Many of us will always stick with the same bank. We may use the bank for our current account credit card, savings and for any loans that we may have including mortgages. There are many reasons why we may not consider changing, such as because we are happy with our bank or that we will find it hard to move elsewhere so cannot be bothered. However, there are some reasons why it might be a good idea for you to consider changing banks so think about them and whether you might change your mind about it not really being important.
Costs
Banks will vary in how much they charge for different services such as loans. They may vary quite considerably and if you are with an expensive bank, it could mean that you will be paying more than is really necessary. It is therefore a good idea to have a look at how much other banks are charging for their loans. You may find that your bank is competitive and you are happy with what you are paying. However, you may find that you are paying considerably more than necessary for what you are borrowing because your bank is expensive. It is worth thinking about whether you are paying considerably more than you need to and working out how much difference it could make to you if you switched and saved money.
Savings Interest
Savings accounts tend not to attract very much interest these days. This is because the Base Rate set by the Bank of England is very low. However, there are still different rates set by different banks and the accounts vary as well. This means that you could get a lot more interest on savings if you switched to a different bank. You may even find that you can just get more if you switch to a different type of savings account and your bank may offer savings account with better rates. Therefore, take a look and see what is available form your bank as well as others. To get a better rate you may need to keep your money invested for a certain period of time or give notice on withdrawals, but this might be something that will be okay for you, depending on how quickly you feel that you will need the money.
Ease of Switching
It can be tempting to think that it will be really hard to switch banks. However, banks legally have to help you with this and they can switch over your direct debits and standing orders so you will not need to set them all up again. It could be a lot easier than you might think. There will still be some people that have problems with it and you may have heard their stories, but there are lots of people that have switched over very successfully without any problems at all and we tend not to hear from them.
Could be with Different Banks
It could be the case that you do not switch everything over to a new bank anyway. It could be better and easier if you do it bit by bit. It might even be better if you changed different products to different banks. For example, you might find that there is a bank which has a good mortgage rate but you prefer the savings rate with a different bank. Sticking to just the one bank could be limiting and so it is worth considering whether it is better to spread your accounts across different ones rather than just sticking with one.
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