Last chance to get £225 from ‘UK’s best rated bank’ before Monday | Personal Finance | Finance

There’s just hours left for customers to get a free £50 bonus voucher from First Direct bank on top of £175 cash before the deadline passes for good.

The bank is offering £175 to customers who switch to its First Direct 1st Account and those who sign up to it via Money Saving Expert can also get a £50 Amazon voucher on top – but the offer ends on Sunday.

After that, you won’t be able to get the £50 voucher and will only get the £175 cash bonus for switching, though that’s definitely still worth having. 

First Direct is rated number one for customer service. MSE says: “First Direct’s been top or near-top of every bank service poll we’ve ever run – most recently it scored 92% ‘great’.

As well as the £175 and £50 voucher, you also get a 7% regular savings account, and access to a £250 0% overdraft. 

Those who have ever had a product with First Direct aren’t eligible, neither are those who have opened a HSBC account since January 2018.

You need to switch from another bank account and add two direct debits or standing orders within 45 days. Then pay in £1,000 and make five debit card payments within 45 days.

The £175 is paid by the 20th of the month following the switch. 

Switching usually takes just 7 days, and in 2025 more than one million bank customers switched using the free Current Account Switching Service (CASS).

John Dentry, Product Manager at Pay.UK, owner and operator of the Current Account Switch Service, said: “Reaching nearly 12 and a half million switches since launch is a significant milestone, and it’s encouraging to see switching volumes remain strong – with October and Q4 the busiest month and quarter of 2025, respectively. That level of activity is a clear sign of a healthy, competitive banking market, where people feel empowered to shop around and move to an account that better meets their needs.

“What’s equally important is that people continue to rate the experience highly. With satisfaction and recommendation levels remaining consistently high, the Service is proving it can deliver fast, reliable switching at scale. At a time when every pound matters, we want consumers to feel confident they can move their money to an account that better suits their needs – quickly, easily, and with the reassurance of a free, guaranteed switch.”