Last week it was Lloyds Bank – now NatWest have joined the fight.
Britain’s major lenders are cranking up their offers to get you to switch banks, with around £200 in cash on offer to change where you deposit your salary.
While that is the precise figure offered by Lloyds, NatWest have gone slightly lower at £175 to move your current account, though that figure could rise over the following 12 months by £36 with a certain account type, giving you above the £200 figure over the long term.
As ever, though, users should take caution before switching to ensure that the overall package on offer is one which will benefit them, rather than focusing on the headline figures of free cash.
Consumers can claim the switch bonuses by moving their current account from one provider to another using a free service called the Current Account Switch Service (CASS) .
Current account switch bonuses are commonplace in the UK. Using CASS, consumers can make the change in short order without having to do much beyond let them know where you’re moving from and to – often it can take only a week or two after initiating the transfer to get fully set up.
Quite aside from the free money, it’s a useful tool for customers to look elsewhere if their bank is offering poor interest rates on savings accounts, if they are unhappy with customer service or if local branches have been shut and they require more accessibility.
Co-op Bank (£100 plus £75 in instalments), first direct (£175) and Danske Bank (£180) are among the other lenders currently with switch offers.
The new £175 NatWest offer, which is available from now, is conditional on customers opening a current account, logging into the app and depositing at least £1,250.
For customers opening a Rewards account, £4 in bonuses are paid for months where they have two active direct debit payments being made, plus a further £1 a month for using the app at least once. Offsetting that £5 bonuses is the Reward account costing £2 a month – so the extra £3 a month for essentially using your account as normal would mount up to an extra £36 a year, making a move potentially worth £211 overall including the switch bonus.
Get a free fractional share worth up to £100.
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Get a free fractional share worth up to £100.
Capital at risk.
Terms and conditions apply.
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Access to a regular saver account paying 5.5 per cent interest is also available after opening a current account, which may be useful for some customers – though significantly higher rates up to 7 per cent are commonplace on the market at present.
As is usual with these offers, you cannot get the switch reward if you have received it previously from NatWest, while they also do not offer it to existing clients who open a new current account.
Customers looking to switch bank or building society should consider which elements of banking suit them most beyond the free cash bonus – such as ease of use on app, other services with their current provider or savings accounts which suit their lifestyle.
