The best bank switching offers (May 2024) - Be Clever With Your Cash (2024)

Bank by bank

Andy says: why switching is worth it

If you’ve been with the same bank since your first jobor University, you’re probably missing out. Since seven-day switching was introduced in 2013 the banks have been offering free cash, high interest and other extras to get you to move to them.

Just from switching, I made £1,900 between 2013 and 2018 – and a few hundred more since. And there’s more to be made from other benefits just by opening additional bank accounts. Many accounts have freebies, high interest linked savings accounts and better banking apps which are all worth grabbing.

First Direct £175 switching bonus

First Direct currently offers £175 for opening a 1st Account with them and switching in. Here’s our full analysis of the offer.

Club Lloyds £175 switching bonus

The new switching bonus from Lloyds Bank is worth £175 and runs from Tuesday 13 February to 28 March 2024. Once the switch has completed you’ll get the payment within 3 working days.

It’s only for Club Lloyds, Club Lloyds Silver and Club Lloyds Platinum accounts and only for new accounts.

Existing Lloyds customers can take advantage though you don’t qualify this time if you’ve received a switching bonus from Lloydsor Halifax since April 2020.

Only one payment will be made per customer, so you can’t get it twice via joint accounts.

All the details on how to do this, and Andy’s full analysis of the offer can be found here.

Nationwide £200 switching offer

This decent switching offer is for £200, but only existing customers can get it. It started 23 May 2024.

You can also claim this offer twice. Once for a personal account and once for a joint account (though this latter one is one payment for both parties in the joint account). I’ve written in detail about this switching offer here.

Santander £175 switch offer

Santander has rarely offered any switching incentives – but in 2021 it launched an offer for new and existing customers which have run every year since then.

The latest is for £175 and began on 14 May 2024

You need to switch into an Edge, Edge Up or Private account. Here’s our full analysis.

TSB up to £190 plus freebie switching offer

A new switching deal runs from 23 May 2024. It could be worth £190 in cash plus a freebie.

To get the full amount you’ll need to get an extra cashback bonus via cashback sites Quidco and TopCashback, and from the accounts themselves. Read my full analysis here.

Virgin Money switching offer – 10% interest

Virgin Money has offered seven different switching offers since December 2020 under the name “Brighter Money Bundle”, but it’s been quiet since late 2022.

But they’ve returned in May 2024 with this offer, worth £110. (you can read our full analysis here).

Previous offers have included:

• 15 bottles of wine from Virgin Wine (Dec 20 to Mar 21)
• 12 bottles and a £50 charity donation (Mar 21 to summer 21)
• £150 Virgin Experiences voucher
• £100 Virgin Experience voucher and 3% bonus interest (Jan 22 to April 22)
• 20,000 Virgin points (April 22 to August 22)
• 25% cashback on supermarket and fuel shopping (September 2022)

Danske Bank £200 switching offer

Don’t get too excited about a brand new switch deal – this is only available to residents in Northern Ireland.

Barclays Premier “£125” switching offer

Barclays launched a new £175 switching deal in November 2023, which has now ended.

However there’s still an offer for new Barclays Premier customers who switch in. They’ll earn Avios points that can be changed to £125 worth of Nectar points.

This is only for customers who have large salaries or huge amounts saved with Barclays (it might be possible to get accepted as a joint couple who meet this requirement combined). You also have to be brand new to Barclays too.

You need to add on Barclays Avios Rewards which costs £12 a month, though you’ll earn most of that back in Avios points (1,500 a month = £7.50 when converted to Nectar). So effectively you’re looking at a net spend of £54 over the year – though of course that’s if you keep Avios Rewards once you’ve got your bonus.

If you stop Avios Rewards after four months, you’ll have spent the equivalent of £18, giving you a profit of £107 (as Nectar points).

You can’t have both Blue Rewards and Avios Rewards at the same time.

RBS £200 switching offer (ended)

RBS launched a £200 switch deal on 15 February 2024.

As with Natwest when it has run it’s been available to existing customers, though you couldn’t get the money from Natwest too.

I’ve written a full analysis of this RBS offer with more details on how it works here.

Natwest £200 switch offer (expired)

A new offer from Natwest started on 15 February 2024, with no published end date. You can get £200 for a switch from another bank into a new or existing account.

As with RBS when it has run it’s been available to existing customers, though you couldn’t get the money from Natwest too.

We’ve written a full analysis of this offer with more details on how it works.

Previous Natwest switch deals

• In both 2018 and 2019 Natwest offered switching bonuses on three occasions between £100 and £150
• It returned in October and November 2020 offering £125.
• It ran 24 January 2022 until 7 April 2022 offering £150.
• A £175 offer ran September to November 2022.
• A £200 offer ran February to September 2023
• A £200 offer started February 2024

Ulster £200 switching offer (ended)

Ulster launched a £200 switch deal on 15 February 2023.

As with Natwest and RBS when it has run it’s been available to existing customers. Though technically you can’t get the money from Natwest and RBS too, in the past some have been able to.

