September 2021’s bank account news & round-up

The latest news to help you get the most from your bank account.

Here’s my monthly update sharing changes for leading UK current accounts, as well as some of the relevant articles you might have missed on the blog.

September’s bank account update video

For a more detailed update, watch this video from my YouTube channel.

September’s current account news

Monzo moves into Buy Now Pay Later

According to the Evening Standard, Monzo is going to launch a Buy Now Pay Later service this month. Whether that’s good news or bad news depends on your point of view.

I’m not a fan of BNPL at all, but it doesn’t look like it’s going away any time soon. Even so it’s a shame to see Monzo getting involved in something which normalises debt.

However, if this is the product that helps balance the books for Monzo, it could help to keep the fantastic free account available to customers. I wrote more about the bank’s financial struggles last month.

Tesco switching nightmates

Last month I shared that Tesco Bank is closing all current accounts. This prompted thousands of customers to switch away – and Tesco couldn’t handle it! As a result they had to cancel some switches. However, it’s all been sorted and you’ve got until 15 November to switch to a new account.

Nationwide’s £125 bank switch bonus

Just as most bank switching bonuses ended, two more came along – including a brand new one!

For the first time, Nationwide is offering a cash switching bonus to all customers (there had been a refer-a-friend offer pre-pandemic). It’s £100 for new customers and £125 for existing Nationwide members. You can find more details on Nationwide’s switching offer here.

A few readers got in touch to say that they’d only got £100 even though they’re existing Nationwide members. After kindly sharing their account details with me I put this to the building society to see if this was an error or something else. Fortunately it was the former. Here’s the formal reply from a Nationwide spokesperson:

“There was an issue where a small number of people were not recognised as existing members, meaning they received £100 rather than the full £125. This has now been resolved and we are arranging payment of the additional money for impacted members, including Mr Jones, next week and will be contacting them to apologise.”

Lloyds £100 bank switch bonus

The second offer is from Lloyds. This time is £100 and once again new and existing customers can take advantage if they open a new Club Lloyds account – which comes with freebies like cinema tickets. Find out more here.

More on the switching offer can be found in my guide to all the best bank offers.

Shared bank branches trialled

With more and more branches shut down each year, a new scheme could help keep some IRL banking on the high street. The idea is that banks will share a hub, often in a Post Office, and each have a member of staff present on different days. Trials in Scotland and Essex have gone well and been extended until April 2023, according to the BBC.