subject: How To Be A Personal Finance Player [print this page] Being a player might be frowned upon in love but in personal finance it has a lot to recommend it.
Player is an Americanism of course and here in the UK we're just as likely to call those who seem slovenly with their banking tarts, floozies, harlots, hussies, tramps or vamps.
Still, the meaning is the same. When it comes to their finances these people put it about. How can you do the same and why should you?
The first thing to mention is that some forms of moving finance around work better than others.
When you go to compare credit cards, for example, you'll notice that there are a lot of offers that are only open to new applicants.
Long zero percent interest deals on purchases are a prime example and when it comes to balance transfers moving from one company to the other is a necessity rather than an affectation.
The flip side is also that some cards are only open to those that have a current account with the bank or lender in question too.
This is also of use to the person that's willing to move their money around to get the best deal but it'll take a slightly longer time to take effect. Most banks stipulate that an 'existing customer' must have been with bank for a number of months before they can apply as one of the bank's customers for a credit card.
This is also true of other borrowing products. For example, you notice in when you compare personal loans.
Some of the lowest personal loan rates on the market are now solely available to those who have an existing relationship with the lender either in the form of an existing loan or in the form of a current account.
For this reason it's worth thinking about other products that you may want to move to when you compare current accounts.
It's also worth noting that since being a player in the world of current accounts is so rare (most never change their main account) the incentives for switching can be good.
This often extends to large amounts of cash for signing up and can also include access to other banking products such as travel insurance.
When it comes to annual fee or 'bundled' current accounts, though, being a personal finance player also comes into its own.
It's likely to be much better value to get products such as mobile phone insurance separately or as part of a larger insurance policy than it would be to pay for it through your existing bank.
by: Julia Cook
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