We’ve written a full analysis of this Ulster Bank offer with more details on how it works here.

HSBC up to £220 switch & stay bonus (ended)

This is a high paying offer, but you’ll have to jump through lots of hoops not just for the first £100 switch bonus, but for 12 further months for up to £120 on top.

All the details on how to do this, and Andy’s full analysis of the offer can be found here.

£100 switch offer

£10 a month details

Barclays Blue Rewards switching offers

Here’s more on the last switching deal for Blue Rewards from November 2023, and you can also read our full guide and analysis.

Before this the switching deals offered double Blue Rewards, though that version last ran in 2019.

Bank of Scotland switching bonus

Bank of Scotland isn’t running a switching offer right now.

Chase Bank welcome bonus (ended)

The new £20 referral scheme began on 11 May 2022 and ended 7 June 2022. You do not need to switch. Here’s more on how it works, and how to refer your friends (earning up to £400).

Co-operative Bank £150 switching bonus (expired)

Co-operative Bank has launched a switching bonus worth £100, with another £50 available on top. It replaces the previous refer-a-friend promotion. My full analysis is here.

Halifax switch deal (ended)

Until 31 August 2023 Halifax is offering up to £225 for switching to a new Halifax Reward or Ultimate Reward account.

The Reward account is my pick of the two and you can earn a £5 monthly reward. The Ultimate Rewards account has added features such as insurance but comes with a £17 monthly fee.

It’s open to existing Halifax customers too, even if you already hold one of these accounts. Here’s more information about how to get the £225.

Halifax has regularly been offering cash bonuses of between £75 and £150 since switching began in 2013. More recently it ran offers in April/May and July/August 2021 (£100) and October/December 2021, March/May 2022 (£125) and July/August 2022 (£150).

HSBC Advance & HSBC Global Money offer (ended)

There’s up to £260 up for grabs with this opening offer (£205 from HSBC and £55 with TopCashback), though there are a few steps involved. You don’t have to switch an account to HSBC to get this one. We think that this deal will end on 6 November 2023, so you’ll have to be quick if you want to take advantage.

You can get £125 when you:

• Open a new HSBC Advance or Premier Account
• Deposit £1,500+ within 60 days
• Make 5+ payments with your HSBC debit card
• Register and log in to the HSBC mobile banking app
• Open an HSBC Global Money Account within the app

The money is paid into your Global Money Account within 20 days.

You can then get another £80, plus a chance to win £3,000 if you use your Global Money debit card 5+ times by 21 April 2024.

The money will be paid into your Global Money Account between 1 May 2024 and 8 May 2024 and the prize draw takes place on 29 April 2024.

There aren’t any requirements to have direct debits or standing orders set up with this account. However you can’t have had an HSBC account since 1 October 2018, or opened a First Direct account since that same date.

You can also currently get £55 in cashback when you open a HSBC Advance account through TopCashback, which brings the total amount to £260.

Plus, if you’re a new TopCashback customer, you can get £15 when you spend £15 via it.

HSBC switch offer (ended)

You can get a £200 bonus when switching to the HSBC Advance current account, but that could be increased to as much as £250.

Cashback site Quidco is offering £40 extra when you apply via their site.

You need two Direct Debits or standing orders to qualify for the bonus. Unless you have spare Direct Debits you want to move, I’d go for the latter and simply transfer money from another bank account (and then back again!). Here’s my guide to the offer.

The account requirement of a £1,750 monthly deposit doesn’t need to stay in the account.

Metro Bank switching offer (ended)

Metro introduced a brand new referral offer in 2020, but that ended 18th December 2020. The offer was £50 for both the person referring and the person signing up and switching. It was capped at £250 for the existing Metro customer. I’ll update it here it returns.

Monzo account opening offer

You can get £5 free cash from Monzo when you join for the first time. You’ll need to get a refer-a-friend link from an existing customer. These links can be limited, so make sure the landing page explicitly says you’ll earn £5. If it doesn’t, see if you can find another link. You’ll get the fiver once you’ve done this.

Revolut account opening offer (ended)

You can get a £10 free credit from Revolut when you join for the first time via this link and access to one month’s free Premium.

To get the tenner you need to top up your account from another bank and then spend at least £1 on the card.

You’ll have to pay if you want a physical card so I wouldn’t bother. There’s a virtual card you can use straight away from the app or add to your phone’s wallet.

You don’t have to take the one-month free Premium but if you do it has to be within 72 hours of signing up. If you don’t want to continue with Premium once the initial month you can easily downgrade in the app. Don’t forget or you’ll pay £6.99 a month. If you ordered the card you’ll have to pay for it, so again, don’t do this unless you’re going to stick with Premium.

Full terms and conditions are available when you click through. Ends 31 December 2022.

Triodos referral offer (expired)

Sign up to Triodos’s current account via a referral link and you can get a £60 voucher to use at Ethical Superstore or Neals Yard. Or you can choose to have the money donated to charity. The existing customer that refers you will have a £25 donation made on their behalf.

You don’t need to switch to get the bonus, but you must pay in £100.

Here’s more on the current deal.