UK Banks Offer Up to £220 to Switch
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- More than five UK banks are currently offering switching incentives, with the largest bonus sitting at £220.
- Hargreaves Lansdown surveyed 3,000 British adults in August and found 34% had moved their money in the past 12 months, while nearly two-thirds have stayed with the same bank for over a decade.
- Hargreaves Lansdown estimated that bank loyalty costs British savers around £12bn in missed interest every year, based on its analysis of Financial Conduct Authority data.
- Simon Belsham, Hargreaves Lansdown's chief client officer, said inertia 'is worth a fortune to banks, while costing British savers billions of pounds a year.'
- Sarah Coles, head of personal finance at AJ Bell, said the bonus should be the 'cherry on top' and urged savers to also weigh overdraft charges, savings rates, and customer service reputation.
- The Current Account Switch Service (CASS) lets consumers move for free across more than 50 UK banks and building societies, completing the process in seven working days with a refund guarantee if anything goes wrong.
- Switching banks leaves a mark on credit reports, and Coles advised savers to delay a switch if applying for a loan or mortgage within the next 12 months.
Why it matters: For UK savers who haven't moved in years, the headline £220 bonus is the smallest part of the calculus — Hargreaves Lansdown puts the real cost of inertia at £12bn in missed interest annually across Britain. Conditions like minimum deposits, direct-debit requirements, and a credit-report footprint mean the switch is only worth it if the new account's savings rate and fees actually beat the old one.
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