Martin Lewis has said people can get £600 for free in cash before Christmas by taking advantage of special offers from banks. Customers can switch to Nationwide, Barclays, NatWest, First Direct, Lloyds or HSBC, and he said that almost everything is changed automatically without having to do anything.
Mr Lewis said there’s currently a ‘war’ taking place between banks trying to get customers, and people can take advantage. On his Radio 5 podcast he said people can in fact get as much as £600 for free, but there were strict salary conditions on that offer.
Best current deals
He told host Adrian Chiles: “We’ve been having a bit of a war going on in the bank account market for giving you free cash to switch bank accounts.” Mr Lewis said there were also offers in other ways, including cashback debit cards, credit cards and a cashback app for mobile phone bills.
In terms of best buys, Mr Lewis told Radio 5 host Adrian Chiles: “One was pulled last night, which is a shame. The new one out this week is a Barclays bank account that is paying you £300 for free if you switch to it.
“That’s £150 at the start, then £30 a month for five months. Remember you have to be new to these banks effectively. HSBC is giving you £220 if you join. Then my top all-rounder pick - First Direct is giving you £210 for free at the moment. It’s also number one rated for service in all the polls I do - over 90% rate it great. It’s got a 7% regular saver, it's got a 0% overdraft up to £250, and it’s got a top debit card for spending overseas.
“Another bigger package - Lloyds is giving £200 for free, plus you get a choice of rewards like Disney+ for a year, magazine prescriptions, or six free cinema tickets. NatWest is giving £200, Nationwide £175 for free.”
What to watch out for
Mr Lewis said it was a ‘plethora - a huge pot’ of different bank accounts willing to pay new customers, and that many of the deals would mean cash in the person’s pockets in time for Christmas if the process was completed soon enough.
He said the old account would generally be closed as part of the deal due to the switching service process, and all payments and incoming money would automatically be taken over. But he said: “The only thing that is not automatically moved for you are recurring payments - that’s where you give the long number on your debit card when you pay for something common with Netflix, Amazon Prime and subscription services. If you don’t manually switch that over then that company will get in touch with you and say ‘your debit card is no longer working’ and you just put your new debit card in. So it isn’t a biggie.”
He said the one thing he advises doing manually is going to an employer and giving them the details of your new bank account to ensure the wage is paid in. Mr Lewis also said there are some offers available only to higher earners.
Higher earner offers
Mr Lewis said: “Barclays is the top payer there. For that, you need a minimum £75,000 salary. It’ll give you £600, Apple TV and possibly a £500 0% overdraft. If you earn over £100,000, HSBC is paying you £500 for free, and it also gives you free worldwide travel insurance.”
To listen to the full show, click here.
Normal account offers below
Nationwide £370 - The Nationwide offer is available to new customers opening a FlexDirect account and using the Current Account Switch Service to switch within 28 days. You have to pay in at least £1,000, switch from an account with two direct debits and make one eligible debit card payment within 31 days of opening the account. You receive a £175 switching incentive and can earn another £120 from direct debit and debit card cashbacks in the first year. Nationwide is also giving customers 5% interest on balances up to £1,500 for the first 12 months on its fee-free account, which would give you another £75 to bring the total to £370.
Barclays - £300 - Barclays is offering customers up to £300 when they switch their current account to a new Barclays account. The offer is available to customers who use the Current Account Switch Service, with the potential reward starting with an initial £150 payment. Customers must pay in at least £2,000 and then make at least 10 debit card transactions a month to receive an additional £30 a month for five months, taking the total reward to £300. The offer has been available from 1 October. To qualify, customers must open and complete a Barclays Current Account application in the Barclays app within 21 days.
HSBC - £220 - HSBC is giving customers £220 for switching to their bank account - all you need to do is deposit at least £2,000 and spend £500+ on the debit card within 60 days. The offer excludes those who have had an HSBC or First Direct account since 1 January 2023.
First Direct - £210 - You can get £210 if you open a First Direct 1st Account via the app (online for a joint account) and pay in a minimum of £1,000. Switchers must be from an account with at least two direct debit payments and must also use the debit card for five transactions to qualify for the cash. You must never have had any First Direct product or have opened an HSBC current account since 1 January 2018. This deal runs out on 2 December this year.
NatWest - £200 - NatWest is giving you £200 if you switch to its NatWest Reward or Select account. You need to pay in at least £1,250 within 60 days to get the reward. The account costs a monthly fee of £2, but you can get £4 cashback if you pay in £1,250 every month and have two direct debits from the account. This gives you a net gain of £24 a year. Those who received a previous NatWest, RBS, or Ulster Bank switch bonus or are switching from an existing account with those banks do not qualify.
Lloyds - £200 - You can bag £200 for switching to a Club Lloyds account. You can also get either a 12-month Disney+ (with ads) subscription, a Coffee Club and Gourmet Society membership, six cinema tickets or a magazine subscription. All you have to do is open the account and switch in from another bank account - any apart from Halifax or Bank of Scotland - with a minimum of three direct debits and pay in £2,000. You must make the switch before 9 December to qualify for the £200 bonus.
