Martin Lewis urges savers to switch banks ‘in time for Christmas’ as bonus deadline looms

Martin Lewis has highlighted a number of banking switching deals in recent weeks but today, the Money Saving Expert shared details on the only two accounts that will pay out early enough to be on time for Christmas. This could benefit savers who are worried about the Christmas period but they must act soon to reap the benefit.

The following are the two deals highlighted by Martin Lewis where the bonus should arrive by Christmas:

• HSBC – free £125, which should arrive by mid-Dec, plus 2.75 percent savings. Newbies can switch to the HSBC Advance account and get £125 roughly 30 days after the switch completes. It also gives access to its 2.75 percent fixed regular saver, where you can save up to £250/mth. To qualify, savers will need to pay in a minimum of £1.750 a month.
• Lloyds – free £100 which should arrive by mid-Nov, plus other freebies, eg, 12 movie rentals (ends 11:59om Monday. November 9). Newbies starting a switch to Club Lloyds before Mon get a free £100, which comes about 10 working days after the switch starts. The account also pays 0.6 percent AER interest on up to £4k and 1.5 percent on any balance between £4k and £5k. Plus you get a choice of four annual benefits: 12 movie rentals, 6 cinema tix, a magazine subscription or Gourmet Society membership. To qualify, savers will need to pay in at least £1,500 per month.

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There may be plenty of opportunity for taking advantage of switching deals at the moment, as new analysis from Janus Henderson Investment Trusts shows a record £1.5 trillion is stashed away in cash accounts.

In advance of Talk Money Week, which lasts from November 9 to November 13, the company looked into this cash pile and found almost £1.2trillion of this cash is currently sitting “unproductively” earning minimal interest.

Interestingly, this cash pile is now equivalent in size to the UK’s collective mortgage debt.

James de Sausmarez, the Director and Head of Investment Trusts at Janus Henderson, commented on these findings: “Our recent research showed that there is £1.5 trillion sat in cash bank accounts in the UK, meaning many savers are missing out on the opportunity to earn billions of pounds extra return on their savings, especially if they are saving for the long term. Indeed, the amount of spare cash idling unproductively in bank accounts is now, on average, equivalent to almost a whole year of household income, or the entire UK mortgage debt.

Tomorrow, the Bank of England will release their latest base rate decision, which will go on to affect how retail banks set their interest rates.

The central bank has kept rates unprecedentedly low for a number of years now in a bid to boost the economy and at the moment, the base rate is sitting at 0.1 percent.

With few options for reduction remaining, fears have emerged the Bank of England will move interest rates into negative territory, which could have vast ramifications for mortgages, pensions, savings and other financial areas.

It remains to be seen how the central bank will act but they could keep the rate unchanged, reduce it or move it into negative figures or even raise it.