Switch bonuses over?

a1234555

It looks like only 1 bank is offering a £175 switch bonus at the moment. Are the switch bonuses over or will other banks roll them out again? Do they normally pause and restart or are the winding down for good? 

Zanderman

a1234555 said:

It looks like only 1 bank is offering a £175 switch bonus at the moment. Are the switch bonuses over or will other banks roll them out again? Do they normally pause and restart or are the winding down for good? 

No-one has a crystal ball, so no-one can say for definite.

But, judging from the last few years, when offers have come and gone regularly, it seems likely new offers will reappear sometime soon - though whether soon is next week, next month or in 6 months is anyone's guess.  But they've always come back before!

Yorkshire_Pud

They come as regular as a sewage spill by your water company into your local water course! Well maybe not THAT regular.

My unproven theory is more banks would engage in switch bonuses if folks didn’t see how quickly after getting their money they can switch away. As I believe they are buying our custom and figures are published every quarter for new customers and customers that left, if you switch away immediately the bank gets +1 -1 = 0 new customer albeit another bank still lost a customer when switched away from. That is perhaps why some banks give a second incentive to stay 6months+.

I’m never in a hurry to switch away as I see that as my part of the unspoken bargain. Solution? Have at least one other donor account for the next switch so the bank gets some benefit from your becoming a new customer.

Also I have a theory that some banks do notice those that in their eyes abuse the offer and switching away immediately must top that list and then in the future you may find they refuse your new applications and or close your existing accounts. I have no proof this happens and they never tell you why but I think it’s good to be reasonable so I always use my accounts when I switch.

Zopa_Trooper

I've made a small fortune via switching but to me, it's insane. Take the Barclays offer. Instead of £175, why didn't they just say £100 when you join, another £100 after 12 months. They'd have kept almost everybody. People stay with banks for regular savers which give you nowhere near as much as switching does. Its nuts.
Also, why don't they refuse people who have a history of continual switching. I'm amazed I haven't been "blacklisted" but if they keep offering the money, I'm going to continue taking it.
Roll on the next one.

retiredbanker1

Banks' financial year has just finished - they will know their profit figures now despite official results not out until February.
If they have had a good year and opened more accounts than they closed why pay for more - it normally means some banks have lost accounts and will start a race to win them back with bribes - then everybody else joins in because if they don't they definitely will lose accounts. My point? Wait a couple of months and it will all start again.

Nasqueron

Zopa_Trooper said:

I've made a small fortune via switching but to me, it's insane. Take the Barclays offer. Instead of £175, why didn't they just say £100 when you join, another £100 after 12 months. They'd have kept almost everybody. People stay with banks for regular savers which give you nowhere near as much as switching does. Its nuts.
Also, why don't they refuse people who have a history of continual switching. I'm amazed I haven't been "blacklisted" but if they keep offering the money, I'm going to continue taking it.
Roll on the next one.

It is of course possible to have multiple accounts to switch and keep the bonuses like the high interest accounts as well - I did a switch to First Direct a few years back and have their 7% regular saver as a place for spare cash interest to earn interest long term, same as the NatWest one which I switched to from another bank and use their regular saver (which I prefer as the interest is paid monthly). TSB did a switch and stay and I'm sure others will do - but Barclays did at least have the offer for cashback of 5% up to £200 a month that coincided with the switch offer (as it started in October, switch offer in November) - meaning you could get £190 net from them if you stuck around for at least 2 months plus had the rainy day saver paying 5% which isn't bad for an instant access, interest paid monthly setup