Six Banks Are Paying Up to £200 to Switch — Here's How to Claim Every Penny

According to Which? and MoneySavingExpert, here's the complete picture as of March 2026:

• Barclays: £200 — open via the app, sign up to Blue Rewards, switch via CASS with at least two direct debits, pay in £2,000 within 30 days. Offer runs 10 March to 28 May 2026.
• Santander: £200 — switch to an Everyday, Edge, Edge Up, Edge Explorer, or Private account via CASS.
• TSB: £200 — switch to Spend and Save or Spend and Save Plus by 20 March 2026. Plus up to £5/month cashback for six months (an extra £30).
• First Direct: £175 — switch via CASS and pay in at least £1,000 within three months.
• Co-operative Bank: £175 — switch via CASS.
• NatWest: £150 — apply for a Select or Reward account and complete a full CASS switch.

That's six live offers — the most active switching market in years. For a broader look at current accounts, see our banking guides. The total if you could claim all of them? £1,100. You can't — not simultaneously — but you absolutely can chain them over time.

The Current Account Switch Service is one of the best things to happen to UK banking. Launched in 2013, it guarantees your switch completes in seven working days. Every standing order, direct debit, and incoming payment redirects automatically. Your old account closes.

The CASS switch guarantee means that if anything goes wrong — a direct debit fails, a payment bounces — the new bank covers any charges. In practice, CASS works seamlessly. Over 10.8 million switches have completed since launch.

We've covered the nuts and bolts of CASS before. The short version: you apply for the new account, tick the box to switch, and the new bank handles everything. Your salary, bills, and subscriptions move over without you lifting a finger.

As MoneyfactsCompare notes, most switching bonuses require you to be a "new customer" — meaning you haven't held an account with that bank in the last 12 months (sometimes 24). This creates a natural rotation.

The optimizer's approach:

1. Switch to the highest-value offer you're currently eligible for (check the eligibility rules — some exclude existing customers within a specific timeframe)
2. Meet the conditions — usually paying in a set amount and moving your direct debits
3. Wait for the bonus to land (typically 30-60 working days)
4. Stay for 6-12 months, then switch again when you become eligible for the next bank's offer

If you rotate between three banks over three years, you could collect £500-600 in switching bonuses alone. That's real money for what amounts to 30 minutes of effort per switch.

The catch? You need to actually use the account as your main bank. Token switches — where you open an account but keep using your old one — won't meet the conditions. Most banks require a minimum pay-in and active direct debits.

One often-overlooked detail: CASS switches are binary. You either do a full switch (old account closes) or you don't switch at all. There's no partial switch option. If you want to keep your old account open alongside the new one, you can't use CASS — you'd need to manually move your direct debits. Most bonus offers require a CASS switch specifically, so keeping the old account isn't an option if you want the cash.

The best serial switchers track their eligibility windows. Keep a simple spreadsheet: bank name, date switched, date eligible again (usually 12-24 months later). When a new offer launches that you're eligible for, switch immediately — the best offers don't last forever.

Switching bonuses are technically taxable income. HMRC treats bank incentive payments as miscellaneous income, not savings interest. That means they don't fall under the Personal Savings Allowance.

For a basic-rate taxpayer earning under the £12,570 Personal Allowance, a £200 bonus is tax-free. For a basic-rate taxpayer above the threshold, HMRC could technically claim 20% — £40 on a £200 bonus.

In practice? According to HMRC guidance on miscellaneous income, switching bonuses fall outside the Personal Savings Allowance. Most people don't declare switching bonuses and HMRC rarely pursues them on amounts this small. But if you're a serial switcher collecting £400-600 a year, it's worth noting on your Self-Assessment.

The bigger tax play is stacking switching bonuses alongside high-interest current accounts. Several of the banks offering bonuses also pay interest on balances — Santander Edge pays 1% cashback on bills, NatWest Reward gives £4/month. The bonus gets you in the door; the ongoing account benefits keep you.

Start with the one that expires soonest. TSB's offer closes 20 March 2026 — that's days away. Barclays runs until 28 May, giving you breathing room.

Beyond timing, consider the ongoing account quality. If you're weighing up where to park your cash alongside a current account, our ISA guide covers tax-free options:

• Best pure bonus: Barclays, Santander, or TSB (all £200). TSB edges ahead with the additional £30 cashback over six months.
• Best ongoing account: First Direct consistently ranks as the UK's highest-rated bank for customer service. The £175 bonus is £25 less, but the 1st Account includes a £250 interest-free overdraft and access to regular saver accounts paying competitive rates.
• Best for cashback: Santander Edge (1% cashback on household bills, 1% on mortgage payments). If your monthly bills total £1,000, that's £120/year in cashback on top of the £200 bonus.

According to the latest MoneySavingExpert comparison, First Direct has topped UK customer service polls for over a decade. Don't pick based on the bonus alone. You'll live with this account for at least six months. A £200 bonus from a bank with poor service and a clunky app costs you more in frustration than the extra £25 is worth.

For more on making your cash work harder across all accounts, see our savings hub.

A question that stops many people switching: does it hurt your credit score?

The short answer: minimally, and temporarily. Opening a new bank account creates a hard search on your credit file, which can reduce your score by a few points for a few months. But the FCA has specifically designed CASS to minimise disruption.

What matters more is the age of your oldest account. If you've had your current bank for 15 years and switch, you lose that relationship length from your active accounts. However, closed accounts remain on your credit file for six years, and most scoring models weight recent behaviour more heavily than account longevity.

For mortgage applicants, a word of caution: avoid switching in the six months before a mortgage application. Lenders examine your bank statements in detail, and a recent switch can create questions about financial stability. Get your mortgage sorted first, then start the switching game.

The net effect for most people? Switching is credit-neutral or marginally positive. A higher-quality bank account with a clean payment history outweighs the temporary dip from a hard search.