Barclays

Barclays doesn’t have a specific reward account. Instead you can add “Blue Rewards” to most Barclays accounts.

Barclays switching offers

Barclays occasionally offers double Blue Rewards for a year as a switching incentive. It last ran this in 2019, but the pandemic could be a reason for it not happening in 2020. Here’s my blog post asking Is the Barclays Blue Reward worth switching for?

However there’s an additional offer for new Barclays Premier customers who switch in. They’ll earn Avios points that can be changed to £200 worth of Nectar points.

This is only customers who have large salaries or huge amounts saved with Barclays (it might be possible to get accepted as a joint couple who meet this requirement combined).

You also have to add on Barclays Avios Rewards which costs £12 a month, though you’ll earn that back in Avios points (1,500 a month = £12 when converted to Nectar). You can’t have both Blue Rewards and Avios Rewards at the same time.

Blue Rewards benefits

Factoring in the fee and assuming you’ll only have the basic two Direct Debits, you’ll make £36 a year by adding Blue Rewards to your Barclays current account.

Bank of Scotland 

The main current accounts at Bank of Scotland are the Classic and Platinum. The latter is a packaged account with added insurance and breakdown cover for a monthly fee of £21.

There’s no set reward account with BoS, but you can get the Vantage add on which offers interest on balances. The Club Lloyds account is similar but has extra freebies.

Bank of Scotland switching bonus

Bank of Scotland isn’t running a switching offer right now.

Bank of Scotland Vantage benefits

The Vantage add on is free but there are conditions to meet in order to get the interest. You’re able to get better interest rates elsewhere.

Co-operative Bank

Co-operative Bank is regarded as a more ethical bank. The Everyday Rewards bundle can be added to the standard Current Account.

Co-operative Bank switching bonus

Co-op bank hasn’t offered a switching incentive for a good few years.

Co-op Bank Everyday Rewards benefits

The is an optional extra you can add to your account but requires more effort than other accounts to get the money. The bulk of the £5 a month is dependent on using your debit card, which means you’ll likely get less if you don’t use it 60 times each month.

The monthly reward reduced on 1 July 2021, and the most you’ll get is £2.20 a month.

First Direct

First Direct always scores well on customer service, but bear in mind there are no branches – banking is all on the phone or online. It’s also part of the HSBC group, so the FSCS protection is shared between the two.

First Direct switching bonus

First Direct is offering £100 for opening a 1st Account with them and switching in. It sometimes increases to £125, the last time this happened was mid June 2021 to early July.

First Direct has consistently offered some kind of switching bonus, though this was paused for most of 2020 due to the pandemic. The incentive has mainly been cash, though in 2018 First Direct briefly replaced itwith a choice of freebies. For a while there was also a “goodbye” offer, giving you the chance to get another £100 if you didn’t like the account.

The lowest the offer has is been £50, and occasionally it increases to £125, but expect £100 as the standard rate. A refer-a-friend offer ran until 2019.

First Direct 1st account benefits

First Direct traditionally offered the highest paying regular saver account, but since early 2021 this can be beaten or equalled elsewhere.

The £250 0% buffer is a useful feature for anyone who occasionally goes overdrawn by a small amount.

Halifax

Halifax has a standard and packaged account, but the Halifax Reward option is my pick for a monthly reward of £5 cash, cinema tickets or movie rentals. The bank regularly offers switching incentives.

Halifax switch deal

Until 3 August 2021 Halifax is offering £100 for switching to a new Halifax Ultimate Reward account.

The Ultimate Rewards account has added features such as insurance but comes with a £17 monthly fee.

However once you get the switching bonus into your account you can then easily close it down or switch to a basic Halifax account. When I did this I wasn’t even charged the first month £17 fee.

It’s open to existing Halifax customers too, and there’s a trick even if you already have the Ultimate Rewards account. Here’s more information about how to get the £100.

Halifax has regularly been offering cash bonuses of between £75 and £150 since switching began in 2013. It last ran for the regular Reward account in April and May 2021.

Halifax Reward account benefits

If you jump through a few hoops you can easily make £60 a year from this Reward account. There are alternative rewards available that could be worth more – check out my analysis for further details.

