Martin Lewis says get £175 free by switching accounts | Personal Finance | Finance
Making the most profitable financial choices can seem like an impossible task. With so many different types of accounts including current accounts, savings and ISAs it can be difficult to know what the best choice is for you.
Therefore, many of us are guilty of just letting any money we have sit in the same accounts for years. While this may be the easiest option, it can pay to keep moving your cash around.
Certain banks will often provide cash rewards to entice new customers so it is worth looking out for these offers when they come up.
Money Saving Expert (MSE), the financial advice website set up by Martin Lewis, urged people to make use of one such “hassle free” payout currently on offer.
In its latest update, MSE explained more about a “corking deal” with First Direct, a retail bank division of HSBC.
With this deal, First Direct is offering new customers who switch to them a £175 bonus. What’s more is this account comes with zero interest on the first £250 of overdraft you have – making it ideal if you are someone who is often overdrawn.
“The bank switch market has been weak for a while, but now First Direct’s 1st Accounts’s free cash switch bonus has returned, finally we can say there’s a corking deal,” MSE said.
It explained: “New customers who switch a current account to First Direct’s 1st Account will be paid a £175 bonus. First Direct’s been top or near-top of every bank customer service poll we’ve ever run – it scored 91 percent ‘great’ in our July poll, plus you get these perks.”
MSE listed the perks as:
- A £250 zero percent overdraft
- A year’s linked seven percent AER fixed regular saver on up to £300/mth
- Near-perfect exchange rates on spending overseas.
To qualify
MSE explained you will need to open a 1st account, then, within 45 days: switch over an existing account with two or more direct debits or standing orders, pay in £1,000 or more (you can withdraw it the next day), make five or more debit card payments, and log in at least once to its online/mobile banking.
However, you can’t have had any First Direct account before, be switching from HSBC (its parent bank), nor have opened an HSBC current account after 1 January 2018.
The money will be paid into the account by the 20th of the following month after all these qualifying criteria are complete.
