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This is good old-fashioned MoneySaving, the type of thing I started the site on, back near the turn of the century (I was very young). It's about combining deals to max a payout - a game to gain. And frankly I wanted to lead on something positive amongst the tragic news this week.

This is all about a lust for your bank account custom as Virgin Money has put on new financial glad rags and is willing to pay customers to join it. Luckier this is easier to do than to explain...

The new Virgin Money M Plus* account has four eye-catching elements to draw in accepted new customers:

- A free £100 'experience days out' voucher for scores of activities such as driving track days, indoor skydiving or afternoon tea.
- 5% AER in-credit interest (3% is a 12mth bonus) on up to £1,000.
- A top debit card for spending overseas, giving you near-perfect rates.
- Access to its linked M Plus easy-access savings account which pays a whopping 1% AER variable on up to £25,000. That's substantially more than the top normal easy-access account Atom's 0.75% (though if you can lock money away you can beat it with top fixed savings).

Yet crucially while you need to use its switching service (which closes your old account, so this then takes over) to get the first two elements, you DON'T NEED TO SWITCH TO IT TO GET THE 1% SAVINGS and the debit card.

So you can just open it up, without switching, alongside your existing current account to get 1% savings on up to £25k, and for the cheap overseas spending (it asks if you want to switch another account in - say no if you don't want to). Though if you don't switch, you don't get the 3% bonus within the main account, just the still very good 2% on up to £1,000.

Its full switch is a good deal - there just may be better

I've split the savings account element from the bits you need to switch to it for, as it's best to see these as separate decisions.

If you're happy to switch bank, Virgin is a decent option, with the benefit of simplicity - but other banks are willing to pay too. And as the terms allow you to grab Virgin just for savings, you can independently assess whether it's the best account to fully switch to or instead...

Currently (pun intended), competition in the bank account market is white hot. Our Best current accounts guide has full info and eligibility criteria, but the main options are below (more in the guide). To switch, you normally need to be new to the bank and...

... pass a not-too-harsh credit check.
... use its 7-working-day switch service. This moves all standing orders and direct debits for you, closes your old account and auto-forwards payments to the new one. In my snap Twitter poll 80% said it's mostly hassle-free.
... pay in a set amount, some just a one-off to get the bonus, and some each month - their way to encourage you to use it as your main account.

Top bank switch bribes
Account	Review and key info
FREE £150 + no.1 for service + 0% overdraft. First Direct 1st Account* Service rating: 90% 'great'	It recently upped its free cash from £130, but we're not sure for how long. Its 90% 'great' service rating in our poll means it's no.1 - leagues higher than any other banks that pay you to switch. Many people get an ongoing £250 0% overdraft too. See full First Direct review. Who can get it & how: You must be new to First Direct (& have not opened a current account with sister bank HSBC since Jan '19). Within 3mths of opening you must pay in a total of £1,000+ (you can withdraw as soon as it's in).
FREE £140 and poss £40 - £80/yr cashback on bills. Santander 123 Lite* Service rating: 59% 'great'	You pay a £2/mth fee to receive cashback on household bills paid via direct debit - eg, 3% on water, 2% energy, and 1% on council tax, phones, broadband, paid-for TV & Santander mortgages. Cashback's capped at £5/mth per tier (so total £15/mth). We estimate someone with mid-to-high bills gets £40-£80/yr after the fee. See full Santander review. Who can get it & how: Switch in a non-Santander Group account (even if you're an existing customer, provided you've not had its switching cash before). Within 60 days of opening you must have 2+ direct debits set up, pay in a total of £1,000+ (you can withdraw as soon as it's in), and log in to online/mobile banking.
£150 and possible £36/yr cashback. NatWest Reward* Service rating: 53% 'great' Similar deal on RBS Reward account	Here, strangely, you pay a £2/mth fee, and get £5/mth back - so a £36/yr gain. To get that you need to set up two £2+/mth direct debits and use its mobile app each month. See full NatWest review. Who can get it & how: Switch in a non-NatWest account (even if an existing customer), as long as you've not had its switching cash since Oct '17. You must pay in £1,250 each month (equiv to a £16,700 salary) and use mobile banking once by 12 May.
FREE £100 experience voucher + 5% interest on £1k for a year. New deal.Virgin Money M Plus* Service rating: 45% 'great'	I've put this in here so you can see it compared to its competitors. It also has the linked 1% interest up to £25,000 and the cheap overseas spending debit card (more details above). See full Virgin Money eligibility info & review. Who can get it & how: Available as long as you haven't had a Virgin Money current account open since Nov '21, and not had its switch bribe before. To get the voucher, within 45 days of opening pay in a total of £1,000+ to the linked savings, use the mobile app and have 2+ direct debits.

