Bank account holders prepared to switch accounts could make hundreds of pounds if they are prepared to go through a process of regularly switching accounts. Money-saving expert Martin Lewis turned a spotlight on the banking war in which household giants are again handing out large cash sums to tempt customers to switch.
Lewis said four banks – Santander, First Direct, Lloyds and TSB – are now offering handouts of £175 each to get customers to switch to them with others expected to follow suit. Separately, Nationwide is offering £200 to some existing customers if they switch accounts held with other financial institutions to the building society. That means there is a total of £900 currently available to customers willing to bank hop.
The Express reports Martin Lewis as saying the situation has allowed some savvy consumers to cash in to the tune of thousands of pounds by becoming super switchers, constantly swapping between banks in order to receive a payment. And some are even setting up so-called ‘burner accounts’ that they can use as a tool to switch between banks in order to claim a windfall.
It said these super-switchers also use a second tactic, known as stoozing, which takes advantage of an introductory interest-free period offered by a credit-card company to borrow money for investment elsewhere. One follower of the website, identified as Simon, said: “Over 12