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M&S Bank offers new current account switchers £185 gift card

Written By:
Guest Author
Posted:
27/04/2017
Updated:
27/04/2017

Guest Author:
Paloma Kubiak

M&S Bank has introduced a current account switch incentive giving new customers the chance to earn up to £185 in gift cards in the first year.

The high-street retailer is offering new current account customers a £125 gift card for the initial switch, followed by £5 a month for the first 12 months (£60 maximum).

Customers can also open its linked savings account which pays 5% AER on up to £250 (£81 interest over the year) so the maximum available for the move in the first year is £266 through a combination of gift cards and cash.

How do you get it?

To be eligible for the initial £125, you need to switch your existing current account via the Current Account Switch Service (CASS) and set up at least two active direct debits.

You can opt for the M&S Current Account (fee-free) or the M&S Premium Current Account (£10 per month) and in order to get the additional £5 per month gift card – which will be automatically loaded onto your original gift card monthly – you need to deposit £1,000 per month into the account. If you don’t pay in £1,000 per month, you won’t receive the £5 gift card for that month only. The gift card can be used both in-store and online.

M&S current account customers also receive an automatic £500 overdraft, the first £100 of which is interest-free and the remainder is charged at 15.9% EAR.

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As an M&S current account customer, you’ll be able to open a linked M&S savings account where you can earn 5% AER on balances between £25 and £250 deposited each month (the payments need to be made by standing order from your M&S account).

This means in total you can earn an additional £81 of interest in the first year.

The other benefit is that you can earn loyalty points by using your debit card, with one point earned for every £1 spent in-store or online at M&S. Customers receive £1 in M&S vouchers for every 100 points earned. M&S current account customers also earn double ‘sparks’ points when shopping in M&S using their debit card.

How good is the offer?

Like other banks and building societies, M&S has scaled back its switching incentive from last year’s £316 gift card and cash offering, but with this new deal there is currently no closing date.

Andrew Hagger of Moneycomms said its latest deal is not quite as good as that offered in January 2016, but said it is still worth a closer look “particularly if you are fed up with your existing bank account”.

“The new M&S Bank deal is very competitive as long as you are happy that your rewards have to be spent within M&S. Other incentives currently available are Co-operative Bank £110, First Direct £100 and Halifax £75 so the M&S deal looks pretty generous by comparison,” he said.