Bank customers are being urged to ditch and switch their current account and get paid anywhere between £150 and a whopping £400 for doing so – with many paying out in time for Christmas.
Money expert Martin Lewis has brought attention to the rash of bank switching deals on the market right now, and it doesn’t matter who you’re with, you can switch and get paid cash for it.
Even if you’re already with a bank which is currently paying customers to switch to it, you can still move to another, different bank offering a cash payout instead. For example, if you’re currently a Barclays customer, there’s nothing to stop you from moving to Santander and grabbing a free £200 payout. In the other direction, if you’re currently with Santander, you can switch to Barclays and get between £200 and £400 depending on your income.
The only blocks to this are if you’re with a sister bank. For example, Halifax or Bank of Scotland customers won’t be paid if they switch to Club Lloyds (owned by the same company) and HSBC customers can’t get paid a bonus by First Direct, which is also the same parent company.
As Martin has previously set out, there’s no reason not to switch, and the automatic bank switching service moves all your direct debits and standing orders over for you within 7 working days.
This week, on The Martin Lewis Money Show Live, Martin urged people to grab up to £1,525 of collective free cash from seven banks now – with many paying the money in time for Christmas.
There’s no catch, though some banks want you to pay in a certain amount per month to qualify you for their deals.
Martin told his ITVX audience on Tuesday, November 18, that some people – including two viewers in his audience – have made well over £1,000 from bank switching because there’s no limit on how many times you can do it.
Martin said: “There are seven accounts currently willing to pay new switchers money to switch to it.
“…We’ve got the biggest ever deal we’ve seen at the moment, £400 for fee but only for high earners, you have to be earning over £75,000 or have £100,000 with Barclays on Barclays Premier.”
Martin said many will be paid by Christmas, with some after Christmas.
Deals Martin ran his viewers through also included a free £200 from Santander. The account comes with a £3 per month fee but gives 1% cashback on bills up to £10 a month, so it more than pays for itself.
Barclays’ regular, non-premium account also gives £200. This comes with a £5 a month fee for its Blue Rewards but you can cancel without hassle without having to pay the fees once you get the £200 cash.
Club Lloyds will give £200 if you pay in a minimum of £2,000 a month, while First Direct is offering £175 with a minimum £1,000 a month pay-in
Nationwide is also offering a free £175, paid by December 6, while NatWest offers the same, paid by Boxing Day, November 26.
About the switching, Martin added: “First of all, you must use the 7 working day Switch Service.
“Now that in practice takes 10 days because it’s 7 working days.”
The Martin Lewis Money Show Live Christmas Special, originally broadcast on November 18, is still available to watch via ITVX.