Of course, if you open one of these as well as Virgin Money, it mildly increases the impact on your credit file. This shouldn't be an issue for most, but I wouldn't do it if within the next few months you're due an important credit application, such as a mortgage or balance transfer credit card.

A quick final PS for savers... can you earn more?

I've focused on easy-access savings above, where you can put your money in and withdraw it when you want. Full help on that in our Top savings guide, yet there are a host of ways some can earn more interest, so here's a quick list to click to read.

- 50% bonus for many on universal credit or tax credits: Help to Save.
- 25% bonus for first-time buyers aged 18-39: Lifetime ISAs.
- Got expensive debts? Pay 'em off: Repay debts or save?
- Can you lock money away? Higher rates in fixed savings.
- Earn up to 5% if you save monthly: Regular savings accounts.
- One of the few who pay tax on savings interest? Top cash ISAs.
- Earn '1%' easy access, but prizes are a lottery: Premium Bonds.
- Prefer to invest? Hopefully bigger returns, but possible losses too. Stocks & shares ISAs are a decent start point for many.

DON'T believe the fake 'Martin Lewis' or 'MSE' ads
Lots of scam ads litter social media and even newspaper websites - some of these lie that we or Martin promote Bitcoin, binary trading etc. See Fake ads warning.

Four URGENT energy bills crisis need-to-knows
1) Martin's new 'TIME TO FIX?' analysis
2) Prepayment users' top-up loophole
3) £150 council tax rebate update
4) Do meter readings NOW

Letters dropping on millions of doormats (and emails into inboxes) right now make dreadful reading. Firms are telling people of the hideous 54% rise most are due on 1 April, and what they'll pay under the new rates. And things don't look like getting better soon. While clearly nothing compared to the risk to life, the awful invasion of Ukraine and the impact of sanctions on Russian gas suppliers is making things worse, meaning another energy price rise in October is likely. We've the latest energy need-to-knows for you...

Martin's new 'Time to fix?' video explainer & transcript. In Martin's energy crisis video he explains...

- How to decipher price hike letters
- The new unit rates and standing charges
- Why standing charges are increasing so much
- How the new price cap rise affects you
- What will likely happen to prices over the next year
- And crucially, his best guess of who should & shouldn't fix

PS: Struggling to pay your energy bill? With hikes coming, too many people risk the awful choice between heating and eating. Our Energy bills - struggling to pay? guide covers options and where to get help.
Prepay for your energy? Can you top up NOW to beat April's price hike? Many with older, non-smart meters on price-capped tariffs can legally 'stockpile' gas & electricity credit before prices shoot up. If you can afford to, it could mean big savings - full company-by-company info in prepay loophole.
£150 council tax energy rebate: set up a direct debit NOW to get it automatically paid into your bank. 20 million English band A to D households will get a £150 council tax rebate in April (similar schemes are being set up in Scotland & Wales; we wait to hear about N Ireland). Those who pay council tax by direct debit will get it automatically paid into their bank accounts. There's still time to set one up (although we can't give a specific deadline as it differs by council). If you don't set one up, the council will send you info on how to claim it - more help via the link.

- Not eligible (for example, band E or above), but struggling? You may be due up to £150 from a discretionary fund.
- Don't confuse this with October's £200 loan-not-loan system - you don't have to pay the council tax rebate back. For more on the other scheme, watch Martin's loan-not-loan video explainer.
Time to start doing regular meter readings, ESPECIALLY on 31 March. Don't rely on estimated use - unless you've a smart meter that does it for you, make sure your meter readings are up to date when the price cap changes on 1 April. This is to ensure you're not paying for more than you need to at the higher rate (as otherwise the firm will try to calculate what was used before and after).

A few people have asked us: "Can I increase my meter reading a bit now, so I pay less overall?" No. That's fraud.

In light of the terrible situation in Ukraine, we've rounded up ways you can donate money or needed items.

