Martin Lewis says bank customers from major high street banks like Natwest, Halifax or HSBC can get £500 from Santander.
The money expert has explained that it’s currently a ‘lucrative time’ for anyone who’s willing to switch bank accounts and claim some free money as well as various financial perks on top like better savings rates and zero-fee card spending abroad.
Martin Lewis explained that several banks like Lloyds and First Direct are currently offering instant cash for switches – and plucked out Santander as the top pick for the £550 better off you’ll become.
Switching is simple and easy thanks to instant switch rules that all banks sign up to which means that within a few days you can have completed the switch – and all your direct debits will come with you, meaning there’s no disruption to your monthly bills.
Martin explained: “Probably my top all round pick is the Santander Edge account. It gives you £175 for free. It has a 7 percent easy access savings that you can put up to £4,000 in. That’s massively better than the best by open market easy access savings that’s 5.1 percent.
“It gives you 1 percent cashback on bills paid on it up to £10 a month and 1 percent cashback if you spend on the debit card, train and bus and fuel spending.
“So total cashback each month up to £20, on my estimate after the £3 fee, most people will be up £80-100 a year, and that’s without the £175. So for someone who’s also got savings, which has a maximum of £275 interest, you’re talking around a gain of around £500.
“It also has no foreign exchange rates so good for spending abroad.”
Martin added that the best fee-free account is First Direct, which also gets top customer service ratings.
He said First Direct gives a £250 free overdraft and a free £175, with a 7 percent linked regular savings account with a £300 per month limit, and a fee-free spending abroad card.
The only catch is that to get these deals, you can’t be an existing customer and you can’t have had an account with the banks within a certain timeframe of years.
