March sits in that strange zone of the banking year where things go quiet before the April 5th tax year reset. But that's actually perfect for switching—fewer people doing it means banks are hungry for new customers, and some genuinely competitive offers are still around if you know where to look.
I've been tracking what's available right now, and there's enough here to make a real difference to your year. Whether you're a first-time switcher or stacking your third or fourth account, the offers aren't spectacular—but they're solid. More importantly, the interest-earning potential on these accounts is actually worth paying attention to.
Let me walk you through what's on the table and who should grab what.
The March Offer Landscape
If you've been watching offers since January, you'll notice things have settled down a bit. We're not seeing the £250+ bonuses that sometimes appear in peak months. What we're seeing instead is a fairly stable band of offers from the big players, mostly in the £175–£200 range.
Here's what the major banks are running right now:
NatWest and RBS are offering £200 (they often move in tandem since they're part of the same group). That's a solid entry point, and both have reasonably good current accounts—NatWest's interest rates aren't spectacular, but they're competitive for a big bank.
Lloyds has come in with £175—slightly lower, but if you were looking at Lloyds for other reasons (they have a decent regular savers, for example), it's still worth doing the switch.
TSB is also at £200, and they're actually one of the banks that's been trying harder on the interest side of things, so you might find their combo of bonus plus ongoing interest works quite well.
You can also find £200 offers on compare bank bonuses sites like MoneySupermarket and MSE (Money Saving Expert), which sometimes have access to slightly different deals or staggered campaigns.
The honest take: March 2024 isn't a "wait for something better" month. The offers are consistent enough that if you need a switch, you should do it. Waiting for an extra £20 or £30 is false economy when you're sitting on a lower-interest account right now.
Who Should Switch, and When
The real money in switching isn't the bonus—it's the interest you earn on your balance. A £200 bonus is nice, but if you've got £5,000–£10,000 sitting in a standard current account earning 0%, a switch to an account earning 4–5% is actually transformative.
If you're here for the interest: Look at what you're currently earning. If it's nothing, or under 2%, and you can move money around, this is worth doing immediately. The bonus is a bonus; the interest is the real earner. Check the account terms carefully—some have caps on how much they'll pay interest on (e.g., "interest only on balances up to £2,000"), which matters if you're trying to park a serious sum.
If you're thinking about regular savers too: This is the play I'm keen on right now. Switch the account for the bonus and the interest rate, then open a regular saver at the same bank (most offer them) and stack your savings into that. You can get 7–8% on regular savers if you pick the right ones, which is genuinely better than premium bonds calculators.
If you've switched before and are in a cooling-off period: You'll want to check our cooling-off period guide to know when you can switch again. The rule is 12 months between switches at most banks, though some are stricter. March is fine if your last switch was before March last year.
The Switching Process—and Why It Matters
The actual switching itself takes about 7 working days now (the Current Account Switch Service is pretty reliable). Here's the rhythm you need:
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Pick your new bank and apply online. Make sure you meet the eligibility requirements—most have a version of "switch to us and get the bonus," but you can't have switched to them in the past 12 months, and some have other rules (like needing to pay in a minimum amount each month).
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Check your current account terms before you switch. Some charges do still exist, even though they're rare now. You want to know what you're getting into.
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Set up any direct debits you need for the bonus requirements. Most bonuses come with a small condition—typically paying in a minimum amount per month (like £1,000 or £1,500) or having at least one direct debit active. This is just a payment from one account to another, so we've got a guide to cheap direct debits if you want to set something up strategically.
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Wait 7 working days for the switch to complete. During that time, check in once to make sure everything's moved correctly.
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Collect your bonus. Most banks pay it within 30 days of the switch completing, though there's sometimes a small wait.
The bonus itself is tax-free—you don't pay income tax on bank switching bonuses in the UK, which is different from savings interest. That's a big win.
Stacking Your Strategy
Here's where it gets interesting. If you're reading this, you probably already know you can switch multiple times. The question is: what's the sensible rhythm?
If you want to switch again later in the year, do it now. You've got time. If you switch in March, you're eligible to switch again in March next year. But more practically, if you want to do another switch in, say, September or October, you need to wait until September or October of next year—so there's no rush to space things out super evenly.
The reason to think about this now is that April 5th is the tax year deadline. If you've got ISA allowance to use (£20,000 a year tax-free), you want to do that before the year ends. Some people use bank switching bonuses plus ISA savings plus regular saver interest to make a real stack of income. We've got more details on how stoozing works if you want the full picture.
One tactical note: if you're going to switch, do it before April 5th if you possibly can. Once you're into the new tax year (April 6th onwards), you'll have a fresh ISA allowance, but switching now means you've got the bonus clear before the year reset—psychologically tidier, and you know exactly what you've earned.
Interest Rates to Look For
The accounts offering £200 bonuses right now are also offering between 3–5% interest on balances, depending on conditions. That's actually pretty good for a current account. To put it in perspective:
- £5,000 at 0% for a year: you earn nothing
- £5,000 at 4% for a year: you earn £200
- Plus the switching bonus: another £200
- Total: £400 from switching and interest alone
That's meaningful money. And if you've got £10,000, you're looking at potentially £600–£700 a year from combining a decent current account with a regular saver. That's not including any stoozing or other strategies.
The catch is always the same: check the terms. Some accounts have caps. Some require activity (a certain number of transactions per month). Some limit the interest to balances under £2,000. Read the T&Cs before you switch, not after.
Common Questions
Do I need to have a certain amount of money to switch? No. The Current Account Switch Service works regardless of balance. You could switch with £10 in your account if you wanted to. However, most switching bonuses have a minimum pay-in requirement (usually £1,000–£1,500 per month) to qualify for the bonus itself. You need to meet that condition for the bonus to drop, but the switch itself is free and works at any balance.
Will switching hurt my credit score? Switching won't hurt it. You'll get a soft credit check (which doesn't show up to lenders), and opening a new account is a normal part of credit history. Your score might move a tiny bit, but it's not the kind of damage that matters.
Can I switch to the same bank twice? Not usually. Most banks have a rule that you can't claim the switching bonus more than once every 12 months. So if you switched to NatWest in March 2023, you can't switch to NatWest again until March 2024 or later. Some banks are stricter and use different rules.
What if I've already switched this year? Check our eligibility checker to see what you're eligible for. If your last switch was very recent, you might need to wait. But if you switched in January, you should be fine for another switch in, say, September.
Can I combine the switching bonus with a regular saver? Absolutely. In fact, that's the strategy we'd recommend. Switch, grab the bonus and interest, then open a regular saver at the same bank and pay in regularly. You're stacking different income streams, which is the whole point of being strategic about banking.
The bottom line for March: the offers are solid, the timing is good (you can chase another switch later in the year if you want), and the interest rates are actually worth paying attention to. If you haven't switched in the past year, this is genuinely worth 20 minutes of your time.
Check the live offers page for exactly what's available from your nearest branches, and use the switching guide to walk through the process step-by-step.