Martin: 'Uni costs to increase by £50k for some, in big student finance shake-up.' The Government has announced big changes to student finance, that will leave most repaying into their 60s. See Martin's full analysis.

Be ready to pounce - cheap Christmas 2022 Easyjet flights may launch early Thursday. It's a rumour, but if right then getting up early could bag some seriously cheap flights. See Easyjet flight launch trick info.

New. Airtime Rewards - is the 'up to 10% cashback off mobile bills' app any good? (Spoiler - yes.) The free Airtime Rewards app tracks your spending at 100+ retailers - such as Argos and Boots - and pays 1-10% cashback, which you can redeem as credit on your mobile bill. Better still, you can use it alongside other cashback sites for a double win. Plus, sign up via our code and newbies get a £3 cashback bonus. Full info in our new Airtime Rewards analysis.

FREE £50 investment - just put in £50, get £50 cashback. ONLY 5,000 available. Robo-investment firm Wealthify gives newbies £50 cashback after 12 months on £50 invested. So open an account then put your £50 in and wait - and even if your investments flop, at worst you break-even. Full info in Robo-investing cashback.

10,000 new FREE Ideal Home Show London tickets (and Martin's there a couple of days too). New tranche of tickets for 11-27 March. For full details and what days Martin is speaking, see Free Ideal Home Show.

Success of the week. Sophie emailed: "Huge thanks for the tax code tip in last week's newsletter. Checked mine this morning and called HM Revenue & Customs thinking it didn't look quite right. A £465 rebate's on its way. I'm over the moon." If you've saved money from reading the site or email please send us your successes on this or anything else.

Got credit card debt? Pay NO INTEREST for 31 months (1.99% fee) + get £25 cashback. A balance transfer shifts expensive card debt to a new card which charges 0% interest for a set time. M&S Bank's 31-month 0% deal* is our top-pick long deal as it gives £25 cashback if you're shifting £100+ (so cashback can be bigger than the fee). Now Sainsbury's Bank's up-to 28-month 0% (1-1.5% fee)* may beat it for those shifting over £2,500, as then it'll give £20 cashback. Key tip: Use our 0% Eligibility Calculator first to check your acceptance odds. Golden rules: Always repay at least the monthly minimum, and clear the card before the 0% ends or those above charge 21.9% rep APR interest. Full help's in Top balance transfers (APR examples).

Series FINALE: Tuesday 8 March, 8-9pm, ITV - The Martin Lewis Money Show LIVE 'Cost of living' special... Over to Martin: "To finish the series, next Tuesday I've an hour-long special. My aim is to tool you up with what you need to know before I go. So I'm focusing on how to steal a March on all the April price hikes... energy, council tax, water, national insurance, prescriptions and more - so you can sort them before they take effect. Plus lots of time to take your live questions. Don't miss it."

BLAGGED FOR MSE

- Samsung Galaxy S21 5G with 30GB data '£26/month' Ends Mon
- 3 months' free access to 6,000+ mags on your phone Ends Sun 20 Mar

DID YOU MISS?

- Martin: 'Employee aged 16-74? Don't lose a hidden pay rise'
- NS&I customer? Check if you're missing prize money or interest
- £33 Ted Baker prescription specs (normally £145)
- 30+ birthday FREEBIES, including Greggs, Body Shop
- 1 million+ overpaid for NHS prescriptions last year - did you?

FREE wills this March...
... and don't forget a Lasting Power of Attorney - it's likely even more important (and we've an offer for that too)

While many put them off and struggle to discuss them, most people at least know wills are important. Yet fewer do Lasting Power of Attorneys (LPAs), even though they're probably even more crucial. Die will-less and you don't have a say in where your assets go - not good. Yet without an LPA, if you lose your faculties, your assets could be inaccessible just when they're needed to help pay for your care (never mind your mortgage and other costs). Spending a few hours sorting both now could save loved ones £1,000s, as well as months of additional stress and heartache...

Free wills for over-55s and free or cheap ways to make a will if you don't qualify. If you have assets and loved ones to look after and you die WITHOUT A WILL, who your property, money and savings go to is usually governed by 'intestacy rules', not your wishes. Solicitor-drafted wills are the gold standard, usually costing £150+, but a scheme on now makes this far more accessible - if you can get one...

