Best bank switching offers April 2024 (2024)

While traditional banks have some perks, you can get some great budgeting tools with the top online bank accounts.

Bank switch offer reviews

FirstDirect

Bank switching offer

Switch your bank account to First Direct’s 1st Account using the Current Account Switch Service (CASS) and you can receive a £175 welcome bonus.

To get your hands on the cash, you’ll need to make a full switch and have at least two Direct Debits or Standing Orders coming out of the account. You’ll also need to make an initial deposit of £1,000.

Get this done within 30 days of opening the account and the £175 will be paid into your account by the 20th of the following month.

This offer is only open to new customers who haven’t previously held a First Direct account and haven’t opened an HSBC account since 2018.

Top Tip: Apply for the account through TopCashBack, and you’ll receive an extra £36.75 cashback.

Current account features

First Direct is a great option if you’re looking for cheap spending abroad as it offers no fees when using your debit card or withdrawing foreign currency abroad.

Here’s a quick rundown of First Direct’s 1st Account features:

• £250 interest-free overdraft (subject to status)
• No debit card fees when spending abroad or withdrawing cash
• Access to First Direct’s Regular Saver Account with 7% AER / gross
• Arranged overdraft text alerts
• Insights to help you keep track of spending
• 24/7 support

Things to watch out for:

• Monthly cap of £20 on any unarranged overdraft (fees are made clear)
• 39.9% AER on any arranged overdraft over the £250 (subject to status)
• The Regular Saver is a 12 month fixed saver account. If you withdraw before the fixed term you will only receive the standard variable rate interest.

£250 interest-free overdraft

First Direct offers a £250 interest-free overdraft on its 1st Account. Not much compared to the overdrafts you can get with student bank accounts, we know, but still helpful if you’ve overspent one month.

Anything over this will be charged at the much higher 39.9% AER interest rate so be careful to keep on top of it. First Direct does send you text messages to alert you whenever you go into your arranged overdraft so this should help you keep within your limits.

Other bank account switching offers from First Direct

First Direct only offers the one current account, which will then give you access to its savings accounts.

Switch to First Direct »

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If you’re a bit confused by what the difference is between AER and gross, you wouldn’t be the only one! Check out our guide to banking terms.

TSB

Bank switching offer

If you open a Spend and Save current account with TSB, you’ll receive £5 cashback for the first 6 months. Not quite the same as receiving a lump sum upfront, but still a free £30, which is nothing to be sniffed at.

TSB doesn’t ask for an initial deposit, just that you make 20 debit card payments per calendar month. These can be online or in-store, so shouldn’t be too difficult.

You’ll have to make a full switch of your account but the offer also applies if you have a different TSB account and want to make the switch to the Spend and Save account.

Current account features

Some of the TSB Spend and Save current account’s best features include:

• Up to £2,000 overdraft (subject to approval)
• Savings Pots with 2.92% AER / 2.89% gross interest
• Save the Pennies rounds up debit card payments to the nearest pound and adds to your savings
• Auto Balancer lets you set a minimum balance limit
• TSB Rewards offers a bunch of savings and offers on holidays, treats and essentials
• Access to TSB’s 6% AER monthly saver
• In-app features to help you save.

These are the things to watch out for with TSB Spend and Save:

• The overdrafts available come with a 39.9% AER interest
• There are fees for spending and withdrawing abroad
• Cash withdrawals, Direct Debits etc. are not included in the 20 debit card payments needed to earn cashback.

Savings Pots

TSB’s Savings Pots are a great way to put money aside. You can open up to five savings pots and name them whatever you like (future holidays, day trips or rainy day). You’ll then earn 2.89% AER / 2.92% gross interest on everything you put away for the first 12 months (1.39% AER / 1.4% gross thereafter).

The interest is calculated daily and added to your pots every month. You’ll have access to these pots whenever you need. You can also use the Save the Pennies feature to round up all your spending to the nearest pound and put the extra in a savings pot – a very easy way to save some extra money.

Other bank account switching offers from TSB

TSB’s Spend and Save Plus offers all the benefits of its free Spend and Save counterpart, but the £5 cashback per month offer continues until you decide to close your account.

As opposed to the Spend and Save, it also offers fee-free spending abroad. However, it will set you back £3 per month, so you could say you’re only really getting £2 free cash a month.

Switch to TSB »

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Chase

Bank switching offer

Chase is offering 1% cashback to new customers for the first year – up to £15 per month – on everyday debit card spending.

You don’t need to fully switch your bank account to Chase to get this offer, but it’s worth making Chase your main account for everyday spending just to make sure you maximise on the cashback deal.

You’ll basically get 1% of the first £1,500 of eligible spending refunded each month. Eligible purchases include all of your usual day-to-day purchases like groceries and even travel. There are a few types of payments that are excluded (listed on Chase’s website).

Current account features

Here are some of Chase bank account’s best features:

• 1% AER variable interest rate on your current account balance
• A linked savings account with a 4.1% AER variable interest rate
• Access to a round-up account with 5% AER variable interest
• No charges for spending abroad
• A numberless debit card to help keep your details safe if you lose it
• Lock and unlock your card through the app
• 24/7 support through the app or over the phone.

Things to watch out for:

• Chase doesn’t offer any overdraft facilities with its account
• You’re currently unable to deposit cash or cheques into your Chase account
• You can only register to use Chase on one device.

Chase savings accounts

Opening a current account with Chase gives you access to both its easy-access savings account and a linked round-up account where you can earn interest on your spare change.

The savings account offers an impressive variable interest rate of 4.1% AER / 4.02% gross) paid monthly, which you can access whenever you want.

On top of this, open a round-up account and activate it through the app, and all your spending will be rounded up to the nearest whole pound. The difference is then automatically transferred to your round-up account, which gives you a 5% AER / 4.89% gross variable, calculated daily and paid monthly.

You can also access this whenever you want, but Chase will automatically transfer the balance to your Chase current or saver account annually.

Spending abroad

Chase doesn’t charge any fees for using your card overseas or withdrawing cash abroad. Allpurchases you make in the local currency will be converted using Mastercard’s exchange rate.

On top of that, you will continue to earn your 1% cashback whilst spending abroad, making it a great option to help save money on your holiday.

There is however a maximum withdrawal of £500 a day from cash machines in the UK and abroad. A further limit on cash withdrawals of £1,500 per calendar month is imposed if you’re outside the UK.

Switch to Chase »

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Bank switching offers change regularly. This article will be updated frequently to keep up with the best offers available. Please double-check offers on the websites by following the links.

Switching bank accounts is a great way to get some free cash. You’ll find a few more in our guide on ways to get free money.