How Switching Your Bank Account Can Earn You Money

A couple of years ago, we took the decision to move our joint bank account from somewhere where we’d been banking our entire adult lives to a completely different bank.

The reason we did this was because we saw a deal that another bank was offering where they’d pay 5% AER variable interest on our balances as long as at least £1000 was paid in each month.

Seeing as our existing bank at that time offered us diddly squat and we knew we could meet the criteria, we decided to go for it. Once we got into the habit of actually having a credit balance rather than a debit balance, we realised that this was a great thing to do. For once, we were reaping some financial rewards from our bank! They were effectively paying us to bank with them.

This particular deal only lasted a year before they stopped paying interest completely though. After a year of earning nothing from our bank again, it’s time we looked elsewhere again. It seems TSB are currently offering a similar deal (actually it’s better than the original deal we had) with their TSB Plus Account. This account pays 5% AER variable interest on balances up to £2000 (nothing more if you have a higher balance though) and they only ask for a minimum of £500 to be paid in each month as well as opting into paperless contact and paperless statements which we’re more than happy to do. The less mail through our letterbox the better, as it will only end up getting piled up in the hallway at our house.

With the TSB Plus Account, there’s no monthly charges to worry about and one thing that I’m particularly pleased to see is that the 5% rate isn’t introductory, it’s for the forseeable future. From what I’ve seen whilst researching this offer, it looks like one of the best deals around right now. You can apply for the TSB Plus Account online (it takes around 10 minutes), over the phone or by popping in to your local branch.

Is it difficult to switch bank accounts?

If your list of direct debits and standing orders is anywhere near as long as ours, it’s understandable to be concerned with the complexities of moving everything over to a new bank. Well, I can speak from experience when I say that switching your bank account isn’t going to be the headache that you might think. Like most banks, TSB offer an easy switching service which means they pretty much do everything for you and all within 7 days.

If you don’t want to move all your direct debits over or you’re just happy with your existing bank, you can still open a TSB Plus Account without doing that. In effect, you could use this account as a way of increasing your savings providing you keep a balance in there of £2000 to maximise your efforts and pay in £500 per month thereafter to qualify for the interest payment. You don’t have to keep the £500 in there, you can always transfer it back. Don’t worry, that is legal!

Have you switched your bank account recently for financial rewards?

*Image courtesy of Flickr.