Make £300 of free cash for Christmas

Monday 17 October at 2:53pm

Christmas is meant to put a smile on our faces, but for most it makes our purses grimace. Yet our Money Saving Expert Martin Lewis has a way to make £300 of free cash which could boost coffers for the festive season…

1. Make up to £200 free cash by switching bank accounts.

The easiest way to gain some extra cash in time for Christmas is to take a bribe! Banks are willing to pay you up to £200 to switch to them and, better still, they provide some of the best accounts out there.

I get more complaints about banks than any other sector apart from energy, yet people loyally stick with the perpetrators for years. So STOP BITCHING, START SWITCHING!

Don’t worry, it’s easy to do, according to the majority of those I’ve polled. As Amy tweeted: “It’s true what

Banks have fine-tuned the process so that now they close your old account, move direct debits and standing orders, and auto-forward payments made to your old account.

So what are the top payers?

For a full rundown of all the options and eligibility criteria see Martin’s ‘Top Bank Accounts’ guide. But in brief, here’s the current top picks…

All credit score and most require you to switch 2-4 direct debits.

- Free £200 (£150 upfront, £50 if you stay) + 5% fixed savings. Switch to HSBC’s Advance account and you can get £150. Plus register for online or mobile banking and stay with it a year you’ll get another £50. It also offers a six month 0% overdraft, and lets you save up to £250 per month in its linked 5% fixed regular savings account. When do you get the money? Within 70 days of switching, so it’ll be touch and go for Christmas. Customer Service: Not the best. In my recent polling done in August it scored 39% 'great', 18% 'poor'.Who can get it? Like most bank accounts it requires you to pay in a set monthly sum. This effectively means paying your salary in – but you can withdraw it the next day if you choose. HSBC wants a relatively large £1,750 per month (equivalent to £26,300 pre-tax salary).

- Free £150 with no monthly min pay in, up to £5.50/mth and strong service rating.The Co-op is giving free £150 if you switch to its standard current account, and if you sign up to its Everyday Rewards scheme you’ll get an extra £4/mth, plus 5p per debit card use (up to £1.50/mth), so that’s maximum £216 in year one.

When do you get the money? Within 45 calendar days of switching. So easily in time for Christmas.Customer Service: A very good 72% 'great', 5% 'poor'.Who can get it? There’s no minimum monthly pay-in for the free £150. But to get the Everyday Rewards, you must pay in £800/mth (equivalent to £9,850 salary), get paperless statements, sign up to online banking and not bust your overdraft limit.

- Free £100, top service, 5% fixed savings & 0% overdraft.Switch to First Direct and you’ll get £100. Ok, it’s not as large as the other switching bonuses but it’s won every customer service poll I've ever done (and I’ve done a lot). You also get a £250 0% overdraft and you can put up to £300/month in its 5% fixed regular saver.

When do you get the money?Within 28 days of switching – plenty of time for Christmas.Customer Service:Superb. 91% 'great' and 3% 'poor'.Who can get it? If you can’t put in £1,000/mth (equal to £13k pay) there’s a £10/mth fee, in which case it’s not worth it.

- Free £100 M&S without paying anything in, 5% fixed savings, plus possible £10/mth.Switch to M&S Bank and you get a £100 M&S gift card, £100 0% overdraft and can save up to £250 a month in its 5% fixed regular savings. Plus it adds another £10 to the gift card for every month you deposit £1,000, for a year. So that’s max £220.

When do you get the money? Within a month of switching, again plenty of time. Customer service: Good. 65% 'great', 12% 'poor'.Who can get it? No set pay-in for the £100. Yet each month of the first year you deposit £1,000, M&S adds £10/mth to the gift card.

- Free £100 Halifax, plus £5/mthtill Feb 2017, then dropping to £3/mth ongoing. The Halifax Reward account gives £100 if you switch to it and if you pay in £750+/mth you’ll get an extra £5/mth credited to the account (£3 from February next year).

When do you get the money? Within three days of switching – the quickest payer.Customer service: Good. 63% 'great', 5% 'poor'.Who can get it? There’s no set pay in to get the £100 but if you want the monthly bonus you need to deposit min £750/mth and stay in credit.

2. Get another £100 when you spend. Accepted new applicants for the Amex Reward Gold Charge card get 20,000 reward points if you spend £2,000 in the first 3 months. This isn't a call to spend more, just use it instead of other methods for all your normal spending and as long as that’s over c. £700+/mth (not huge for a family) you’ll qualify.

- What are the points worth?The 20,000 bonus is enough for a £100 voucher for Amazon, M&S and more, or two BA economy returns to Paris or Amsterdam or one economy return to Athens or Istanbul etc. But factor in taxes and charges of at least £35 per return. You continue to earn 1pt per £1 spend on the card after too. And the best bit is you get this pretty soon after you’ve hit the spending trigger, so you could get it in time for Christmas or the January sales.

- Warning. After a year there's a £140 fee.The fee is waived for the first year, so diarise to cancel before then if you want to avoid it. - It's a charge card, not a credit card. That means you MUST repay IN FULL every month, there's no option. If you don't you face a £12 penalty and a mark on your credit file. Best set up a direct debit to repay.