- March is Free Wills Month - which is on NOW for those 55+. Free Wills Month lets people aged 55+ get a new (or updated) solicitor-drafted will for free, in the hope you leave some money in your will to one of its partner charities. It's not compulsory, though if you can leave some money to charity, please consider it. Regardless, there's no upfront cost. The scheme runs in DIFFERENT AREAS in March and October so check if it's on near you in March. Do go quick as places tend to get booked up fast.

- Not eligible? It's not the only free will scheme, though it's the only one on right now. Our Cheap and free wills guide has details of other no cost and low cost options you can do right now.
Get a Lasting Power of Attorney - it's likely even more important than a will. Don't think losing mental capacity is something that only happens to the very elderly. It can happen through strokes or accidents at any time, plus one person in the UK develops dementia every three minutes. A Lasting Power of Attorney (LPA) is a legal document that lets you nominate a trusted friend/relative to take control of your assets ONLY if you lose capacity.

Without one, the only way for your family to take charge of your finances is to go to court. This can be hell, often taking months and costing £1,000s. The LPA registration fee is £80 to £150 depending on which UK nation you're in. There are a number of ways to sort it...

- DIY: If you've simple circumstances and know what you're doing, you can DIY using an online form.
- Get a paralegal to check it: Which?'s legal team has you fill in a questionnaire which populates the LPAs for you and crucially it's then checked by a paralegal. It's usually £139, but we've Blagged it for you for £97.
- Get a solicitor to do it for you - the gold standard: This can cost about £500. Yet if you're unsure about the process, the family doesn't get on, or there are complex assets, it's the best option. Find a solicitor.

NB: While we're talking about the financial LPA, do also consider the Health & Welfare Power of Attorney for authority over your treatments, and a living will (also known as an 'advance decision'), where you can refuse certain medical treatments if you lose capacity in future.

16 free or cheap kids' book tricks for World Book Day. See cheap kids' book tricks.

New. £5 Boots 17 eyeshadow vs £28 Huda - how to save with cheap beauty lookalikes. Lots of stores sell own-brand items that mimic designer brands - known as 'beauty dupes'. See how much you can save by beauty downshifting.

Ends Mon. Cheapest Samsung Galaxy S21 5G with 30GB data for '£26/month'. MSE Blagged. New phones aren't often MoneySaving, but if you'll buy one anyway, do it the cheapest way... Until 4pm on Monday 7 March, Vodafone newbies can get a 128GB Galaxy S21 5G via Mobiles.co.uk* with 30GB/month of data for £75 upfront, then £23/month. But use code MSE15 to get £15 cashback - and with that factored in, it's £612 in total over the two-year contract - equivalent to £25.50/month. For alternatives, use our Cheap Sim Finder or Cheap Handset Finder tools.

3 months' free access to 6,000+ mags & newspapers via app, including OK, The Guardian, Gardeners' World. MSE Blagged. On tablet and phone, and lets you read offline. Mag-nificent

FREE National Outdoor Expo tickets. 19-20 March at Birmingham NEC. 5,000 available

Want to work at MSE? Senior developer & editorial assistant roles available. See MSE job opportunities.

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AT A GLANCE BEST BUYS

Longest 0%: MBNA (check eligibility / apply*) - up to 33 months 0%, 2.69% or 3.49% fee (21.9% rep APR interest)
No-fee 0%: Santander (check eligibility / apply*) - 21 months 0% (20.9% rep APR) or NatWest - 22 months 0% if you're a NatWest/RBS customer (21.9% rep APR)

Top standard easy access: Atom Bank 0.75%, no min deposit
Top one-year fix: Hampshire Trust Bank 1.48%, min £1

Get comparison site quotes in this order:

Cheapest, £5k-£7.5k: Sainsbury's Bank (check eligibility / apply*) - 3.3% rep APR interest for Nectar holders, 3.4% for others
Cheapest, £7.5k-£15k: M&S Bank (check eligibility / apply*) - 2.8% rep APR

Standard (10Mb+): Shell Energy '£13.83/month'
Fibre (30Mb+): Vodafone '£17.11/month'
Superfast fibre (55Mb+): Vodafone '£18.20/month'

£150 to switch + TOP service: First Direct
£150 to switch + £3/month cashback: NatWest/RBS

Up to 3GB data: Lebara, '£3.90/month' for 1GB, 300 mins & unlimited texts
4GB-9GB data: Lebara, '£4.28/month' for 5GB, unlimited mins & texts
10GB+ data: Plusnet, '£4.92/month' for 10GB, unlimited mins & texts

THIS WEEK'S POLL

Do you have a will? If not, why not? A will is a legal document telling everyone what should happen to your money, possessions and property when you die. As we say in the note above, it's currently Free Wills Month (which allows those aged 55+ to get a solicitor-drafted will for free), so we want to know how many of you already have a will. Vote in this week's poll.

