Lloyds wages war over current account switching with new £150 cash bribe: Customers who join can now get up to £320 in first year benefits
- The £150 switch offer is available from now until July 17
- Club Lloyds account holders also receive a 12-month Disney+ subscription
- The bank also pays credit interest on balances up to £5,000
Lloyds Bank has fueled the current account war with a £150 cash bribe alongside a range of other benefits.
The offer is available to those migrating to a Club Lloyds account, Club Lloyds Silver account or Club Platinum account.
Entry Participants must use the Payment Account Switching Service to transfer and close their existing account with another bank.
Lloyds Bank has a new £150 switching offer – for new customers who switch from another bank to a Club Lloyds Bank account before 17th July.
The offer is also available to existing Lloyds bank customers who wish to switch to one of these accounts, but beware, anyone who has received cashback for switching to Lloyds or Halifax since April 2020 is not eligible.
The offer will run until July 17 and the £150 will be paid within three days of completing the switch.
Lloyds hopes the bribes will help customers come in.
Nationwide gobbled up a record 147,000 bank account switchers in the last three months of 2022. For much of that time it paid £200 to new members.
However, Lloyds faces stiff competition from a number of other banks, including HSBC, NatWest and RBS, all of which are currently offering a £200 stimulus.
Similarly, First Direct will continue to pay £175 to new members who switch to it.
What else does Lloyds offer?
Lloyds Bank hopes the £150, combined with other benefits, will give it a competitive edge.
For most switchers, their Club Lloyds account will probably be the most attractive account to choose.
The Silver account costs £10 a month and the Platinum account charges £21 a month, which means that unless switchers are looking for travel and mobile phone insurance or breakdown cover, these could prove a bit too pricey.
Club Lloyds customers can choose from a range of ‘lifestyle benefits’ each year, which when used can save real money.
There is a £3 monthly fee to maintain the account – this is waived each month as long as account holders pay £2,000 or more.
Money lure: the mortgage bank gobbled up a record number of switchers in the last three months of 2022
Account holders can choose from a 12-month Disney+ subscription, a choice of six Vue or Odeon movie tickets, a magazine subscription, or Coffee Club and Gourmet Society membership.
The Disney+ subscription could save someone £79.90 a year. Similarly, an adult Vue cinema ticket typically costs around £11 or £12. That could save £72 on cinema tickets over the course of the year.
Club Lloyds also pays interest on in-credit interest – something which is quite rare at the moment.
On the first £4,000 it pays 1.5 per cent and then between £4,000 and £5,000 it pays 3 per cent. It is not possible to receive interest on any part of a balance in excess of £5,000.
All told, therefore, account holders can earn up to £90 a year of credit interest if they have a minimum of £5,000 in the account at all times.
This means anyone switching to Club Lloyds could essentially earn up to £319.90 in the first year by combining the bribe, lifestyle benefits and interest on credit.
While the in-credit interest rate is better than what most banks offer, Lloyds customers are better served by keeping excess balance in an instant savings account – the best of which pays 3.71 percent.
– View the best instant access savings accounts here.
Ultimately, there may be other bank accounts that suit people better.
– Check out our guide to the best bank accounts for interest, benefits and cashback here.