The first direct bank announced on Monday morning that it was raising its switching incentive on its current account to £200 with immediate effect, “for a limited time only”. To qualify for the £200 payment, new customers have until July 15 to open their account with first direct.

New customers transferring their current account to first direct can also look forward to benefiting from the “numerous perks the account offers”, the bank confirmed. These include discounts and benefits, access to a 7% interest Regular Saver account, fee-free overseas transactions and ATM withdrawals, a £250 interest-free overdraft and 24/7 customer service.

To be eligible for the £200 switching offer, customers have 45 days to satisfy the account’s criteria following opening. This involves completing the full CASS switch process to transfer their everyday banking, including switching at least two direct debits or standing orders – this must be from a provider that participates in CASS – the Current Account Switching Service.

Customers must deposit a minimum of £1,000 into their account and register for and log onto digital banking. They must also use their debit card at least five times and must not be an existing customer of first direct or HSBC.

Colin Harrison, head of banking and propositions at first direct, said: “We are really pleased to be increasing our long-standing switching incentive to £200 for a limited time, giving our customers even more back as a thank you for choosing to bank with us.

“This is just one of many rewards we offer customers, as well as a fee-free overdraft and transactions abroad, and a range of gifts and perks each month through our loyalty programme. This is on top of the award-winning customer service that first direct is famous for, which is available 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.”

The bank said it had won a range of accolades in recognition of its service, including ‘Best Banking Brand 2026’ at the Which? awards.

Nationwide has urged customers to follow its latest guidance carefully when switching bank accounts, warning that some payments could fail if the correct steps are not followed.

The building society said customers with subscriptions such as Netflix may need to take action to avoid any disruption to payments.

Talking about what’s included when you switch to Nationwide, it says that “in a full switch, your account balance will be brought over to your new account. It also says that you can get “updates on the progress of your account switch” if you supply them with your contact details when you apply. But not everything is included.

What is not included in a full switch?

Nationwide has warned customers with popular subscriptions, such as Netflix, that they may need to take action. It explains: “Regular bills and subscriptions you pay with your debit card, such as Netflix and Amazon Prime. (You’ll need to give them your new debit card number.)”

The 2025 Which? Banking Brand of the Year also notes that if you use “mobile payments like Apple Pay, you’ll need to set these up again using your new debit card”.

It also says that the following is not included in a full switch:

What else is included in a full switch?

• Closing your old account once the switch is complete. This means your old debit card will stop working.
• Your list of payees (everyone you’ve sent payments to), so you won’t need to ask for their details again.
• Any new payments you’ve set up a week or more before your switch date. Once you’re within 7 days of your switch date, it’s best to set them up on your new account.
• Regular income like your salary, pension or benefits payments.
• Regular outgoings such as utility bills.
• A safety redirect to catch payments sent to your old account in case someone doesn’t use your new account details. Nationwide can also contact the sender and give them your new account details. If you don’t want the bank to do this, just let them know.

It adds: “There are other ways you can switch to Nationwide, like partial and manual switches.”

Rachel Reeves has unveiled a raft of reforms that she hopes will boost investment in the UK economy and therefore kickstart more growth. The “Leeds reforms” – which the Chancellor says “represent the widest set of reforms to financial services for more than a decade” – include tweaks to major banking rules, cutting red tape in the City, and urging more people to move cash out of savings accounts and into stocks and shares. It comes on the back of figures that suggested GDP dropped by 0.1% in May in a blow to Ms Reeves.

“It will now take something quite special for the UK to avoid an outright contraction in GDP in Q2, which doesn’t appear at all likely quite frankly given the perfect storm of downside risks,” Matthew Ryan, Head of Market Strategy at global financial services firm Ebury, said. “The government’s much maligned business tax increase is proving particularly damaging, as this is not only squeezing bottom lines, but clobbering Britain’s labour market, which is haemorrhaging jobs at a breakneck speed.”

Below is a full list of the reforms announced by the Chancellor this evening.

Individuals

A new advertising campaign will highlight the benefits of investing to individual consumers. Major banks and finance firms, including including Barclays, Lloyds, Vanguard and Hargreaves Lansdown, have agreed to take part in the campaign to help spread awareness.

Banks will be able to offer a new type of help called “targeted support” from April next year, meaning they can alert customers about specific investment opportunities, with a view to encourage groups of people with cash sitting in low-return current accounts to move it into stocks and shares.

Risk warnings on investment products will come under a review to ensure people can make accurate judgements about risk levels – potentially opening the door to some warnings being watered down.

Long term asset funds will be allowed to be held in stocks and shares ISAs next year.

The Government will continue to consider reforms to ISAs and savings to strike the right balance between cash savings and investment.

It comes after rumours swirled that the Chancellor was wanting to cut the tax-free limit of a cash ISA from £20,000 to £10,000 in a bid to get more money into stocks and shares.