Half of MoneySavers haven't made a call on their home landline in over a year. Over 15,000 of you responded to our last poll asking how often you use your landline. Of those with a landline, 37% had made a call in the last week, but 26% last did so over a year ago and a further 23% said they'd never used it. Younger MoneySavers were more likely to have ditched the landline altogether - 42% of under-35s said they didn't have one plugged in, compared with just 4% of over-65s. See our full landline poll results.

MONEYSAVING NEWS

- Top story: Experian follows TransUnion to include buy now, pay later data in customer credit files
- John Lewis scraps historic 'Never Knowingly Undersold' price pledge
- High Court rules Teletext Holidays and Alpharooms broke the law by refusing refunds
- 'Lifelong loans' proposed to help people study, train or retrain at any age

MONEY MORAL DILEMMA

Should I ask the bride-to-be for my money back? I paid £150 towards a hen weekend away but the bride-to-be has now decided to have the hen do in her garden instead. Originally she told us she'd return the money, but has now said she's put it towards the cost of the garden party instead. Yet while I don't mind paying £30 or so towards it, I feel more than that is unfair. Enter the Money Moral Maze: Should I ask the bride-to-be for money back? | Suggest a Money Moral Dilemma

Win £400 to spend at Stone Refurb
Win a £250 Love2Shop gift card
Win a £100 Joules voucher (or a British getaway)

Win a £100 Threadbare.com voucher
Win a £50 photo gift card from VistaPrint
Win £50 to spend on Doodle Bag personalised gifts

MSE TEAM BLOG

- Spend less or save more: how the MSE Forum can help you make or break a habit in 2022

MARTIN'S APPEARANCES (WED 2 MAR ONWARDS)

Wed 2 Mar - Ask Martin Lewis, BBC Radio 5 Live, 1pm. Listen to past episodes
Thu 3 Mar - This Morning, phone-in, ITV, 10.50am
Tue 8 Mar - This Morning, phone-in, ITV, 10.50am
Tue 8 Mar - The Martin Lewis Money Show Live (last in series), one-hour special, ITV, 8pm

MSE TEAM APPEARANCES (SUBJECTS TBC)

Thu 3 Mar - BBC Radio Leicester, Mid-morning with Aminata Kamara, from 11.30am
Tue 8 Mar - BBC Radio Cambridgeshire, Mid-morning with Jeremy Sallis, from 12.40pm

BACON SARNIES AND TEA, £20 OR A CRATE OF BEER... SHOULD YOU TIP YOUR BUILDERS?

That's all for this week, but before we go... One MSE Forumite asked if people generally tip builders after they've completed a job, as they weren't sure of the etiquette. Many responded to say yes, you should tip if you were happy with the job - and £20 per person seemed to be the consensus. Some suggested giving gifts, such as a crate of beer or bottle of fizz, instead of cash. However, others thought keeping builders supplied with tea and bacon sarnies should be tip enough. Read the full debate and share your own opinion in the Should I tip my builders? MSE Forum discussion.

We hope you save some money, stay safe,
The MSE team

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More about MoneySavingExpert and Martin Lewis

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Founded in February 2003, it is now the UK's biggest consumer help website, with more than 16 million users each month and about 7.5 million receiving this email. In September 2012 it became part of the MoneySupermarket Group PLC. Its focus is simple - saving cash and fighting for financial justice on anything and everything. The site has over 80 full-time staff, more than a third of whom are editorial - researching, analysing and writing to continually find ways to save money. More info: See About MSE.

Who is Martin Lewis?
Martin Lewis OBE is the founder and executive chair of MSE, as well as the founder of the MMHPI charity. He's an ultra-focused MoneySaving journalist and consumer campaigner with his own prime-time ITV programme The Martin Lewis Money Show, Radio 5 Live Wednesday show Ask Martin Lewis and weekly slot on This Morning, among others. More info: See Martin Lewis' biography.

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