I thought I would start a thread on Bank accounts!

There are so many different types, and from time to time special offers which it would be useful to know about. Also if anyone has a problems or was it really straight foward. It would also be useful to know about all types of accounts including business accounts and the different services on offer. Even down to the problems of finding contact telephone numbers.

For example, I tried to open a Halifax Regular Saver account today as it pays 6.05%, but didn't because:
1. I also had to open a second account as well, which had to be one of four they offered.
2. Even though I already bank with the Halifax I still have to supply proof of ID and proof of address prior to the account being opened. (30 mile round trip and 2 hours wasted)

So in the end I opened 2 accounts elsewhere.
1. Egg, (6 month intro offer of 4.75%, involved transfering funds from existing egg account @ 4% to my current account with Halifax, and then transfer back to new account!)
2. ING account @ 4.5%, (4.7% from June 04) which was the easiest account to open - No ID, or proof of address. The only requirement was I have to post a cheque (Freepost address) to open the account!

Just applied for an ing account after reading your comments little woman and am now waiting for my 'starter pack', does this outfit belong to another bank or is it on it's own?

parents web site: http://www.ing.com


started as a dutch company

Golddog, ING is a blue-chip Dutch company.