Barclays vs HSBC Switch Bonuses

Barclays Bank Account

Barclays Bank Account Review: Is the £300 Switch Worth It?

Worth doing if your salary can come with you. The £150 needs a full CASS switch with three Direct Debits and a salary of at least £2,000 in the first 30 days. The other £150 comes as £30 a month for five months, and each month needs £2,000 of salary and 10 card purchases. That adds up to at least £12,000 of salary through the account over about six months, so this is an offer for your main account, not a spare one. If your pay is under £2,000 a month, or you'd rather not move it, the realistic prize is £150, and NatWest and first direct pay more for less. As an everyday account it is ordinary: no monthly fee, but 2.99% on spending abroad, overdraft interest of 35.0% a year (variable) and no credit interest that we could find. And it's one Barclays switch bonus per person, ever.

HSBC Bank Account

HSBC Bank Account Review: Is the £220 Switch Bonus Worth It?

Worth doing if you qualify and can hit the targets without buying things you don't need: £220, no monthly fee, and a 5% Regular Saver that adds about £81 in year one if you save £250 a month. Two things to weigh first. HSBC and first direct are the same group and each one's offer shuts out recent customers of the other, and first direct's £210 asks for half the pay-in and five card payments instead of £500 of spending. And HSBC can take up to 60 days after you qualify to pay, so allow around four months from opening to cash. As an everyday account it is ordinary: 2.75% on foreign spending, only £25 of interest-free overdraft, and 11th of 17 for overall service in the official survey.