Henrietta Grimston, Financial Planner at Saltus, said: “Reports that the Chancellor is now expected to consult on changes to the cash ISA allowance, rather than introduce immediate reform, will come as a relief to many savers.

“Clients with large cash ISA holdings aren’t typically chasing high returns, they are prioritising security, flexibility and peace of mind. For many, cash ISAs offer a simple and low-risk way to manage their savings without worrying about market volatility.”

Banks and building societies

Less strict lending rules will allow banks and building societies to offer more mortgages at 4.5 times a buyer’s income, which is expected to mean thousands more loans become available for first-time buyers.

The bank ring-fencing regime, which separates banks’ retail banking from their investment and international banking activities, will be reformed.

The Bank of England has raised the threshold at which smaller and mid-sized banks have to start holding emergency funding.

Easing capital requirements is expected to help smaller banks scale up by freeing up more money for lending and investment.

The City

The UK’s Financial Ombudsman Service – which settles complaints between consumers and businesses – will be modernised and simplified and decisions will be more aligned with the financial regulator.

Plans to ease rules around senior manager appointments will be sped up, reducing the number of roles that are subject to regulatory approval.

The regime was introduced after the 2008 financial crisis to make individuals more accountable for their conduct and any problems that arise under their watch.

Consumer Duty, a set of rules which set higher standards of consumer protection, will be reviewed by the UK’s financial regulator over how it applies to investment banks and asset managers.

Zopa Bank, a digital challenger bank with over half a million customers, is increasing its interest rates. The bank launched its credit card in 2020, initially attracting applicants with advertised interest rates as low as 9.9% annual percentage rate (APR).

The APR represents the yearly cost of borrowing on a credit card, including fees and interest. Despite advertising a representative APR of 34.9% (a rate Zopa Bank was legally required to offer to at least 51% of applicants), many customers with good credit scores benefited from the lower initial APR rate of 9.9%.

However, The Sun has confirmed that Zopa Bank has raised its lowest available APR for new customers to 26.6%, up from the initial 9.9% value. The digital bank is set to increase interest rates for some of its existing customers, particularly those who were previously enjoying rates lower than the new 26.6% threshold.

The changes have sparked frustration among customers, many of whom have voiced their dissatisfaction online. On a digital finance forum, one customer complained: “Just a heads up if you have a Zopa CC, Zopa have hiked my interest rate up 10 points today 12% to 22% – completely out of the blue.

“I only use it for big purchases and rarely ever go over 25% of its limit – usually always paid off within 3 months. I can’t understand why they are doing this, it’s puzzling (other than greed). I’ll just pay off what I owe before the new rate kicks in and ditch it.”

Another discontented patron reported: “Mine up from 17% to 26.7% – closed as I didn’t really need it although it was my lowest APR card, it no longer is. Not that I carry a balance – except a 0% balance transfer.”

Credit card firms routinely review and revise their interest rates due to several factors, such as shifts in the economic landscape or a reevaluation of a customer’s creditworthiness. These adjustments can be targeted at specific customers or implemented broadly.

Should your credit card’s APR climb from 9.9% to 26.6%, you’d find yourself paying an extra £167 in interest for every £1,000 borrowed over the course of a year. At a 9.9% rate, the annual interest would be £99, but at 26.6% , that figure goes up to £266.

However, there is a silver lining for those who manage to settle their statement balance in full each month. The alterations to the interest rates will have no impact, as they won’t incur any interest charges.

A spokesperson for Zopa, as reported by The Sun, said: “We regularly review our credit card interest rates to ensure they provide fair value to our customers. As part of this process, customers’ rates may increase or decrease, as is the case now. When a customer’s rate changes, we provide at least 60 days’ notice.”

They further explained: “Customers have the choice to opt out from this. If they do, their interest rate will stay the same and their credit card account will be closed once the balance is fully repaid. We don’t impose a strict repayment deadline, allowing customers to pay off their balance at a reasonable pace with no impact on their credit file or any other Zopa Bank products.”

For those who can only afford to pay the minimum balance but wish to avoid accruing interest, transferring your debt to a balance transfer credit card could be a viable solution.

Balance transfer credit cards are a beneficial tool for individuals aiming to pay off existing debt, as they usually offer an interest-free period on transferred balances, enabling more of your payments to go towards reducing the debt itself.

Zopa Bank, a digital challenger bank with over half a million customers, is increasing its interest rates. The bank launched its credit card in 2020, initially attracting applicants with advertised interest rates as low as 9.9% annual percentage rate (APR).

The APR represents the yearly cost of borrowing on a credit card, including fees and interest. Despite advertising a representative APR of 34.9% (a rate Zopa Bank was legally required to offer to at least 51% of applicants), many customers with good credit scores benefited from the lower initial APR rate of 9.9%.

