Major UK bank will now pay you £185 to switch to them

The battle for current account customers has seen a new market-leading cash offer arise, with Lloyds Bank offering £185 to switch to them.

Lloyds are offering the cash switch offer from 1 July to anyone opening Club Lloyds or Lloyds Premier accounts after moving their current account from another bank using the Current Account Switch Service (CASS).

The old account will be closed automatically, and you need to have at least three active direct debits already set up, as well as not having received a switch bonus in the last five years from Lloyds, Halifax or Bank of Scotland.

Banks and building societies frequently offer switching bonuses which include paying money directly into a new customer’s account, but there are usually restrictions and specific conditions which must be met to be eligible for the cash.

Requirements may include paying in a minimum amount within the first month or logging into the online app – but as well as the initial cash boost, banks tend to offer extra perks alongside opening up the account, such as access to a higher interest rate savings account.

With this deal, Lloyds are offering a 6.25 per cent rate through the Club Lloyds Monthly Saver, which allows up to £400 a month to go into a savings account. Across a year this maximum could equate to £150 in interest being paid at the end of 12 months. Other perks like a year’s worth of Disney plus, or free cinema tickets, can also be received.

As ever, consumers considering a switch offer should be aware of all the conditions associated with any new account, including fees. The Club Lloyds account, for example, has a £5 per month charge – which is refunded if you’ve paid at least £2,000 into the account the previous month, such as from salaries, pensions and so on.

That money doesn’t need to stay in the account, it just needs to arrive there throughout the month, which highlights the need to ensure any new product suits each individual’s situation.

Their Premier accounts are for higher earners with income or assets over £100,000.

While Lloyds’ £185 offer is the biggest on the market at present for initial cash bonuses, those extras and perks can be what makes any deal worthwhile to each person.

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First Direct, for example, have been offering £175 to move using CASS and their attached savings account offers an even higher 7 per cent – but you can only save a maximum of £300 a month.

Zopa recently launched an offering which gives no cash for joining, but a 7.10 per cent saving rate, cashback on bills and even an unusual 2 per cent interest rate on the current account itself among other perks.

TSB, meanwhile, offer £100 up front and a £15 a month cashback for six months, totalling £190. Extra rewards bring that total to £310 across a 12-month period, if used in full.

The CASS is a free service routinely used by millions of bank users in the UK. It can typically take around a week to complete the switch and once you have informed CASS of which bank you are leaving and moving to, users do not usually have to do anything further.