TSB launches £190 current account switching bonus for new customers

TSB is the latest bank to try to attract new customers by dangling a carrot to get them to switch bank accounts from a rival.

The challenger has launched a £190 switching bonus for new customers.

Those who move their current account to a TSB current account will receive a £100 cash bonus.

The remainder of the rewards will come in cashback payments, with customers able to earn between £90 and £120 in cashback within the first year of opening the account.

But customers will have to work for the refund, which will be paid in instalments of £15 a month over six months to a year, with the £100 cash not arriving until between October 15 and 25.

We look at what the TSB deal offers and what you need to do to get the cash.

How to get £100 cash advance

To get the £100 cash, customers must switch to a TSB Spend & Save or Spend & Save plus account using the Current Account Switching Service between now and when the offer ends.

TSB has not said when the offer will end, but it is a limited-time offer. The switch must be completed within 21 days of requesting it.

To receive the £100, once the account is opened, customers must make a minimum of five payments of any value using their debit card into their new Spend & Save or Spend & Save Plus account.

Payments on Google or Apple Pay also count towards the five payments.

New customers will need to log in to the TSB Mobile Banking app at least once before 27 September.

If these conditions are met, TSB will credit £100 into the new account between 15 and 25 October 2024.

This is a slow process compared to other exchange agreements. For example, when Co-op launched its exchange agreement in June, it said the cash would arrive within seven days of the exchange being completed.

TSB Triple Refund

For the first six months of account holding, TSB is also offering new customers triple cashback, increasing their cashback offer from £5 to £15 per month.

New customers can earn a total of £90, of which £15 will be paid out each month.

For Spend & Save Plus accounts, the same cashback is available for the first six months, then will be reduced to £5 cashback per month.

This means that customers can receive a total of £120 within the first year of opening the account. The Spend & Save Plus account has a monthly fee of £3.

To qualify for the cashback, customers must first meet the exchange conditions to claim the £100 cash bonus.

They must then make 20 payments of any value each month for the first six months the account is open using their debit card or Google or Apple Pay.

TSB has announced a number of other rewards for new customers who qualify for the £100 payout.

Customers will be offered a free reward if they make 20 or more payments with their new TSB debit card by March 2025. They will receive the reward in April 2025.

They can choose from a hotel night for two, two Odeon cinema tickets every month for 3 months or a 6-month subscription to Now TV entertainment (normally costing £6.99 per month).

Andrew Hagger, founder of MoneyComms, said: “The problem for banks is how many customers actually stick around for any significant period of time – there will surely be an element of change for the next cash giveaway as soon as they can.”

The fact that TSB is offering £15 cashback a month for six months, provided users make five or more purchases with the TSB debit card in the first month, is a sign that the bank is trying to retain customers so they don’t simply take the cash and walk away.

When Co-op launched its switch deal, it opted to split the cash bonus over five months if customers deposited £1,000 a month into their current account in a bid to prevent customers taking the cash and rushing off to find the next higher bonus.