Plus £34 extra a year and 6.17% savings
From 22 October 2024, NatWest is offering £180 if you switch banks. And there’s also the opportunity to get another £34ish via linked rewards and £60 interest on top.
Here’s how the offer works and my analysis.
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How much can you get for switching to NatWest?
This NatWest switching offer is pretty straightforward. You’ll get a fixed £180 if you meet the conditions outlined below. Though it’s a decent amount compared to other banks, it’s a drop from the £200 the bank offered earlier this year.
You can only get one bonus per person, regardless of whether you have more than one solo or any extra joint accounts. You’ll also only get one payment per joint account, so if two of you want the cash you’re better off opening two new individual accounts.
Who can get the NatWest switching offer?
It’s another deal where new and existing customers can get the free cash. Unlike previous NatWest offers, you can only get the money with one of the Reward current accounts. These are:
- Reward
- Reward Silver
- Reward Platinum
- Premier Reward
- Premier Reward Black
If you have a different NatWest account you can convert this to one of those listed above rather than open a brand new account.
Then, whether a new or existing account holder, you need to use the Current Account Switching Service to move over an account from a different bank. This can’t include any banks within the NatWest group – you won’t get the bonus if you switch from a NatWest, RBS or Ulster Bank account.
If you don’t have a spare account, then it’s worth considering setting up a dummy current account to use for switching.
What if you’ve previously had switching cash from NatWest group banks?
Existing or previous account holders won’t get the money if you’ve had any cash EVER from switching to any bank in the NatWest Group, which consists of RBS, Ulster Bank or NatWest. Previously the cut off date was 2020, but now it’s at any time.
It’s worth noting that in 2023 many readers reported in our Facebook group that they were able to get an offer from each bank in the group, despite the terms saying it wasn’t possible.
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What are the requirements for the NatWest switching offer?
To get the £180 you need to:
- Open or already have one of the accounts listed above after 22 October 2024
- Start a full switch via the Current Account Switch Service via the NatWest website or app
- Switch from a non-NatWest group bank
- Pay in £1,250 within 60 days of switching the account
- Log in to mobile or app banking within 60 days of switching the account
- Keep the account open until you’ve had the switching cash
That £1,250 deposit doesn’t need to be in one go, so you can add money across the qualifying period. It can even be the same smaller amount added and then withdrawn so you can add it again. However each single deposit (rather than the total £1,250) needs to be in the account for 24 hours.
Note, the wording says that the 60 days begins when the switch completes.
You won’t be eligible if you start the switch in a branch or over the phone.
When will the money be paid?
The full £180 will be paid to your account within seven calendar days of meeting the above criteria
When will the offer end?
There’s no set end date for this promotion, so it could end at any time. I’ll update this article if a date is announced.
NatWest £180 switch summary
| Switching bonus | £180 |
| Bonus paid | Within 7 Days of completing criteria |
| Open to existing customers | Yes |
| Eligible accounts | Reward or Premier Reward (for new customers, longer list for existing customers) |
| Requirements | Pay in £1,250 within 60 days of switching |
| Log on to mobile app banking within 60 days of switching | |
| Switch using the Current Account Switch Service and close your old account | |
| You must start the switch from the Natwest website or your mobile app | |
| The old account must be from a different bank | |
| Exclusions | Offer limited to once per person |
| Cannot have ever received a switching bonus from RBS, Ulster or NatWest | |
| Offer ends | Unknown |
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Which NatWest account should I choose?
Most people are best off going for the Reward account as there’s a high income threshold for the Premier Rewards account.
If you’ve got a couple of spare Direct Debits, adding them to the Reward account will earn you £4 a month. You’ll get another £1 for using your NatWest app each month. Deduct the £2 a month fee and you’ll make a profit of £3 a month, or £36 a year. It’s not the highest-paying account out there, but worth nabbing if you are going to use Natwest.
Bear in mind that the £5 monthly reward is paid to a separate Reward Wallet, so you’ll need to log in and withdraw it each month.
You’ll also be able to deposit up to £150 a month (more if you use the round up feature when spending), earning 6.17% in the Digital Regular Saver.
NatWest Reward account:
| Benefits | £5 monthly reward, made up of: |
| – £4 for having two Direct Debits | |
| – £1 for opening the mobile app each month | |
| Limited cashback with retailers via debit card | |
| Interest | Access to 6.17% (variable) AER Digital Monthly Saver (max £150 a month) Read more |
| Fee | £2 a month |
| Requirements | Two active Direct Debits of at least £2 each |
| Deposit £1,250 a month | |
| Open the app once per month | |
| Multiple accounts? | Yes, but you can only claim Rewards once per person |
| Notes | You need to withdraw your rewards to use them |
What customers think
Natwest Reward customers score the account 4.81 out of 5. You can read more about what they like and what they don’t on our sister site Smart Money People.
