Martin Lewis’s new ITV money show Extreme Savers aired last week and showed how one man made £4,000 towards his house deposit by switching bank accounts multiple times.
David Buckeridge, 31, from Cambridge, revealed he continually switches bank accounts to profit from their introductory offers.
‘I have made around £1600 so far’
One of the offers included being paid £100 for leaving one bank after having already been paid a further £150 when he joined it.
Speaking on the show, Buckeridge said: “I would estimate that I have made around £1600 so far, and that doesn’t include some of the referrals I made from referring some of my friends and family to do exactly the same thing.
“It doesn’t even include the ongoing interests, so compared to if I just left things as they were and kept with my old faithful account, I’ve made £4,000 more.
“I was able to put down a deposit on my first house and there’s no way I would have been able to do that without the bank switching.
“In the last five to six years I’ve managed to switch banks 15 or 16 times, which has helped me to ultimately buy my first house.”
Buckeridge revealed that he gained money from a variety of incentives banks offer to lure customers to switch their main account to them rather than a competitor.
The incentives range from upfront switching bonuses where an amount is paid when you open the account, ongoing monthly rewards and even a cash incentive if you leave the bank, made by one that was so sure their customers would be so happy with the service that they would not want to switch to another.
In the show, Money Saving Expert founder, Martin, also issued a word of warning.
Switching banks regularly can impact your credit score, which is something to keep in mind if you’re needing to take out credit soon, or perhaps buy your first home.
