Switching my bank account - not so scary after all

I had held a current account with the NatWest for over 51 years, so changing banks seemed quite a big deal. I remember my first day at work when the training officer at George Wimpey escorted some of us down to the Westminster Bank at the end of Hammersmith Grove to open our first bank accounts. Having never paid a penny for the privilege, it seemed a good deal over the years. But now it's all different. Lots of banks pay you to move to their current accounts and also pay interest. The government have also brought in new rules which mean switching is easy and efficient.

But the NatWest are just not interested. So when I received a very attractive offer from the Halifax, I was off to their branch in Aylesbury and filled in the forms. Apparently I was the first person to come into that branch with that particular special offer. And yesterday the balance in my account with the NatWest went over to my Halifax Reward Account. So far so good. I just want to see that direct debits, standing orders and my pension payments all go through. I expect they will.