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Is it worth switching to Natwest?
Andy’s analysis
Though I expect a number of you will be ruled out as you got the free cash from previous RBS or Natwest offers, anyone eligible should certainly consider it.
Not only can you get the free switching cash, but you’ll get £36 a year with the Rewards account. You’ll also have access to the Digital Regular Saver which pays 6.17% on £150 a month (max of £5,000 overall), earning you up to £60 in the first year.
It’s also good to see the stricter switch and stay conditions from a few years ago are gone, making it a very easy offer to nab – and then potentially move on from with another switch.
Are there better switching offers
If you’re a repeat bank switcher then you might only be able to pick one or two options, but for complete newbies, you’ve got a few choices.
Here’s everything you need to know about all these different bank switching deals.
It’s not entirely clear whether a monthly deposit of £1250 requirement for the NatWest Rewards current account is met if it comes from an RBS current account. Have checked FAQs but can find any reference to it.
Andy, you missed out a crucial criterion for getting the monthly rewards – you need to pay in £1250 to your NatWest account every month. See here (you will need to scroll down to below the table where it shows the rewards available for each account)
https://www.natwest.com/myrewards.html#earn
Do weekend deposits count as 24hrs? I deposited £500 towards the £1250 Friday night, but took the precaution of withdrawal on the following Monday. I only noticed today on the NatWest app that it says it was sorted on the 29th which was Monday, but I withdrew that evening without realising. So does that mean I’ll have to deposit again, an extra time, for it to register?
Dear Andy,
You updated that the current switch offer will end on 2nd April, but I didn’t see the end date on the NatWest website.
I am wondering if I do new account and switch application now, whether I will be elgible for the offer.
I’m wondering the same I started the switch April 1st not knowing the end date I hope I still get it as I wouldn’t have switched otherwise
Likewise, I started the switch 27th March and its just completed today (5th April). Fingers crossed
Can someone please confirm? I switched on 29th, completed on 4th. I am paying in the £1250 this week, will I get bonus?
Did you get any update on this? Likewise my switch wasn’t processed until the 5th of April but was started on the 27th of Marh
Keep us posted with what happens. Mine won’t complete until tomorrow apparently but I got confirmation on the 2nd. Hopefully it goes through okay!
Just to let confirm I’ve received the Natwest reward today so should be ok if you started the switching process before the 2nd April deadline.
I initiated the switch on March 30th and have just got the £200 switch bonus.
I just had NatWest and Ulsterbank pay up!! I didn’t try RBS as I thought it wouldn’t work this time around. Might apply now. Easiest £400 I’ve made so far. Thanks for all the tips Andy. I have made £1175 since October 23 just by switching 😮.
Hi all thanks for the article. Very interesting. In order to get the £4 + £1 bonus every month from the reward account do I need to pay in £1250 every month? Or is that just within the first 60 days for the £200 switching incentive?
Yes, you do need to pay in £1250 to the Rewards account every month to be eligible for the rewards.
Is a hard search involved when applying for this deal?
They did a hard search on me.
Please note, from the NatWest website, the Reward Account requires you to pay in £1,250 each month.
With the Select Account it is only a one off requirement.
Hi Pop
Are you certain about that? Can you please link to those T&Cs in the NatWest website? I can’t see it anywhere. Many thanks
Hi Danny
main T&Cs of the current accounts, there’s a section “account specific terms”, and down on p26 in section5:
5.3 If you open your Reward account from 26 June 2017 onwards, you must pay at least £1,250 in total every calendar month into any personal current account(s) you hold with us (excluding a Foundation account, Basic account or a current account mortgage product). The £1,250 can’t be paid in from a current account or savings account you hold with us.
If you don’t meet these criteria, we may convert your Reward account to a Select account (which means you’ll stop earning Rewards).
HTH
i already have the £1250 in my old current account, which has now been switched over to natwest so in theory does this still class as the £1250 deposit to get the £200 switch incentive
Will I get the £200 switch bonus if I switch to Ulster Bank from RBS?
Hi, will I get this incentive if I switch from an RBS account to NatWest? (Never received a switching bonus before)
I have tried to switch to Nat west to take advantage of the cash incentive, it says I can’t transfer from a joint account so feel like I’m going around in circles any help would be appreciated
They tend not to allow a switch from a joint account into a single one to get the bonus. In fact, joint accounts seem very much excluded from offers like these, IMO.
One scheme that DOES allow a joint account to switch to a new joint account with them for a switching bonus is Nationwide. I know simply because I have done it. As well as allowing a switch bonus for joint accounts, Nationwide will also let both individuals do a switch from one of their old, unused, personal bank accounts held elsewhere into one of their own oersonal banking accounts.
They didn’t open my account even though my credit score is excellent. No explanation. Meh.
