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Make £225 switching your current account

Thanks to a new promotion you're quids in if you take out this market-leading account.

As my parents will no doubt happily confirm, I can be a bit lazy (they'd probably use the phrase bone idle in fact). Why do today what can be put off until tomorrow?

Sadly I took that attitude a fair bit towards my finances in my teens and early 20s.

Don’t get me wrong, I was pretty good at living within my means and putting money aside in savings.

But I was too lazy to get the most out of that money – I didn’t bother shopping around for the best savings account or current account in order to maximise my return.

I just stuck to what I knew.

In the majority

I’m evidently not alone. Last month a study by the Co-operative Bank found that just 29% of us would look to change our current account, despite poor service or a lack of trust in banks.

Find out the trick that all savvy savers know

Clearly, we can all be a bit lazy with our bank accounts, and need to be given a jolt to get out of that laziness.

Perhaps cash will do the trick?

As part of its Summer switching campaign, Santander will be offering customers £100 in cash if they switch to one of the bank’s current accounts. That’s a pretty good incentive to take out any account, but its even better when you consider that Santander actually boasts some of the best current accounts in the market.

Let’s take a look at the accounts for which you can nab this cash bonus, and what they offer.

Preferred In-Credit current account

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The Santander Preferred In-Credit account  is definitely my favourite account involved in this promotion. It is a market-leading current account, offering a whopping 5% on balances up to £2,500 for a year. Should you keep that sum in the account for the full 12 months, you’re looking at an interest return of £125.

Combined with the cash incentive, that’s £225 just for taking out a market-leading current account! How good is that?

What’s more the Santander Preferred In-Credit account is even good for borrowers who occasionally fall into the red. Santander will match your existing overdraft up to £5,000 (depending on circumstances), and even offer that overdraft interest free for the first four months.

Quite simply, the Santander Preferred In-Credit account is a marvellous account.

Zero current account

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To qualify for this account you need to have a mortgage with Santander that’s not in arrears, or hold a Santander investment.

Again you’ll earn 5% in interest on your money, while you won’t be hit with any charges for exceeding your agreed overdraft, nor for using cash machines or your debit card when abroad.

A good account no doubt, but not accessible for most of us.

Reward current account

The Reward account is a packaged current account, a type of financial product that I’m not the biggest fan of.

To get the account you’ll need to fork out £10 every month, and besides the 5% rate of interest on your money and £100 interest-free overdraft, you’ll also get annual worldwide family travel insurance, Green Flag UK breakdown cover and various other little benefits like identity protection and card loss assistance.

Santander reckons all those benefits add up to £450 in value.

All great if you need the things on offer, but if not you’re basically chucking away £120.

Premium current account

As with the Reward account, this is a packaged current account, only this time Santander reckon it carries benefits worth £900!

This time you’ll be coughing up £20 a month for an account that brings with it the same benefits as the Reward account, but with a fair few extras, including AXA healthcare, mobile insurance and various airport services.

Once again you’ll also get 5% interest on your money, and an interest free overdraft of £500.

How to get the £100

Unfortunately, Santander don’t just hand over the £100 once you open one of the current accounts listed above – there are a few hoops you need to jump through as well.

For starters you must use the Account Transfer Service, in order to move over your existing standing orders and direct debits from your old account. You also need to pay in at least £1,000 each month.

What’s more you can’t hold, or have held in the past three months, any Santander, Alliance & Leicester, cahoot or Cater Allen current account.

How good is the service?

If your bank has treated you unfairly, check out these five steps to help you complain successfully

Whenever we write about Santander and its various brands in the UK, we always get comments on one thing: customer service.

Whether it’s Santander or Alliance & Leicester, many readers have horror stories of the service on offer. Really it all comes down to personal preference – are you willing to gamble that the service might not always be great in order to secure a market-leading rate of interest?

If not, you might be better off going for an alternative current account.

Personally, I have an Alliance & Leicester current account, and while the service is a bit slow, so far I’ve had no complaints. But please do share your own experiences using the comments box below.

Santander is not alone

Of course these Santander accounts are not the only ones which offer a cash incentive for signing up – other marvellous accounts do too.

I’d recommend having a read of Four banks that are trying to suck up to you for a full run down on the banks that offer you cold, hard cash for taking out their accounts, and what you need to do to take advantage.

More: Earn 5% on your savings for FIVE years! | How to get a tax refund

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Comments



  • 14 August 2010

    I spent 7 hours, yes 7 hours. talking to various people at Santander trying to correct a problem with a debit card but I needed to get it sorted as I am going away on holiday in a day or two. I was passed from one person to another all of whom claimed to not be the person I needed to speak to. I was assured 6 months before that the problem with the debit card had been dealt with. On the last call (I had told them I was not at home) the girl insisted that I answered all of the security question. As I could not remember the answer to one of the four/five questions asked I was told I MUST answer the question. It was like being INTERROGATED. I understand the need for security (I used to work in a building sociaty myself) but this went far to far. I even offered extra information which only the account holder could know but that was not good enough (and remember by this time I had been on the phone six hours and had a splitting headache) !!! I then asked for the name of the chief executive of Santander (I was only given his first name but I have now managed to obtain it and will be writing to him) and to speak to a Manager. It was only after I had done this (and of course the Manager tried to defend the girls actions and the problems I had had all afternoon/evening) but after 50 minutes the problem was then solved. If the job had been done properly in the first place I could have saved 6 hours of my precious time and a lot of money on the phone calls (I was paying for them all of course). The banks are getting away with murder and I will be withdrawing all of my money in cash (I don't want a cheque as I don't want to give it to another bank and I would rather take the risk of keeping it at home). The banks are just laughing at us. The treat us abominably and we are given very little interest on savings. 3% to 5% is now considered a lot. I can remember interest rates of 10% plus. If I ever find a bank that gives good rates and above all good service then they can have my money but it won't be Santander I'm afraid and at the moment it looks like none of them. I would also like to speak to a person - much of the time was spent on the phone listening to adverts or the banks mechanical voice - and I was paying for it all.

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  • 13 August 2010

    Anyone paying to call their banks 0870 number really needs to google 'say no to 0870'. I've been an alliance and leicester customer for a few years and find their service is fine when I've needed it. The internet banking is good too. I've used the overdraft a fair bit (living with a poor student) which doesn't cost an enormous amount. I was with Barclays before that for a couple of decades but their shoddy service finally caused me the upheaval that is moving your bank account. All that said, this site pushes the £100 to switch with A&L/Santander every month it seems. Either it's a money spinner for them or there's no other decent accounts out there.

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  • 12 August 2010

    First Direct are excellent although not too many branches if that's important to you. Quick response on telephone, v. customer oriented and english speaking. Switched a couple of times and always regretted with other banks - failed switchovers, missed payments etc None of them convince me thay have the organisation or will to transfer everything so that I maintain my payment history with various companies, not worth £100 in my book. What's several hours of your time worth? Experian offer was very clear when I opted to subscribe and I happily pay £6 per month and think the service is well worth that.

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