New rules introduced in September to speed up current-account transfers seem to be doing the trick, with the number of switchers in October up 12.7 per cent on last year.
It said Bitcoin trading and other activities, like charges for verifying transactions, "are exempt because they fall within the definition of 'transactions, including negotiation, concerning deposit and current accounts, payments, transfers, debts, cheques and other negotiable instruments'".
I had an Online Saver account linked to my Alliance & Leicester current account, from which I transferred money every month to pay off my credit card bills and any other large bills.
I transferred my current account to First Direct and arranged for a balance transfer to settle my Santander credit card, and assumed that was the end of the matter.
Another cheaper alternative is using a credit card that allows you to transfer money direct from your plastic to your current account (known as a money transfer).
To summarize, the overall balance of payments comprises the current account (merchandise and services), unilateral transfers (gifts, grants, remittances, and so on), and the capital account (long-term and short-term capital movements).
Cash incentives include £100 from First Direct and Halifax, and £150 from the Co-operative Bank when you transfer your current account using the official current account switch service.
As a result I have now transferred my current account to Cahoot - this gives me a free £250 overdraft, good interest and no monthly fee (I was paying £6 a month with Barclays).
Up to now, it has taken as long as 30 days to transfer a current account, but now the industry is promising it will take just seven working days.
If you are one, you may have had an email from the company recently saying something like: "Transfer cash to your bank account at 0% until 1 August 2016 (1.9% fee applies)." In the case of Barclaycard, you can transfer up to 90% of your available credit to your current account (the minimum amount you can transfer is £100).
The family signed up to the device in October 2005: "He … asked us to transfer the … current account balance to Future Investments and Development SA … a Panamanian Company that he, and his co-account holders, have arranged to be created in the context of ESD".
