Martin Lewis recently appeared on This Morning to share his advice on a “lucrative way to make money” and bag yourself £1,000.
It comes as many UK banks are currently offering money incentives to switch accounts, including NatWest and Santander.
Speaking to new hosts Ben Shepard and Cat Deeley on ITV, the MoneySavingExpert founder explained how people can make such a large amount just by switching bank accounts as long as you “jump through all the hoops”.
During Martin’s segment on bank account switching, former Good Morning Britain presenter Ben asked: “People sort of always felt that they had this relationship with their bank. They knew their private banker, they knew their bank manager and so they didn't want to change. It's very different landscape now there isn't it?"
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— Martin Lewis (@MartinSLewis) March 20, 2024
As reported by Birmingham Live, Martin responded: "Absolutely. Most people bank online. Now look, I was going to start this by saying if you love your bank, it gives you great service, you're happy with it and it tickles your toes whenever you want it to. There's no need to change. But the whole point is right now there are four banks who are willing to pay you bribe you legally if you like to switch so if you feel just my bank is neither good nor bad, then you may as well get paid to switch, you may as well make money from it."
The financial journalist also revealed that there are "some people who make about a grand a year from regularly switching bank accounts."
He added: "Now what actually happens here is I'm talking about the financial terms of banking. Again, if you have a very good customer service, relationship specific bespoke needs to stay with your bank then don't bother.
"But it's worth knowing what's out there and so many people find it really really easy to switch bank last time I polled, it was over 8% that said it's easy and hassle free."
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— MoneySavingExpert (@MoneySavingExp) March 20, 2024
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Martin continued: "They move your balance over for you. They move standing orders over for you.
"They move direct debits over for you, they close your old account, and any money paid into the old account is then automatically forwarded to the new one. So actually, it is a pretty seamless process that happens very easily without much hassle."
The 51-year-old continued: "So it takes about a month or two months, so you'll have the money in your bank account pretty quickly.
Which banks are giving money to switch?
Martin then discussed “the best ones” that are available at the moment for people to look into.
He said: “I'll do it in order of the upfront cash you get for switching. So NatWest RBS is the top pay - it gives you £200 pounds to switch so £200 quid in your hand, which will be very useful for many people.
Who is Martin Lewis?
"It also gives you £36 pounds a year cashback. What actually happens, is that you pay it a fee of £2 a month and it gives you cashback of £5 a month, as long as you hit some very basic criteria like having a couple of direct debits going out, and making sure you check in the app once a month. So that's an extra £36 quid on top."
Speaking about what Santander currently offer, Martin explained: "It's been around a while, it's been one of my top picks, it's a bills account - it gives you cashback on the bills you pay for it."
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He also added that Lloyds has a £375 switching bonus and HSBC has a free £100 bonus.
Martin warned that “having a decent long-term relationship with your bank can be beneficial for credit and of course applying for a bank you will have to pass a not too harsh credit score.”
"So if you were just about to make a mortgage application or do something really important, credit wise, I wouldn't do this in the three to six months before that. But if you've got nothing going on credit wise and switching bank accounts is a very lucrative way to make money."
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