Second Bank Account?

[bitchstewie]

Do you have a second bank account?

I'm lazy and run everything from one account as my finances are very simple.

Every so often I people suggest "get a second account somewhere else just in case".

We're not talking Hoare's or Coutts just a regular bank account with a debit card and some direct debits.

Just in case what?

[JDiz]

Divorce by the sounds of it

[n3il123]

All my accounts are through laziness with RBS, a couple of years ago their systems went down so I couldn't pay with card or withdraw cash. In that case it would have been useful to have a couple of hundred in another bank to pay for the tank full of fuel I had just put in the car.

[LooneyTunes]

Definitely worth having a couple.

For example, I have a starling account that I use pretty much exclusively for travel. Means that if it gets lost/stolen/cloned then it’s less hassle than main cards going and the rest of the time it sits at home locked/inactive.

Also handy to have a second account with a bit of cash in it as banks aren’t immune from IT outages.

[Dr Jekyll]

Given that the protection if the bank fails is limited to the first £85,000, I'm astonished that any PHer can risk having less than 12 banks.

[TheK1981]

I’m nowhere near some of the rich tycoons on here, so I have 2 back accounts, 1 for bills, 1 for spending.

When things were tight a few years ago it was the only way I had to make sure I had enough to cover the mortgage and bills.

Since then I’ve kept things the same as it works for me.

[troika]

Worth having 2 banks for when one of them has their systems fall over.

[Ryan_T]

Agreed. Second account with Revolut / Monza for their great apps, ease of transferring money, exchange rates etc.

[MadCaptainJack]

bhstewie said:

Just in case what?

In case you lose your card, your bank has an IT outage, or your bank screws up and freezes your account for some spurious reason.

With free banking, there's no downside to having more than one bank account. It doesn't negatively impact your credit rating, in my experience.

It also means that you're not keeping all your eggs (money) in one basket (account), so if a criminal seizes control of your account or debit card, you're not going to lose everything.

I use a Monzo card for "risky" purchases (e.g. online, over the phone, etc.) because I get a notification on my phone when the card is charged, which means I'll know pretty much straight away if it's been cloned/stolen. I can also freeze the card from the app so any damage is limited.

[mikeiow]

Different uses….
Santander joint for regular DDs
Monzo for beers and shenanigans….Starling as backup for that
Barclaycard for festivals (10% of drinks and some food at Latitude at least!)
Nationwide for holiday place accounts & mobile/breakdown/holiday cover
then we each have a personal account for no reason whatsoever

Have we overdone things? Have I missed any?

Oh yeah….Tesco MasterCard for regular shopping purchases….I knew I’d forgotten one

Ditched along the way….PostOffice for foreign, Amex for Costco, work Amex…..

Edited by mikeiow on Saturday 31st July 10:58

[Cliftonite]

n3il123 said:

All my accounts are through laziness with RBS, a couple of years ago their systems went down so I couldn't pay with card or withdraw cash. In that case it would have been useful to have a couple of hundred in another bank to pay for the tank full of fuel I had just put in the car.

A credit card could be used.

[anonymous-user]

We don’t have a second, we have quite a few and kind of use each account for a purpose, all car expenses come out of one account, we like to travel and have a camper so all holidays come out of another etc. I think we have 6 accounts each one for a different purpose that we pay an amount into each month and that way all bills are accounted for. We need tyres on the main car this month and the bill wouldn’t be very nice as we need 4 but the money’s there in the car account.

We have the accounts spread across banks all chosen for what’s important to us. At the moment that’s customer service so we use First Direct, Starling and Nationwide. It also means if there’s an outage, which seems much more common now, we can still access money.

We also use Starling as they let you have a Euro account for free which is really useful for the holidays.

[Countdown]

bhstewie said:

Do you have a second bank account?

I'm lazy and run everything from one account as my finances are very simple.

Every so often I people suggest "get a second account somewhere else just in case".

We're not talking Hoare's or Coutts just a regular bank account with a debit card and some direct debits.

Just in case what?

I've heard of some banks cancelling your bank account because you have transactions which they consider suspicious. If they're you're ONLY bank account and you don't have anywhere to transfer your money to then you're stuffed.

[bitchstewie]

Next question - which bank?

For some reason I lean towards somewhere with a branch nearby but I can count on one hand how many times I've needed to go into a branch in the last decade for anything other than using the cash machines.

[VR99]

I have multiple accounts as a legacy from when 'stoozing' was worthwhile. I was at 5/6, now down to 4. It's likely at some point that number will come down further as I think 2/3 will suffice. 2 are actively used and 1 is just for shovelling in savings each month. A few months back received a new card for one account and had a few issues with activating it so it basically didn't work and couldn't pay for any goods...having the other account was handy. But there is a balance as too many becomes burdensome from an admin perspective.

[Northernboy]

bhstewie said:

Do you have a second bank account?

I'm lazy and run everything from one account as my finances are very simple.

Every so often I people suggest "get a second account somewhere else just in case".

We're not talking Hoare's or Coutts just a regular bank account with a debit card and some direct debits.

Just in case what?

In case one of your accounts is compromised, or the bank decides it doesn’t want you as a customer any more.

[Countdown]

bhstewie said:

Next question - which bank?

For some reason I lean towards somewhere with a branch nearby but I can count on one hand how many times I've needed to go into a branch in the last decade for anything other than using the cash machines.

First Direct. You can use HSBC if you need to physically visit a branch but you can even use the Post Office to pay in cash/cheques.

[troika]

bhstewie said:

Next question - which bank?

For some reason I lean towards somewhere with a branch nearby but I can count on one hand how many times I've needed to go into a branch in the last decade for anything other than using the cash machines.

Best overall I’ve experienced is First Direct.

[n3il123]

Cliftonite said:

n3il123 said:

All my accounts are through laziness with RBS, a couple of years ago their systems went down so I couldn't pay with card or withdraw cash. In that case it would have been useful to have a couple of hundred in another bank to pay for the tank full of fuel I had just put in the car.

A credit card could be used.

Very true, I didn't have one at the time. I have one now .... with RBS

[LosingGrip]

Think I’ve got four accounts.

Main one that I get paid into and direct debits come out of.
Monzo because I got some free money when joining.
Lloyds - had it years. Couple of bills come out still.
Joint account with partner - house bills.