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Grab a FREE £200!
Free cash bank switching is back, and even sooner than we thought

Three weeks ago, the curtains went down, the lights went off, the crowd left and we had to announce "the last bank switch has left the building". For the first time since (we think) the pandemic, no banks were willing to pay £150+ legal bribes for your custom.

Now, wrapped up in a glittery jumpsuit, things are looking rosier. There's a brand new £200 switch, on top of last week's £175. So without further ado, let's run you through the main (banking) acts which are:

Free cash | Boost the gain with cashback | Top overdraft accounts | How does your bank rate for service?

Switching, whether single or joint accounts, is usually easy and hassle-free. You must be a new customer, or at least not have had an account / switching cash for a couple of years, and usually need to pass a not-too-harsh credit check. You must also use the bank's seven-working-day switch service, which'll...

- Move all money, Direct Debits & standing orders for you.
- Close your old account (so download a couple of years' statements first).
- Forward any payments made to your old account after it's closed.

Full info & options in Best bank accounts, but in brief...

• New. Top payers: NatWest / RBS free £200 cash
  Key perks: £36/yr cashback, 6.17% linked regular saver
  MSE service rating: NatWest 49% 'great', RBS 47% 'great'
  
  Sister banks NatWest's Reward* and RBS's Reward* accounts pay £200 upfront plus £3 monthly cashback (you actually get £5/mth cashback, but with a £2/mth fee). You also get access to its linked 6.17% regular saver, where you can pay in up to £150/mth.
  
  To get the £200, pay in a total of £1,250 (you can withdraw it again after 24 hours if you need) and log in to the app within 60 days. The cash will be paid within seven days of that.
  
  To get the cashback too, each month you must have £1,250+ going in (equivalent to a salary of roughly £17,500), log in to the mobile app and have two £2+ Direct Debits paid out. If you won't do that, the £200 is also available when you switch to the no-monthly-fee NatWest*, RBS* or Ulster Select account.
  
  
• Lloyds free £175 cash and perks
  Key perks: 1yr Disney+ or 6 cinema tix etc, 6.25% reg saver
  MSE service rating: 59% 'great'
  
  Club Lloyds is a Mickey Mouse account, as not only do you get £175 free, you can also opt for a year's free Disney+ (with ads) which you'd pay £60 for, even if you're an existing subscriber to the streaming service.
  
  Alternatively, you can choose six free cinema tickets (costs around £30 to £90) OR a magazine subscription (c £30 to £50) OR a Coffee Club & Gourmet Society membership (c £60). You also get access to its linked regular saver paying 6.25% interest, fixed for 12 months, which allows a decent whack - for these account types - of up to £400/mth.
  
  To get the £175, you need to open the account then switch, including 2+ Direct Debits. The free cash should arrive within 10 working days of the switch starting.
  
  You also need to pay in £2,000+/mth (roughly equivalent to a salary of £31,500 going in) or there's a £3/mth fee which would lower the gain.

Q. Will switching bank impact my credit file? A single application for a new current account can have a slightly negative effect on your ability to get new credit for a few months, though it'll be minor. Yet if you've an important mortgage or credit card application due, it's perhaps best to prioritise that. See credit scores for full help.

Q. What if something goes wrong with the switch? If you're hit with charges due to a switch error that leads to a missed payment, these will be refunded by the new bank.

In addition to bagging the free cash with the above accounts, you can BOOST earnings with 1% cashback on bills and/or spending...

• 1% cashback on debit card spending. Couple either of the accounts above with the app-only Chase current account* - there's no need to switch or pass a hard credit-check to get it - and, once activated, you'll get a year's 1% cashback on all normal daily debit-card spending (max £15/mth, it generally excludes bills, investments and major purchases such as cars).
  
  So you can use the switched-to account for banking, but if you put money in this each month for spending too, you get the best of both worlds. The Chase debit card is also top for spending abroad, and you get an OK 4.1% on a linked saver. See our full Chase review.
  
  
• Do you have a 'bills only' account (possibly joint)? Get 1% cashback on bills too. If you have your own account and a (maybe joint) bills account, you could switch that to Santander Edge*. With it, you pay £3/mth but get 1% cashback on water, council tax, energy, broadband, phones, and paid-for TV bills up to a max £10/mth (most people will easily earn more than the fee).
  
  You also get 1% cashback on supermarket, fuel, and train and bus travel spending, again up to a max £10/mth. For households with average bills, we'd expect the gain to be around £80/yr to £100/yr.
  
  If you get this account, you can also open a 7% linked saver, which lets you save up to £4,000 in it. 
  
  To get the interest and cashback, you must pay in £500+/mth and have 2+ Direct Debits. So if you're doing this alongside either of the switcher accounts above, make sure you've two Direct Debits set up for those in order to qualify for the switch cash/rewards, and move the rest here. Full info in our Santander review.

Overdrafts are a danger debt, with almost every bank now charging a typical 40% - dwarfing most credit card rates.

You can switch when overdrawn, though there's no guarantee the new bank will match your existing overdraft - or even offer you an overdraft at all. So use the bank's OVERDRAFT ELIGIBILITY CHECKER before applying to get an indication of whether you'll likely qualify. Full info's in top overdraft accounts.

• Option 1: Always owe less than £250? Switch to a 0% overdraft. First Direct* offers many a £250 0% overdraft, though above that you'll pay the 40%, like elsewhere. So it's a decent option if you often slip into your overdraft, but not by much. Full info in First Direct review.
  
  However this is one of the rare times when First Direct isn't offering a switcher bonus, so it may not be perfect timing, though we're hoping it'll come back soon.
  
  
• Option 2: A potentially bigger 0% overdraft, but only for a year. Nationwide FlexDirect can offer a far bigger 0% overdraft, though the limit depends on your credit history. However, it's only 0% for a year - then it's the standard 40% like most providers. So plan to clear the debt within that time. Full info in our Nationwide review.
  
  Again, Nationwide has had switchers' bonuses until recently, but it doesn't right now.
  
  
• Option 3: Do a 0% money transfer. These are specialist credit cards you can use to clear your overdraft. Quite simply, you apply, then ask it to pay money into your bank account, so you owe it instead, at 0% interest for up to 12 months. You need to be careful though. Our Money transfers guide will take you through it, including top deals.
  
  It may be worth doing this as a first step - it'll give you up to a year at 0%, so you've time to start paying it down and to also see if the bank switches on the above accounts come back. If they do, you can then use the switch bonus to pay down the card, plus any 0% overdraft you get.

Four quick tips to help with overdrafts...

It's not just about making your overdraft cheaper - you should also try to pay it off. Full info in Cut overdraft costs, but briefly...

1) Aim to repay a fixed monthly amount. For example, if you're £500 overdrawn, 'paying' £100 means you'd be £400 overdrawn at month-end. A budget can help.
2) Consider moving Direct Debits to just before payday. Then you're overdrawn for less time, so costs are lower.
3) Can you reclaim past bank charges? See Bank charge reclaiming.
4) Struggling with several debts? Get free help from Citizens Advice, National Debtline or StepChange. It can make a huge difference.

We've just completed our latest bank survey poll, of 4,250 voters. The crown goes to Chase, though as many use it as a secondary spending account, it perhaps doesn't get the more robust challenges the others do.

After Chase, it's First Direct, which used to win year after year on these polls, and has never come below third, with app-only Starling rounding out the top three. Barclays once again collected the wooden spoon. Here are the full results, with links to banks that have an account that features in our top picks...