What should be the main considerations when setting up a joint bank account with my partner?

My girlfriend and I reckon it's probably time to get a joint account (who needs a ring when you can get a plastic card).

We're trying to work out if we should set up an account with one of our existing banks - I'm with Barclays, she's with Natwest. 

Or do we go for a nice shiny neo bank like Starling or Monzo which would be handy for better FX on holiday payments, and maybe easier to manage spending analysis etc.

It also could be handy to have a different coloured card to prevent my girlfriend using the joint account to fund her Champagne habit!

Helen Kirrane, of This is Money, replies: The first thing you should consider when deciding to open a joint bank is the fact that your finances will become combined. 

When you open a joint account, both of you will have equal access to all money in it, including in savings accounts. This means if one person wants to spend £200 on pints or Champagne after work and uses the joint account, both of your money will be used to fund it. 

Your credit file will also become linked to the person you are opening the account with so their credit record will also affect yours. If your partner has a poor credit history, this could affect your ability to take out a loan and even get a mortgage 

Equally if your partner has a good credit history it could work in your favour and boost yours.

Think about how you want to use the joint account - you do not have to combine all of your finances into a joint account. 

Many people keep their own bank account where their salary is paid into with their own spending money before paying into a joint account to cover shared expenses such as rental or mortgage payments, utility bills and money to cover grocery shopping. 

How to pick an account? 

Helen Kirrane replies: If you are thinking of opening a joint account with one of your existing banks, you should look whether there are any perks on offer from your current banks and how they stack up with the perks offered by other banks. 

NatWest and Barclays offer standard current accounts, neither of which offer much by way or perks or handy features. 

Both banks offer paid for joint bank accounts, which offer a range of perks. You need to weigh up whether you will use these to make it worth the fee. 

For example with Barclays you can pay £5 a month for Barclays Blue Rewards (read our Barclays Blue rewards review) which comes with a free Apple TV+ subscription worth £9.99 a month, higher savings rates - the easy-access account pays 4.2 per cent on balances up to £5,000 and cashback on everyday spending.

A joint NatWest Reward account offers up to £9 a month back in cashback rewards if you have two direct debits in exhange for a £2 monthly fee. You'll get £1 a month in Rewards just for logging into mobile banking and earn at least 1 per cent at NatWest's partner retailers.

Santander is offering one of the biggest bank switching bonuses of £200, so it's worth considering if you haven't taken a bonus from the bank before.

If you are getting a switching deal with a joint account, you will only receive one switching deal between you rather than one each. 

Santander's Edge and Edge up accounts pay cashback on select household bills, such as payments to BT or British Gas.

First Direct offers £175 to switch to its current account. First Direct is well regarded for its customer service, even though it has no physical branches. There’s no fee for using your card abroad, and you have a £250 interest–free overdraft (it’s 39.9 per cent variable above that, making a representative rate of 30.5 per cent APR variable).

If you want a bank account that pays interest on any balance kept in the account, Nationwide has an introductory 5 per cent fixed interest rate on FlexDirect current account balances. 

The rate is available for new accounts on balances up to £1,500 for the first 12 months, so you’d earn £75 if you had at least £1,500 in your account for the whole year.

It also has a switching deal it's currently running – you must switch at least two direct debits, pay in at least £1,000 and make a debit card payment within 31 days of opening the account or applying to switch.

Neo banks come with their own perks which are free. For more expert advice on this, we spoke to Kate Steere, a personal finance expert at comparison website Finder. 

Kate Steere replies: Setting up a joint bank account is the perfect time to choose a current account which has all the features that make managing shared expenses easy, rather than just staying with the bank you’ve been with since you were younger.

I particularly like Monzo’s joint account for this. Its Pots feature lets you ring-fence money for a certain purpose, such as your rent or monthly bills, and set up direct debits to come straight out of that Pot. 

The spending analysis is also top-notch. Getting daily insights and alerts when next month’s bills look higher than usual is a great way to trigger those (sometimes awkward) budgeting chats with your partner.

As you mentioned, Monzo is one of the nice shiny neobanks that doesn’t charge you for spending abroad, which is a big perk for holidays together. But the clincher for me is earning interest on shared savings, a feature that's surprisingly rare among joint accounts. 

Just keep in mind that opening a joint account creates a financial link between you and the other account holder, and both of you have equal access to all funds. So that shared savings pot could just as easily fund your girlfriend's Champagne habit as your holiday fund.