In the same article you can see why I prefer the £500 debit card method over the £5,000 savings options.

HSBC

HSBC’s current accounts don’t have many extra benefits with their accounts and score badly in Ethical Consumer’s list of banks.

There are regular switching bonuses, often the highest paying ones in the market.

HSBC and First Direct are linked banks for the purpose of FCSC protection.

HSBC switch offer

You can get a £125 bonus when switching to the HSBC Advance current account.

You needed two Direct Debits or standing orders to qualify for the bonus. Unless you have spare Direct Debits you want to move, I’d go for the latter and simply transfer money from another bank account (and then back again!).

The account requirement of a £1,750 monthly deposit doesn’t need to stay in the account.

HSBC Advance account benefits

This account has higher thresholds than others, and successful applicants must pass a credit check for a £1,000 approved overdraft.

Lloyds Bank

Club Lloyds is Lloyds Bank’s reward account and often comes with a switching bonus.

Club Lloyds switching bonus

There’s no switching offer for Lloyds Bank right now.

When it has run it’s been available to existing customers, as long as they switched in an account from a different bank.

Lloyds was a latecomer to the switching game and it wasn’t until October 2019 that the bank first offered a cash bonus (£125). The offer came back (at £100) in September 2020 and ended in early November.

Club Lloyds account benefits

I’m a fan of this reward account as it’s relatively simple to get the freebies. I’ve analysed which “Lifestyle Benefit” is the best value for money in my Club Lloyds review.

The interest on offer is the same as the Bank Of Scotland Advantage account, and is a decent rate. However this requires two active direct debits and you can get higher interest rates elsewhere.

M&S Bank

M&S Bank is closing all existing current accounts in the summer of 2021. It’s already stopped accepting new applicants. More details here.

It’s a shame as there were regular promotions offering Marks & Spencer gift cards to the value of £185.

Metro Bank

Metro Bank scores better than the established high street banks in Ethical Consumers’s list of ethical current accounts.

Metro Bank switching offer

Metro introduced a brand new referral offer in 2020, but that ended 18th December 2020. The offer was £50 for both the person referring and the person signing up and switching. It was capped at £250 for the existing Metro customer. I’ll update it here it returns.

Monese

Monese is another challenger bank that is 100% opened and operated via your mobile phone. You don’t need an address to open the account, but you do need photo ID.

There are three levels of Monese, including a free “Simple” tier. I’ll add more soon.

Monese account opening offer

You can get up to £15.05 free cash from Monese once you factor in a delivery charge for the card.

New customers can get up to £20 added to your account. You need to open an account with the promo code CLEVERCASH21.

You then need to order a debit card, which costs £4.95 to post. When it arrives activate it and transfer some money to your Monese account.

Then once you’ve used the debit card you’ll get £5 added to your account. Spend a total of £500 with the card and an extra £15 will be added.

Natwest Bank

Natwest regularly offers a switching bonus and has a Reward account offering money back each month.

Natwest switch offer

There’s no switching bonus for Natwest at the moment.

When it has run it’s been available to existing customers, as long as they switched to a Reward account an account from a different bank.

In both 2018 and 2019 Natwest offered switching bonuses on three occasions. The typical offer is £100 but has been as high as £150. It returned in October and November 2020 offering £125.

Natwest Reward account benefits

This used to be a much better account, offering cashback on your bills every month. But that changed in early 2020 and now it’s a set payment each month, as long as you meet the criteria.

There’s a £2 monthly fee which you can’t avoid. Once this fee is taken into account you’re looking at a return of £36 a year.

This is paid into a separate MyReward account that you have to cash out to your account or a gift card.

You do however get access to the top paying regular saver.

Nationwide Building Society

Nationwide is seen as the most ethical of the main high street banks (it’s actually a building society). The FlexDirect account offers interest on balances and a 0% overdraft for first year. The FlexPlus account offers insurance and breakdown cover for a monthly fee of £13.

Nationwide switching offer

Nationwide used to offer a refer-a-friend promotion where both people got £100 if the new customer switched from another bank.

