Martin Lewis has shared some guidance for Lloyds Bank customers. The banking group has confirmed it is monitoring customer accounts over the issue.
The matter came to light after Mr Lewis was asked on his BBC podcast about one of Lloyds‘ bonus payment offers. The group is offering two cash incentives if you move over your current account to them.
Just days remain to cash in on the offers. One of the bonus cash offerings is a £500 payment if you move over your current account to a new Lloyds Premier account. However, there are some notable account rules to be aware of here.
To hold the account, you need to pay in at least £5,000 each month, or hold a minimum of £100,000 in savings or investments with Lloyds. A podcast listener asked Mr Lewis if there is a potential loophole in the rules here, and if you could achieve the £5,000 deposit by paying in £1,000 and then taking out the amount and paying it back in five times.
Stricter monitoring
Mr Lewis said, unfortunately, he didn’t think this tactic would work in this case. He explained: “Premier accounts are designed and designated for high earners. There are about three or four of them at the moment paying £400 or £500 to switch.
“The reason they do that is they want to buy your customer and cross-sell you other products, and that’s really quite important to them. They tend to have stricter processes and stricter monitoring, so it’s much more difficult.”
He added: “This is my generalised knowledge of how these things work, that they will be monitoring.” He said that if the listener tried the £1,000 repeat payment tactic this would probably soon be flagged up.
Mr Lewis said: “I think they would spot it relatively quickly and within a few months, they would get in touch and say I don’t think this is the right account for you.” This raises the question of whether you would be required to pay back the £500 if it turned out you were not eligible for the account.
Lloyds responds
Mr Lewis said: “Whether or not they would ask for the £500 back, I don’t know but I think they would have a strong case for doing so.” Lloyds was asked to clarify how the rules work for the premier account.
The group said that when you apply for a Lloyds Premier account, you are asked to confirm you will either pay in the £5,000 each month or have the £100,000 in savings or investments.
The bank confirmed that it does monitor how a person uses their account and if it identifies that an account. If the account is thought to be unsuitable for you, such as if you do not meet the qualifying criteria, they will contact you about what the alternative options are.
Lloyds is also offering £200 if you switch over to a new Club Lloyds account. For either account offer, you need to open the account online, in a branch or over the phone by April 30 to be eligible.