Barclays offers new customers £175 cash – but there’s a catch | Personal Finance | Finance
Barclays has joined the ranks of banks offering incentives to attract new customers, with a £175 switching bonus for those who move to one of its current accounts.
However, eligibility comes with conditions: either enrolment in a reward scheme costing £5 per month or an income of £75,000 deposited into the account – or maintaining a total balance of at least £100,000 in savings or investments with Barclays.
To claim the Barclays switching cash, new customers must open a Barclays bank account or Barclays Premier current account via the Barclays app before 30 August 2024 and complete a full switch through the Current Account Switching Service.
However, there are some caveats. Customers opening a regular Barclays bank account to benefit from the £175 switching deal will also have to join the Barclays Blue Rewards scheme, which carries a monthly fee of £5.
The Blue Rewards scheme, available to Barclays current account customers, offers linked savings accounts and cashback benefits for a monthly fee of £5.
Barclays recently discontinued its £5 a month cash bonus for Blue Rewards members who deposit at least £800 a month into their linked current account and pay out two direct debits. This was replaced with complimentary Apple TV+ and a US Major League Soccer streaming service.
The £5 loyalty payment used to offset the cost of the monthly fee. However, with its removal, Blue Rewards members will effectively be paying £60 annually for Blue Rewards benefits.
This implies that customers will have to shell out £60 a year in Blue Rewards fees to secure the £175 cash bonus.
Another way to snag the £175 switching bonus is by opening a Barclays Premier Current account.
The Barclays Premier current account is exclusively available to those who already hold a Barclays current account and either have a gross annual income of at least £75,000 or maintain a total balance of at least £100,000 in savings or investments, or a combination of both.
After setting up a Barclays bank account or Premier current account, new clients must utilise the CASS to execute a full current account switch and establish at least two active direct debits.
Customers are required to deposit at least £800 into whichever Barclays account they’ve opened by 30 August 2024.
The £175 will be credited to the new account within 28 days of completing all these steps.
Barclays has followed in the footsteps of Lloyds, Nationwide, and First Direct by offering cash incentives to switchers in an effort to attract new customer deposits.
First Direct and Lloyds are also providing £175 to customers who switch, while Nationwide is giving £200 to existing Nationwide members who have a mortgage or savings account but lack a current account.
Banks typically introduce switching incentives when they aim to acquire more customers.
For instance, Nationwide attracted 196,260 new customers in the final quarter of 2023, thanks to a £200 switching incentive that was active for four months from 21 September 2023.