However, The Sun has confirmed that Zopa Bank has raised its lowest available APR for new customers to 26.6%, up from the initial 9.9% value. The digital bank is set to increase interest rates for some of its existing customers, particularly those who were previously enjoying rates lower than the new 26.6% threshold.

The changes have sparked frustration among customers, many of whom have voiced their dissatisfaction online. On a digital finance forum, one customer complained: “Just a heads up if you have a Zopa CC, Zopa have hiked my interest rate up 10 points today 12% to 22% – completely out of the blue.

“I only use it for big purchases and rarely ever go over 25% of its limit – usually always paid off within 3 months. I can’t understand why they are doing this, it’s puzzling (other than greed). I’ll just pay off what I owe before the new rate kicks in and ditch it.”

Another discontented patron reported: “Mine up from 17% to 26.7% – closed as I didn’t really need it although it was my lowest APR card, it no longer is. Not that I carry a balance – except a 0% balance transfer.”

Credit card firms routinely review and revise their interest rates due to several factors, such as shifts in the economic landscape or a reevaluation of a customer’s creditworthiness. These adjustments can be targeted at specific customers or implemented broadly.

Should your credit card’s APR climb from 9.9% to 26.6%, you’d find yourself paying an extra £167 in interest for every £1,000 borrowed over the course of a year. At a 9.9% rate, the annual interest would be £99, but at 26.6% , that figure goes up to £266.

However, there is a silver lining for those who manage to settle their statement balance in full each month. The alterations to the interest rates will have no impact, as they won’t incur any interest charges.

A spokesperson for Zopa, as reported by The Sun, said: “We regularly review our credit card interest rates to ensure they provide fair value to our customers. As part of this process, customers’ rates may increase or decrease, as is the case now. When a customer’s rate changes, we provide at least 60 days’ notice.”

They further explained: “Customers have the choice to opt out from this. If they do, their interest rate will stay the same and their credit card account will be closed once the balance is fully repaid. We don’t impose a strict repayment deadline, allowing customers to pay off their balance at a reasonable pace with no impact on their credit file or any other Zopa Bank products.”

For those who can only afford to pay the minimum balance but wish to avoid accruing interest, transferring your debt to a balance transfer credit card could be a viable solution.

Balance transfer credit cards are a beneficial tool for individuals aiming to pay off existing debt, as they usually offer an interest-free period on transferred balances, enabling more of your payments to go towards reducing the debt itself.

A local business owner has spoken of how she has had to urge customers not to use cash after all banks disappeared from her town. Monica Hardman, the owner of Shoreham Knitting and Needlecraft in Shoreham, West Sussex, that all branches had now gone, and it would be too hazardous to continue non-card payments. The town does, however, still have a Post Office and a banking hub.

“Originally, we had six banks in our town, and our own HSBC closed over eight years ago,” she told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme this morning.

“I opened three bank accounts, one after the other trying desperately to operate cash, and gradually all these banks closed, until last year we had none. So a banking hub opened at the end of our high street in March of last year. I looked at the situation again, but decided that it was too dangerous. One of the reasons was that it was too dangerous for a member of staff to walk down the road on a regular basis, five minute walk, carrying large amounts of cash.”

Ms Hardman added: “Our last bank that closed early last year was actually next door to us.”

When asked if she felt like she was missing out on income by paying charges for card transactions, she replied: “No. Our debit cards are 1.37%, we’re charged, and most people use debit cards. Credit cards are under 1%.

“Cash, if it’s paid in, is 1.5% of total money paid in.”

The programme had another business owner, Katie Jones, of Katie’s Cakes in Wolverhampton, who was championing cash payments.

She described how she used the cash she earned in her shop to purchse goods from other local businesses, and that some of her customers simply did not want to use digital payments.

These include low-income individuals who find it easier to keep track of their finances if they have physical change or notes.

Ms Hardman said that only about 25% of her total take was cash, adding: “If someone is actually stuck, we do actually help them, and we have paid ourselves with a credit card, or a debit card, and they’ve given us the cash.”

It comes as a Treasury Committee of MPs warns that businesses could need to be forced to accept coins and banknotes in order to make sure that the UK does not drift into a loss of cash acceptance for those who rely on it.

A report said: “There may come a time in the future where it becomes necessary for HM Treasury to mandate cash acceptance if appropriate safeguards have not been implemented for those who need physical cash, and the level of cash acceptance begins to lead to widespread detriment.

“To ensure that HM Treasury has the information it needs to make this decision, cash acceptance levels in the UK must be monitored to ensure we do not sleepwalk into a loss of cash acceptance for those who need it.

“HM Treasury must provide the Treasury Committee with annual reporting on cash acceptance levels and provide an analysis of HM Treasury’s view of the tolerable level of cash acceptance in society.”