Another bank launches £185 offer to switch as account battle heats up

Banks are battling to attract new customers, with cash rewards for those who do

Cash switching offers from other banks also include £200 to move to a NatWest/RBS current account and £175 to switch to Lloyds (PA Archive)

Santander UK has become the latest bank to launch a new offer of £185 to switch to an eligible current account, as banks’ battle to attract customers heats up.

The offer is open to new and existing Santander UK customers, using the Current Account Switch Service (Cass) to switch to either an Everyday Current Account, Santander Edge Current Account, Santander Edge Up Current Account, or Private Current Account (v2).

To qualify for the payment, customers must complete the switch in 60 days, pay in at least £1,500 within 60 days of requesting the switch and set up two direct debits within 60 days.

Those eligible for the payment will receive it within 90 days of the switch process, Santander said.

The bank also said customers who have previously benefited from a Santander switcher incentive are not eligible for the new offer.

Last week, HSBC UK launched a new switching offer of up to £220, which involves taking out a current account as well as regularly putting money into savings.

Customers can receive £100 after opening an Advance or Premier Account and meeting the criteria, which includes opening an Online Bonus Saver.

HSBC UK has launched a new switching offer of up to £220, which involves taking out a current account as well as regularly putting money into savings (Charlotte Ball/PA) (PA Archive)

If customers continue to meet ongoing monthly criteria, including making a monthly deposit of a minimum of £50 into their Online Bonus Saver, they could receive up to a further £120 over 12 months as part of the offer, receiving up to £220 in total.

Cash switching offers from other banks also include £200 to move to a NatWest/RBS current account and £175 to switch to Lloyds.

Earlier this year it was reported that a record number of current account holders ditched and switched their bank using the seven-day switching service in the last three months of 2022, figures show.

The Current Account Switch Service (Cass) processed 376,107 switches between October and December.

It was the highest quarterly total since the service was launched in September 2013.

The highest total number of monthly switches ever using Cass was recorded in November, at 157,376.

Cass said the high switching totals align with a number of strong incentives and offers from current account providers at the time.

In November Martin Lewis shared his “easy peasy” advice on how consumers can save up to £180 a year by using an app-only banking account to purchase goods and services.

Mr Lewis, founder of the Money Saving Expert website, urged customers to sign up for a Chase bank current account to receive up to £15 a month just by spending.

He added that it had other benefits and was the cheapest for spending overseas. He also told customers to consider signing up for a new HSBC account to receive £205 of free cash.

The deal from HSBC allows you to claim the £205 by setting up an HSBC Advance or Premier account. Only new customers will receive the £205.

“Right now there’s a bank that will pay you for opening an account, but you don’t need to use its switching service. You don’t need to switch to it so you can keep your old bank and your normal banking systems up and running,” he said on his BBC podcast.