Same…
Was this from applying online? They rejected me as well but when I queried it via an email they provided in the rejection email, they then said I could reapply. I did it again by phone and they told me their system had a fault when doing the checks so there was nothing actually wrong with my original application
Dear Andy,
NatWest..
Do I have to keep the £1250 in the account or can I spend it & still qualify?
previous rewards received. Thanks for update.
I really look forward to your reply soon.
Yours faithfully
Kind Regards,
Garibov
hi
did you find out any answers to this? I also dont want to keep the £1250 in there as ive got a big spend coming up, so it will be going.
It usually just means you need to pay this in but you can still take it out. Someone from a bank told me years ago they only needed to see the incoming transaction and I could technically move it back out after
I believe the cash must be deposited for at least 24 hours
At the bottom of the terms and conditions it says it needs to be in for a minimum of 24 hrs
You only need to keep it in the account 24 hours and then you can move it out
At the bottom of the terms and conditions it says it needs to be in for a minimum of 24 hrs
Hmm it wouldn’t let me switch from my RBS dummy account as when I put the card details in it said it was a NatWest account. How do you get the switch bonus from RBS to NatWest?
Does my salary being paid into the account count towards the £1500 that needs to be paid in to get the bonus? Or do I literally have to deposit the money myself?
Just to clarify, it is a single £1250 payment into the account by 12th December – Christmas is going to be expensive so does that money have to be in the account for a particular ammount of time? Can’t seem to find an answer to that with Natwest,
Thanks!
Hi, does it completely close your other bank account if you switch? As I currently use Monzo and would like to keep it open. Thanks
Sadly yes your old account will be closed. But you could look at opening an account elsewhere that you don’t want to keep, and switch that. More here https://becleverwithyourcash.com/the-best-extra-dummy-accounts-for-bank-switching/
They denied me an account cos I have done too many switches already. 🙁
Met all their requirements but no 150 on june 9th been on phone with them for 1 hour they say ive met the req but no ide why i haven’t been paid??
Soooooo, 9th of June is here. Did anyone get their bonus payment? Because we haven’t, but we did receive to the text to say we would?
Same here
After pay in £1250, can I move around those money or does it needs to stay there untill reward paid? Thanks
Used to have a natwest acc,can’t remember if I got an incentive or not. Can’t find acc details,how do I find out if I’m eligible or not
Hmm, hard to say. You could try contacting them?
Dear Andy,
Thanks for update.
I really look forward to your reply,
Many thanks 🙏
Garibov
Once I have received the £150 from Natwest can I switch straight after or do you have to stay with them for a certain amount of time?
This latest offer doesn’t require you to stay once you have the cash, but always check terms and conditions in case deals change
Hi Andy,
pretty new in this things… when you say switch… what is it involved in it? Change your salary account? close your previous account…?
More info here https://becleverwithyourcash.com/how-to-switch-bank-accounts/
Can i deposit lets say 100. Then withdraw then deposit again same amount until it totals to 1200. Whilst just initially having 100
Yep. It doesn’t have to be in one go
NatWest biggest conn going. Switch over in November had £1500 in account by 13th January. Yet now told wont get reward as I opened the wrong account. Never said anything about this when I spoke to them in branch 3 times about the switch and never said anything when I phoned them twice about the switch between Dec and Feb this year.
Dear Andy,,,
Thank you for your Reply,
Once I have received the 02/11/2022-?-£175 from Natwest can I switch straight after or do you have to stay with them for a certain amount of time?
I look forward to your reply.
Yours faithfully
Kind Regards,
Garibov
Dear Andy,,,
Thank you for your Reply,
Once I have received the £175 from Natwest can I switch straight after or do you have to stay with them for a certain amount of time?
I look forward to your reply.
Yours faithfully
Kind Regards,
Garibov
I switched from natwest current to natwest reward and had 1.500 paid into my account does this mean I qualify or do I have to go to a complete utter bank to qualify which I don’t want to do.
Hi Jess, sadly yes it needs to be another bank you switch from.
Can you get the £150 switch bonus by opening a new Select account and switch in from elsewhere if you already claimed free cash from their student account offer in October 2021?
Hmm, maybe. The terms and conditions say “not have previously received or participated in any other incentive for switching to any of our accounts or any account with cahoot or Cater Allen which are part of Santander UK plc”. Since the student account wasn’t a switch then in theory you should get it. Worth calling up to check.
Hi I had a similar experience. “Last year”offer conditions I thought stated that I would still receive an £100 award not withstanding having received an award for a previous Nat West Bank bank transfer post October 2017. Was this incorrect? In your explanation of condition of award you don’t mention previous rewards received. Thanks for update.
Sadly that’s a very clear condition for this offer. It’s possible the date will move, so it’s worth keeping track of when you switched so you’ll know if you’re eligible in the future.
NatWest – Do I need to transfer DDs?
Do I have to keep the £1250 in the account or can I spend it & still qualify?
Don’t have to keep it there.