Switch bank NOW - the price war's reignited, with FIVE banks now paying up to £200

- PS: Do it now and you may get the freebies in time for Xmas

It was a barren summer for bank-switch bribes - but that's all changing. Last month HSBC brought back its mega-popular £200 offer and this week two banks are launching big incentives to lure you in, meaning five now pay £100+ in cash or freebies to switch. So now's a good time to ditch your bank if it's pants.

1. Switching is easy. It takes just 7 working days, and your new bank moves payments in and out (incl direct debits) & closes your old account.
2. You must pass a not-too-harsh credit check.
3. You must use the banks' official switching services to get the perks.
4. Most require you to move 2-4 active direct debits or standing orders and some make you log in to online or mobile banking, so check.
5. Most require a minimum monthly pay-in to get the perks - don't worry, it's just to get you to pay your salary in.

• HSBC: free £200 - get £150, then another £50 after a year. Top if you want pure cash. Switchers to the HSBC Advance* account get the free cash and with it you can open a 5% fixed regular saver, which lets you save up to £250/mth. You need to pay in a min £1,750/mth (equiv to a £25,900/yr salary), and to get the cash you can't have had an HSBC bank account since 2015.
  
  
• First Direct: top service + freebies, eg, £199 headphones, £150 Expedia voucher. Service king & lucrative perks. First Direct* has won every bank customer service poll we've done. And new switchers can choose a freebie from a choice of gadgets, online courses (eg, yoga/beer brewing) or the Expedia vch. You can save up to £300/mth in its 5% regular saver and most get a £250 0% overdraft. Pay in £1,000+/mth (equiv £12,675+/yr salary) to avoid a £10/mth fee. 
  
  
• Starts late Wed morning. NatWest: bag £125 + 2% bills cashback. Good bills account. The bank will launch a £125 bonus to switchers (incl some NatWest custs) on most of its current accounts on Wed. The exact launch time is unclear but is due between 10am and midday.
  
  The standout is NatWest Reward* which, for a £2/mth fee, gives 2% cashback on council tax, energy, broadband etc bills paid by direct debit - those with avg bills get £66/yr after the fee, £135/yr on higher bills. You must pay in a min £1,500/mth (a £21,500/yr salary does it). Note, the £125 may not come until Feb and you'll need to keep your account until then to get it.
  
  
• M&S Bank: free £125 in M&S vouchers with NO min pay-in (+£5/mth more in vchs for 1yr if you can pay in £1,250/mth). Good service, good perk if you like M&S & NO min pay-in. New switchers to M&S Bank* can get the freebies above and get access to its 5% regular saver. There's no min pay-in for the £125 but for the £5/mth you must deposit £1,250+/mth (equiv £17,080/yr salary) and keep the direct debits active.
  
  
• New. Barclays: get £132 in year one, then £48/yr. Beaten by the above for most, but if you want Barclays, now's a good time. If you switch a non-Barclays account to Barclays* and sign up to its Blue Rewards scheme you get £14/mth in year one. There's a £3/mth fee, but it still leaves you up £11/mth (£132/yr). You must pay in a min £800/mth (equiv £9,800/yr salary).
  
  Note: The info once you click through to Barclays via the link above isn't clear. As we sent this email it said you get £7/mth rewards, but if you look carefully near the top of its page it says rewards are doubled. Barclays has confirmed to us you do get £14/mth (double the £7/mth) in year one before the fee. 
  
  PS: Earn £75k+/yr? You can get £216 in year one via a Barclays Premier account.

For full info and more deals, see Best Bank Accounts.

The First Direct* deal above offers a £250 0% overdraft (see above for details) - a useful buffer if you often slip into the red.

Alternatively, Nationwide's FlexDirect* gives a year's 0% overdraft. Yet there's no set limit - it depends on a credit check. If you get it, use the year to clear the overdraft as after you're charged 50p/day if £10+ overdrawn, which is £180ish/yr if permanently overdrawn at any amount within your limit.

Q. When will I get the initial free cash/bonuses? Assuming you meet the eligibility requirements, you'll get them as follows:

- HSBC: £150 within 30 days of switch completion.
- First Direct: Within 2 weeks of paying in your first £1k you're emailed instructions on how to get the freebie. It can come as quickly as 8 days after this if you claim ASAP, depending on the freebie.
- NatWest: By 8 Feb 2019.
- M&S Bank: Within a month of switching.

Q. Can I cheat the minimum pay-in? Usually. You need to pay it in from an external source. Say the pay-in is £1,000 but you only have £500 coming in - pay the £500 in, withdraw, then pay it back in, and BINGO. 

Q. What if money is paid into the old account or something goes wrong? The bots behind the scenes sort it, so for at least 3yrs any money paid into the old account or wrongly earmarked to come out of it is transferred to the new one. If you're hit with charges due to a switch error that leads to a missed payment, this should be refunded by the new bank.

Q. What about monthly fee accounts that give insurance? You can get up to £700 of mobile, travel and breakdown cover for £156/yr - a good deal IF you need the cover. Full info in Packaged Bank Accounts.

Q. I don't qualify for one of these accounts, what can I do? Sadly, 1m+ don't have a bank account. Yet if you've ID, you can get an account where there's no overdraft, called a basic bank account.