Archive: MoneySavingExpert's Money Tips Email

New. Free £185 bank switch, 1% bills cashback & 7% savings
The bank switch competition's hotted up. Now FOUR pay switchers, so unless your bank tickles your toes on request, grab some cash...

A few weeks ago, we bemoaned the fact there were no bank-switch bribes. Now it's flipped like a pancake, and there's strong competition. If your bank is great, and treats you well, ask how much you'd pay to stick with it. If it's less than £200, consider moving, as that's what you can make, at speed, by switching.

Switching's usually quick and easy. To get free cash, you need to go via the bank's seven-working-day switch service, which closes your old account and auto-moves your balance, standing orders & Direct Debits. Once done, any payments to your old account are auto-forwarded. You'll need to pass a not-too-harsh credit check. Full info in Best bank accounts, but in brief...

• New. Santander FREE £185 cash: Plus 1% bills cashback & 7% easy-access savings. It has three accounts offering the £185. The standout is Santander Edge*, which was a top-pick 'bills accounts' (good for joint bills too) even before the new £185. It costs £3/mth, but gives two ongoing (not time limited) sets of cashback up to a max £10/mth each:
  
  - 1% cashback on water, council tax, energy, broadband, phones, and paid-for TV bills paid via it.
  - 1% cashback on supermarket, fuel, and train and bus travel spending. 
  
  For households with average bills, the gain's typically £80 to £100/yr after the fee. You also get access to a year's 7% variable savings for up to £4,000 - max that out and it's £280 interest. Got bigger bills? The Santander Edge Up* account also pays the free £185, but for £5/mth the cashback cap is higher, at 2 x £15 (though you don't get the 7% saver & there's a £1,500/mth min pay-in).
  
  - How to get it: You need to pay in £1,500+ in the first 60 days (you can withdraw it immediately), always have £500+/mth going in (equivalent to a salary of £6,000/yr) & set up 2+ Direct Debits. You need to switch to it from a non-Santander Group bank (the group includes Cahoot & Cater Allen) and have never had a Santander switch payment. Just want the £185 & no monthly fee? Use the Santander Everyday* account where, within 60 days, you must pay in £1,500+ & have 2+ Direct Debits.
  
  
• NatWest / RBS FREE £200 cash: Plus up to £36/yr cashback & 6.17% regular savings. Switchers to the Reward account from sister banks NatWest* and RBS* get £200. You pay a £2/mth fee and get £5 cashback as long as you use the app each month and have two £2+ Direct Debits going out of it. You can also put £150/mth into a linked one-year 6.17% variable regular saver - max that out and that's £61 interest.
  
  - How to get it: Switch and pay in £1,250+, keep it there for 24hrs+ and use the app within 60 days. You need to switch to it from a non-NatWest Group bank, and have not had switcher cash from it since Jan 2020. 
  
  
• Lloyds FREE £175 cash: Plus perks such as Disney+ & 6.25% regular savings. Club Lloyds pays switchers £175 & you get ONE of 12mths' Disney+ with ads, 6 cinema tickets, Gourmet Society & Coffee Club membership OR a magazine subscription. You can also put £400/mth into a linked one-year fixed 6.25% regular saver - max it out & that's £161 interest.
  
  - How to get it: Switch and pay in £2,000/mth (equivalent to a salary of about £29,000/yr going in) or there's a £3/mth fee. The account you switch must have 2+ Direct Debits. You can't have had switch cash from it since Apr 2020.
  
  
• HSBC FREE £100: Plus jump through a few hoops to get a year's £10/mth cashback & 5% regular savings. Switchers to HSBC Advance get £100, and it also pays a year's £10/mth cashback, but the criteria to get that are a bit tricky. You can also put £250/mth into a linked one-year fixed 5% regular saver - max that out and that's £81 interest.
  
  - How to get it: To get the £100 and £10/mth cashback, each month you must pay in £1,500+ (equiv to a salary of about £21,000/yr going in), make 20+ debit card payments, have 2+ Direct Debits (having also switched 2+ from your old account), log in to mobile banking & pay £50+ into your 4% Bonus Saver account (separate to the regular saver & you get a much lower rate of interest in months you withdraw). You can't have held an HSBC/First Direct account since 1 Jan 19.
  
  
• Yes, you can repeatedly switch to make £1,000s. It takes work and you need to follow our make £1,000s by repeatedly switching banks guidance, yet there's a growing tribe of bank-profiteers who do it, such as Angus, who emailed to say: "Thanks to your guidance, in the past year alone, we've made £1,000 - £200 each from TSB, £125 each from Co-op, and £175 each from Barclays. It's so simple, everyone who's able should try."
  
  
• Can switching bank impact your ability to access credit? Switching bank can impact your short-term ability to get credit, both as it's a credit application and, more importantly, as lenders like evidence of stability. It usually isn't a big deal, but if you've an imminent, important credit application due (eg, a mortgage within the next six months), it's probably best holding off until after. More in how switching banks impacts your credit.

PS: Don't have a Chase debit card? You can get it without switching to get 1% cashback (max £15/mth) on almost all spending.

The BIG SUCCESS of the week - take hope, things can get better

'20 years ago, my husband left & I was in dire financial straits. You've saved my sanity. I've saved £19,000, and in four months' time I will be mortgage and debt-free!'

One of the joys about working at MoneySavingExpert.com is reading the many successes that you, our users, send us. We try to sprinkle some on specific topics in this email each week as inspiration that action can pay off. Yet Angela's is in a different league, so we wanted to go large. Thanks to Angela and everyone who reports successes, it put a real spring in our steps (well, typing fingers). Here it is in full...

A relationships & money warning from Martin: Thank you Angela. I loved reading this and know it'll inspire many. This is why I keep going, 21 years after I set up the site. Yet I also think there's a salient warning to many hidden in there...

In relationships, there's usually a 'dominant financial doer' who sorts out the finances. There's nowt wrong with that, but if it steps over the line to 'I just do it all, so they needn't worry' it may feel generous, but it can be disastrous, especially if one of the three Ds hit (death, divorce, dementia - jolly isn't it?). In a shared financial relationship, both partners should know enough to be able to take over if needed. Communication & a financial factsheet are crucial. See financial relationships for more.