Best Bank Accounts

If you can't afford some banks' minimum monthly pay-ins, don't fret.

If there is a minimum, you can play the system. Say you need a min £1,000, but only have £500 coming in. If you pay £500 in, withdraw it or move to another bank, then pay it back in... BINGO, that's your £1,000.

Note: we've had reports some banks may not accept you if your income's not high enough to meet the minimum monthly pay-in.

There can be big differences in the amounts banks charge for going overdrawn, though many banks have now converged on similar, 40% rates after a raft of changes to how overdrafts are charged for. We identify the cheapest in our top overdraft section.

If you are in the red, it's worth trying to get out of the mire by seeing if you can cut outgoings by doing a money makeover, then making (and sticking to) a budget.

Quick questions

Banks will use this credit check, plus data on your application form, to decide whether to accept or reject you for the account you applied for. If you're not sure you'll pass, check out the point below...

Quick question

Sadly, more than one million people in the UK are rejected from mainstream bank accounts. Yet as long as you can prove your identity, you should be able to get a basic account – here, you're not credit-checked as strictly, so most can get one.

You can do most of the same things as with a normal bank account, except you won't get an overdraft. Read full help and tips in our Basic Bank Accounts guide.

Quick questions

Packaged accounts can be great, saving some £100s a year, as for a monthly fee you get a host of insurance policies – typically travel, breakdown and mobile phone insurance.

But they can also be worthless if you don't need the cover or you could have got it cheaper elsewhere, so check first. See the Best Packaged Accounts guide for more.

Quick questions

No. Otherwise known as continuous payment authorities, these are set up using your debit or credit card details, as opposed to your account number and sort code. They're often used for memberships, online subscriptions and payday loan repayments. The company will ask for the long number across your card, giving it permission to take cash from your account.

If you switch, you need to give your new card details to any companies that take money from your card in this way.

An active direct debit is one that has paid out in the last 13 months or – if it has never paid out – is less than 13 months old.

Direct debits have this dormancy rule in place, so old direct debits can remain active even if you're not paying out on them every month in case they're needed again, or they're there for annual payments. But after 13 months, your bank may remove them from your account or mark them as inactive.

Yes, if you switch via the seven-working-day Current Account Switch Service (CASS). As part of the process, your new bank will automatically close it and also move all payments, eg, direct debits out or salary in, across.

But if you'd rather keep your old account open, or your old or new bank is one of the few not signed up to CASS, you'll need to use the older, slower and more complicated system. Your payments will still be switched over, but there's less protection if anything goes wrong and it's likely you won't get any of the switch incentives.

If you want to join finances with a partner, it's possible to use seven-day switching to switch a sole account to a joint account. Do remember that this'll link your finances, so their credit record could affect yours – always think carefully before doing so.

This doesn't work the other way round, so you can't switch a joint account to a sole account under seven-day switching.

Most other products that you hold are totally separate, so moving your current account won't affect the others and it's fine to do. In fact, even if you have a direct debit set up to pay them, that'll automatically be moved to your new bank account for you so it shouldn't put you off switching at all.

There are a few special regular savings accounts that are linked to current accounts (where you get a special rate if you've got the current account) that you could lose if you move bank, but you'll know if you've got one of those and it's likely the new bank will offer something similar.

More than 40 providers are signed up to the Current Account Switch Service (CASS):

• Acorn Account
• Adam & Company
• Allied Irish Bank
• Arbuthnot Latham & Co.
• Bank of Ireland UK
• Bank of Scotland
• Barclays
• Barclays Private
• C. Hoare & Co.
• CardOneMoney
• Clydesdale Bank
• Co-operative Bank
• Coutts
• Coventry Building Society
• Cumberland Building Society
• Danske Bank
• First Direct
• First Trust Bank
• Habib Bank Zurich
• Halifax
• Hampden & Co
• Handelsbanken
• HSBC
• HSBC Private Bank
• Investec Bank
• Isle of Man Bank
• Lloyds
• Lloyds International
• Lloyds Private Bank
• M&S Bank
• Metro Bank
• Monzo
• Nationwide Building Society
• NatWest
• NatWest International
• Reliance Bank
• RBS
• Santander
• Smile
• Starling Bank
• Tesco Bank
• Thinkmoney
• Triodos Bank
• TSB
• Ulster Bank
• Unity Trust Bank
• Virgin Money
• Weatherbys Bank
• Yorkshire Bank

Last updated February 2020.

Santander has a list of qualifying suppliers (though it's worth checking with it about your suppliers, if they're not listed). You also need to pay your bills by direct debit from the account to get the cashback.

The main Santander 123 account comes with the same cashback but it has a higher £5 monthly fee. It also pays 1% AER variable interest on up to £20,000, though from 3 August the rate will drop to 0.6%.

Yes, but Santander shares its £85,000 UK savings safety guarantee with Cahoot, so don't hold more than £85,000 across the two banks.

Yes – downloadable for iOS (rated 4.8/5) or Android (rated 4.4/5).

You just won't be paid any interest that month.

