Melanie moved her bank account after seeing a current account switch offer with an attractive financial reward – and a set of conditions.
What happened
Melanie saw a current account switch offer advertised and decided to move her main bank account. The offer included a financial reward but came with a list of conditions that new customers had to meet.
These included using the Current Account Switch Service (CASS) to move their old account. And within 30 days of opening the new account, new customers also had to pay in £1000, transfer two direct debits and use their new debit card three times.
Melanie opened her new account but thought she had to wait for paperwork before she could start the switch. This didn’t come for ten days. It then took a couple of weeks for her to complete the switch.
Because of these timings, Melanie felt she didn’t have enough time to meet the rest of the conditions within the 30 days.
So, Melanie contacted the bank to discuss things. The customer adviser she spoke to seemed a little abrupt to Melanie and left her feeling offended.
She complained to the bank who explained she didn’t qualify for the £175 payment because she hadn’t met all the terms. The bank said the rules were available on its website and included in the welcome email it had sent when her account was opened.
Not happy with this response, Melanie brought her complaint to us.
What we said
We looked at the terms and conditions of the bank’s current account switching offer. These were set out very clearly in its advertising campaign, on its website and in the welcome email it had sent to new customers.
We thought the bank had provided enough information to make new customers aware of how to qualify for their incentive. Melanie hadn’t met these conditions within 30 days of opening her new current account, so she didn’t qualify.
We also listened to the recording of the call that Melanie had made to discuss the switch with her bank. The customer adviser she’d spoken to had tried to explain things to Melanie and we were satisfied he hadn’t been rude.
However, we wanted to check whether Melanie had had enough time to meet the conditions of the switch offer.
The bank said that customers didn’t have to wait for the paperwork before completing the switch or using their new current accounts. It was possible to use the CASS while the account was being opened. And, it told us it had sent Melanie’s debit card on the day she opened her new current account – and the pin only two days later.
The advertisement promoting the switch also stated that customers could use their new accounts as soon as they were opened and offered instructions on how to do so.
For these reasons, we didn’t uphold Melanie’s complaint.