This was paused when the pandemic started in March 2020, but the webpage with detailed has subsequently been deleted by Nationwide and at the moment it is unlikely it’ll return in this form.

Nationwide FlexDirect account benefits

This used to be the account I most recommended, but interest rate cuts mean it’s not as strong as it used to be.

You can only get the account benefits in your first 12 months which si why I suggest people hold off opening this account for now – unless they need the 0% overdraft.

If the incentives improve at a later date you’ll better off as a result. If the don’t, you’ll only have lost out on a small amount.

The app can also be very frustrating to use. More details in my Nationwide FlexDirect review.

RBS (Royal Bank of Scotland)

RBS regularly offers a switching bonus and has a Reward account offering money back each month.

RBS switching offer

There’s no switching offer for RBS at the moment.

As with Natwest when it has run it’s been available to existing customers, though you couldn’t get the money from Natwest too.

RBS Reward account benefits

This is identical to the Natwest Reward account. You can get a £5 monthly bonus but must pay a £2 fee too. This means the most you’ll make from this account in a year is £36.

This is paid into a separate MyReward account that you have to cash out to your account or a gift card.

You do however get access to the top paying regular saver.

Santander

There are two key Santander accounts, the 123, which has a £4 fee but also offers interest, and the 123 Lite which is £2 a month. Both provide cashback on your household bills. I’ve compared the Santander 123 and 123 Lite in detail in my review.

Santander switch offer

Santander has rarely offered any switching incentives. From time to time there’s a £50 referral fee, though there hasn’t been one for a long time.

Santander 123 account benefits

The big difference between the full 123 account and the 123 lite is interest on offer, in return for a higher monthly fee.

Santander 123 Lite account benefits

The monthly fee is half the size of the main 123 account, and you need to go paperless and use online banking.

Triodos

Triodos is regarded as one of the most ethical current accounts out there – but it does come with a £3 a month fee. Herre’s my full review.

Triodos referral offer

Sign up to Triodos’s current account via a referral link and you can get a £60 voucher to use at Ethical Superstore or Neals Yard. Or you can choose to have the money donated to charity. The existing customer that refers you will have a £25 donation made on their behalf.

You don’t need to switch to get the bonus, but you must pay in £100.

Here’s more on the current deal.

Triodos account benefits

You’ll pay for this account but you’ll have peace of mind in return that your money isn’t used for investing practices and organisations that could conflict with your values.

TSB

TSB’s popular Classic Plus accounts stopped paying interest in December 2020 and were replaced for new applicants by the Spend & Save account.

Bizarrely you’re better off with the free version of the account, potentially earning you £30 in the first six months. The premium version could net you double that with £60 – but the £3 monthly fee would leave you with a £24 profit.

TSB cashback offer

TSB rarely offers switching bonuses, though it did offer a refer-a-friend promotion before the pandemic.

You can however earn cashback from Quidco for opening either the Spend & Save account or the Spend & Save Plus account. The amounts are usually £30 for the former and £40 for the latter, but both are increased from time to time and have been as high as £75.

You don’t need to follow the separate Spend & Save requirements to get the Quidco cashback. If you’re new to Quidco you can also get a £17 welcome bonus when you spend £10 at a participating retailer.

TSB Spend & Save account benefits

I think the effort to use your debit card 30 times a month isn’t worth it and you’re better off using a cashback credit card.

TSB Spend & Save Plus account benefits

The extra features found with this account are available for free elsewhere.

Virgin Money

Virgin Money has taken over from Yorkshire Bank, Clydesdale Bank and their digital B Bank. Here’s my review of the bank’s main current account.

Virgin Money switching offer

Virgin Money has offered three switching offers since December 2020 under the name “Brighter Money Bundle”. The latest is a £150 Virgin Experience Days voucher.

The first promotion offered 15 bottles of wine from Virgin Wine, this was replaced in March 2021 by 12 bottles and a £50 charity donation. So far it looks like they’re changing the offer every three or four months.

Here’s more on the current deal.

Virgin Money M Plus account benefits

The big draw with this account is the interest you can earn on the first £1,000 saved in the account. It’s possible to have multiple accounts and earn this on each account – though there’s no guarantee you’ll accepted for multiple accounts.