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 videos
For a more detailed update, watch this video from my YouTube channel.
September’s current account offers
Latest bank switching deals
As we start the month, we’re left with just one switch deal running – and it’s likely to end in the next week or so.
It’s from TSB and worth an initial £100, though if you stick with the bank for six months you’ll get up to £90 on top. There’s also a freebie worth £30 to £60 if you stay until April 2025. You can also get another £30 on top if you apply via a cashback site. Here’s our full analysis of the TSB switch offer.
Based on previous years I expected a new offer from Halifax to drop, but it didn’t happen. Hopefully it’ll come about soon, or if not a Lloyds offer could appear instead.
Club Lloyds prize draw
It’s 10 years since Lloyds launched the Club Lloyds account, and they’re running a prize draw next month for customers to celebrate. But don’t get too excited – there are just 60 chances of winning. The prizes are:
- 10 x £10,000
- 10 trips to New York
- 10 x £1,000 towards Good Housekeeping Holidays
- 10 x £1,000 gift cards
- 10 x Merlin annual passes
- 10 x private Vue cinema screenings
All customers are entered automatically if they hold any Club Lloyds current account on 30 September 2024, but you can get a extra entry if you have £1 or more in one of these savings accounts as of the same date:
- Club Lloyds Advantage ISA Saver
- Club Lloyds Advantage Saver
- Club Lloyds Saver
- Club Lloyds Monthly Saver
Barclays offers 1% cashback for three months
If you have Barclays Blue Rewards on your account (more on this in a moment) or have a Barclays Premier account you can get 1% back on spending from 4 September to 30 November 2024.
There’s a maximum of £5 in cashback each month, meaning it’s only paid on the first £500 you spend. The money will be paid into your Barclays Cashback Rewards account (which is set up in the app for you) when you hit £5, or on the 5th of the following month if it’s less. You’ll need to manually move that money to your current account or savings account to use it.
Excluded transactions are:
- ATM cash withdrawals
- All bill payments including direct debits, standing orders and store bill payments
- Currency or traveller’s cheques
- Cash transactions such as money orders or wire transfers
- Gambling transactions (including a payment to a merchant we identify as being in the business of gambling, even if not for a bet)
- Barclays interest, fees or charges
- Transactions made outside of the UK (including transactions made in the UK which are processed outside of the UK).
Considering you can get 1% on up to £1,500 spend via Chase, or more via the Amex Nectar credit card, this is really only for those who are dedicated to sticking with Barclays and Blue Rewards.
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September’s current account news
Cancel Barclays Blue Rewards this month to avoid fee
From October you’ll no longer receive any monthly rewards for set payments in Barclays Blue Rewards. This isn’t just the £5 for paying out two direct debits, but the additional amounts if you had things like a mortgage or life insurance. I’ve covered this change more here.
The last payments will come at the start of this month, so if you choose to keep the account open beyond this you’ll be spending £5 every month to access the other features, such as the 1% cashback, 5.12% paying Rainy Day Saver and the new Apple TV+ freebie.
I think most people are going to be better off ditching the service, and you’ve got until 5pm on 30 September to do this and avoid the £45 charge being applied in October.
Premier Banking customers will get access to the saver and Apple TV+ without paying the fee.
Revolut finally gets full banking licence
it’s taken a long time, but at the end of July, the FCA granted Revolut a UK banking licence. This means that they will be a ‘proper’ bank, and will be able to start offering loans, credit cards, mortgages and more. It’ll also be able to have savings protected by the FSCS.
However, don’t expect anything to change yet. The licence is just the first part of the process. They have to prove to the regulator that they can step up – and that could take as long as a year!
Monzo to launch under 16s account
Parents will be able to open up a kids account at Monzo very soon, and it’ll be free. There’s no official launch date yet, but you can join the waitlist for news on the Monzo site.
My top current accounts for September 2024
I always think it’s worth having more than one current account (find out why here) and here’s my run-down of the top accounts to have this month.
- Best account for everyday banking / app – Starling (review)
- Best account for everyday spending – Chase (review)
- Best account for bills – Santander Edge (review)
- Best account for rewards – Halifax Reward (review)
- Best account for savings interest – Santander Edge (review)
- Best account for 0% overdraft – Nationwide FlexDirect (12 months only) (review)