable expenses such as food & fuel.  Means I've always got enough in the bills account, and can quickly and easily see my food & fuel allowance before shopping or filling up without risking future bill payments. 

Rachel10876

I now have 3 current accounts,
one is the main account that my direct debits are in.
one is for park payments because I do park savings.
the other one most recently is for money that I don’t want to touch so I try and forget about that one. xx

Adrian_Scope

OverlyAnxious said:

One for rent and bills, and the other for adjustable expenses such as food & fuel.  Means I've always got enough in the bills account, and can quickly and easily see my food & fuel allowance before shopping or filling up without risking future bill payments. 

That's a really good idea for budgeting, thanks for the tip @OverlyAnxious. 

@MarkN88, closing or suspending accounts after large payments is usually from cash payments or transfers from unknown or unusual sources or individuals. Hopefully your compensation will come through without a hitch. Although, having a second current (or basics) bank account does sound like it would have some advantages. 

MarkM88

@Adrian_Scope yeah that does make sense. 

@OverlyAnxious do you just transfer funds between the two to manage it? 

OverlyAnxious

MarkN88 said:

@OverlyAnxious do you just transfer funds between the two to manage it? 

Yeah, that's right.  It just takes seconds nowadays with smartphone apps.

Though since receiving PIP, I had that go into the 'other' account so they're fairly evenly balanced now and I rarely need to make the transfers.

Ross_Alumni

I just have the one account, and that confuses me enough sometimes  

MarkM88

@OverlyAnxious I thought that would be the case. I've just opened another account. 

@Ross_Scope haha, I never really thought about it before, but after reading up on it, there are benefits. 

Lisatho11987777

I have 7 all together 

griff11

I have had 3 for about 20 years.  All joint with my husband .  One is a fee account which gives us both worldwide travel insurance. breakdown cover for all vehicles -useful when we had 2 cars & 2 motorbikes & mobile phone insurance.  I partially offset cost of £13 a month by having reward accounts with other banks .  There are minimum pay in on reward accounts but I simply do standing orders to move money around each month as it doesn't have to stay there!  We only  use one account for spending day to day.  Hubby's pension goes into it.  Mine goes into one of the other.  

If one bank card is lost or app not working I still have access to money .  

Ross_Alumni

griff11 said:

I have had 3 for about 20 years.  All joint with my husband .  One is a fee account which gives us both worldwide travel insurance. breakdown cover for all vehicles -useful when we had 2 cars & 2 motorbikes & mobile phone insurance.  I partially offset cost of £13 a month by having reward accounts with other banks .  There are minimum pay in on reward accounts but I simply do standing orders to move money around each month as it doesn't have to stay there!  We only  use one account for spending day to day.  Hubby's pension goes into it.  Mine goes into one of the other.  

If one bank card is lost or app not working I still have access to money .  

That sounds like a very smart way to do things. I reckon I'd get confused by all that though  

bg844

2. One with Halifax which I get everything paid in to and use to spend as I wish (Reward CC) and one with Santander for bills (123 lite), I simply transfer the money over and then my bills are covered. Make a few pounds that way too.

griff11

Username_removed said:

I’ve had one account since the 1980s and, having worked alongside debt advisers for 30+ years I’m different contexts I would never get anything other than 1 current account, 1 savings vehicle and 1 credit card at the very most. Latter mostly has a nil balance but gets used for big expenditures for the consumer protection. 

Why only 1 current & savings account ?  I have multiple savings accounts to find right balance between easy access and interest rate.  Building societies generally offer better rates so I take two accounts initially one of which is for two years the other for one year.  Then at end of year one replace with a two year account as the previous two year account only had 1 year left to run.  Better interest rates for 2 year accounts.  Then for immediate access I use banks regular savers account.  Both myself & hubby retired so had our pensions payout so we have to ensure we getting some interest on them .  

Current account if you only have 1 and ATM swallows card how to you manage ?  I had my card swallowed on a Thursday and not replaced till Tuesday!  Also hit issue that I needed to pay a new payee that weekend but couldn't do via that bank as they approve new payees via card reader !  No way around it but luckily I could access other accounts.  I'm a punctual payer so it irritated me no end as I didn't realise there was no way around their system !
Credit cards.  I agree just one and only use for purchases of goods or services over £100 for protection if something goes wrong.  I had a £545 rogue charge on my card a couple of years ago.  I'd only used card twice at that point , once in New York dept. store in June and House of Fraser in Bristol in the November.  Then following January this fraudulent charge .  Bank refunded no quibble !  

On line apps & banking makes managing accounts so easy now though I do have a spreadsheet too!    Can you tell I worked almost 40 years in finance ?

MarkM88

I was shocked when I read on another forum people have 9 and 12 current accounts. Crikey! 

griff11

TBH it sounds like you are assuming that people on this forum are on benefits including in work benefits are financially illiterate which from my  experience is simply not true
and this thread has demonstrated there are many using multiple accounts .   

Ive worked with smart, well paid people with numerous county court judgements against them or just over committers who've borrowed the maximum mortgage that leaves them broke after paying it!  I've close family who've lived on benefits for almost all their lives and they manage their money well, certainly not financially illiterate. 

Plus the e OP never mentioned benefits just the issue of a back up bank account so you've tried to justify your response to having one bank account by bringing benefit claimants into it.  

I'm glad you have little need of cash but unfortunately there are still people /businesses who only accept cash.  The man who cuts my lawns, the window cleaner, the builder who fixed some roof tiles , the local shops who have minimum card transaction.  During last years pandemic I shopped for older neighbours and they only did cash - one even asked me to get money out of machine for her. - I declined as too much responsibility having someone PIN number but she got cash somehow !    They don't online bank so no chance they would transfer money toe.  Even my local Chinese takeaway is cash only. I try to take out sufficient cash for the month but not the first time my card swallowed !  

Fraudulent transactions are far more common than people realise .  I know it's not uncommon as often discussed in my former work place and my hubby former police officer so also fraud aware.  What is shocking is that so many people don't review there bank statements so miss duplicate & fraudulent charges .  

I never use credit card to bank transfer money.  I was reimbursing a friend for a joint gift so simple transfer and I'd have hated to make her wait for money. She might have needed it .  

Caz_Alumni

How does that old saying go? 'There are three thing that you should never talk about, religion, politics and money?'. Looks like we've strayed into some slightly sensitive territory here when it comes to the discussion about personal finances and how we all choose to manage our money.

Just to follow up on some of the points that have been raised in relation to the comments above. How people manage their own finances is clearly going to be dependent on a range of different factors, including how confident each of us feels when it comes to money matters. Inevitably, we're all very different in that respect, so as with lots of other things, probably best to avoid an over-reliance on generalisations when it comes to how we regard different groups and their capabilities in managing their spending. Even if the statistics do provide us with an overview of how different demographics tend to approach the issue of finances, benefits, spending and money management, that's not always a clear reflection or wholly accurate picture of how each one of us chooses to manage our money.

Also, I think it might be an idea to use the term 'financial capability', rather than financial literacy or illiteracy in any further discussions on this thread? That's the term adopted by The Money Advice Service, which also recognises that: 

There are various definitions of financial capability, but almost all recognise that capability comprises more than just skills and knowledge. It also encompasses behaviours, attitudes, motivations and the degree of connection to the financial system. 

Hopefully, that might help to promote a more positive tone when it comes to how we all refer to people's capabilities in managing their finances? And for anybody who is looking for some additional support when it comes to managing your finances, you might also want to have a look at the Money Advice Service pages here.