Free Cash From Current Accounts

The world of current accounts has become increasingly competitive over the years, and banks in the UK are continuously vying for the custom of consumers with good or decent credit.

Although most banks do not offer current account facilities to those with very bad credit (there are basic accounts available for bad credit consumers) those with a decent credit will find that there are plenty of freebies and incentives on offer when it comes to opening a current account, with banks offering all sorts of goodies in order to try and get one over on the competition by increasing the number of customers that they have.

One of the major incentives that is being offered by a number of banks in order to attract more custom when it comes to opening a current account is cold hard cash, which of course is a major attraction for most consumers. There are a number of banks that offer free cash on current accounts, and this works in a number of ways.

Some banks offer free cash to those that open an account with them – there is usually a qualifying period where the account holder has to have their salary paid in for a certain amount of time, such as three months, before the cash incentive is paid into the account. This is to ensure that the customer does not simply open the account to get the free cash and then close it again once the cash has been paid in.

Some banks offer free cash to those that recommend the account to another party, who then goes on to open an account as a result of the recommendation. The person opening the account also gets free cash, as does the person that recommends the account.

Usually the person recommending the account can recommend as many people as he or she wishes, and each time will receive the free cash, as will the person opening the account. This means that there could be a fair amount of cash to be made from recommendations.

Some banks offer all of these cash incentives on their current accounts. They will give you cash for opening a current account with them (subject to the qualifying period) and will give you more cash for recommending people that also go on to open accounts.

The people opening the accounts on your recommendation will also receive bonus cash, so everyone’s a winner in this situation, including the bank, which gets to enjoy increased custom through word of mouth advertising – i.e. your recommendation.

There are a number of banks that are currently offering free cash on current accounts. Lloyds TSB has been offering free cash to those opening an account, as well as free cash for recommendation that lead to an account being opened, and cash to the person that opens the account through the recommendation.

First Direct offers an impressive £100 to those opening an online account, although there is a qualifying period so that it is clear that you intend to have your income paid into the account and use the account for everyday transactions. Alliance and Leicester and Halifax have also been offering cash incentives on current accounts.

You should also be mindful, however, that there are terms and conditions attached to many of these current accounts, such as minimum deposits being paid in each month. Before you rush in and open an account based purely on the cash incentive you should make sure that you read through the small print and ensure that the account is suited to your needs, otherwise you could be wasting your time even making the application.