For the first year, your overdraft will cost nothing as long as you stay within your limit and you haven't had a FlexDirect account before. After that, you pay 39.9% EAR variable. So if you had a limit of £1,500 and owed £1,000, you'd pay £28.91 per month for your overdraft.

There are no additional charges for the overdraft, not even if you go over your overdraft limit, though Nationwide says it'll try to stop transactions that take you over the limit. 

If you're switching to this account with an existing overdraft, you could use the 12 months when your overdraft is at 0% to get your finances in order and avoid future fees. For tips, see Cutting Overdraft Costs.

You can have two accounts, and can even get two lots of interest – though one of your accounts must be joint. Nationwide says you may be able to get two overdrafts if you have two FlexDirect accounts, but each would be assessed on its merits, so there's no guarantee.

Yes, Nationwide has full Financial Services Compensation Scheme protection, so any money saved with it is safe up to £85,000.

Yes – downloadable for iOS (rated 4.8/5) or Android (rated 4.2/5).

If you keep at least £1,500 in this account, over a year you'd earn £22.35 in interest before any tax – assuming the variable rate of interest rate doesn't change.

Yes, TSB has full Financial Services Compensation Scheme protection, so up to £85,000 saved with it is safe.

You can have two new accounts, though one of your accounts must be joint to get this.

If you spend using your debit card for this account, you'll get one point for every £1 spent in M&S or in its online store. You get one £1 voucher for every 100 points, and M&S sends these to you quarterly. Bear in mind that this means you'd need to spend £500 at M&S just to get a £5 voucher.

You can apply for an overdraft when you apply for an account, but the limit you get depends on your credit score.

The first £250 of your overdraft is interest-free, but you'll pay 39.9% EAR variable above that, up to your limit. You won't be able to go into an unarranged overdraft in all but the most exceptional cases as M&S Bank won't let you make payments if it'll take you over your limit. 

Yes, M&S Bank has the full £85,000 UK savings safety guarantee.

Yes – downloadable for iOS (rated 4.4/5) or Android (rated 1.8/5).

For the first year, your overdraft will cost nothing as long as you stay within your limit and you haven't had a FlexDirect account before. After that, you pay 39.9% EAR variable. So if you had a limit of £1,500 and owed £1,000, you'd pay £28.91 per month for your overdraft.

There are no additional charges for the overdraft, not even if you go over your overdraft limit, though Nationwide says it'll try to stop transactions that take you over the limit. 

If you're switching to this account with an existing overdraft, you could use the 12 months when your overdraft is at 0% to get your finances in order and avoid future fees. For tips, see Cutting Overdraft Costs.

To get interest you need to pay in £1,000/mth, though you only get interest when you're in credit.

Nothing happens, you just won't be paid any interest that month.

You can definitely have two accounts, and can even get two lots of interest – though one of your accounts must be joint. Nationwide says you may be able to get two overdrafts if you have two FlexDirect accounts, but each would be assessed on its merits, so there's no guarantee.

Yes, Nationwide has full Financial Services Compensation Scheme protection, so any money saved with it is safe up to £85,000.

Yes – downloadable for iOS (rated 4.8/5) or Android (rated 4.2/5).

As well as providing spending notifications and insights, the app lets you freeze and unfreeze your debit card at the touch of a button, report it lost or stolen or get a PIN reminder in-app. You can also turn off certain functions of your card, such as online spending, contactless payments or ATM withdrawals if you want to control a specific type of spending.

You can put money aside in to a "space", designed to help you save easily from your current account balance. You can set up different spaces for different savings goals. 

Starling also has a 'Marketplace', which lets you use other companies' services through the Starling app. In it, you can find insurance companies and a mortgage broker - though always make sure you've done a full comparison before going for these companies, as they may not be the cheapest.

 You can make up to three cash withdrawals a day, totalling a maximum of £300.

The debit card is a Mastercard, so you'll get the Mastercard rate, which you can check here. There are no fees to use your card abroad, making it a top pick for overseas use.

If you apply for an overdraft, Starling will run a full credit check on you. If you apply for the account without an overdraft, it'll just run an ID check on you, which won't appear to lenders on your credit report (though you'll be able to see it).

However, once you've opened the account, whether with or without an overdraft, it will appear on your credit report as an active account - and other lenders will be able to see it. 

Yes, Starling Bank has full Financial Services Compensation Scheme protection, so any money saved with it is safe up to £85,000.

Yes. It's an app-based bank, so you need to use the app to manage your account. You can download it for iOS (rated 4.9/5) or Android (rated 4.7/5).

If the cheque's for £500 or less, you can take a photo of it in-app. The app will read the cheque details and - if it's kosher - add the money to your account within a couple of working days.

If your cheque's for over £500, you can send it to 'FREEPOST Starling' through the post. Make sure you've written your last name and eight-digit account number on the back of the cheque.

- Mobile cover for all the family's smartphones. The cheapest smartphone insurance costs £80-£100/yr. If there are four of you, that's £320-£400's worth.
- World family travel insurance (incl winter sports and golf cover). The cheapest family cover we've found elsewhere is from around £90/yr (£105/yr incl winter sports), plus £20/yr for golf cover. If any of you are aged 65+, it'll be even more.
- European breakdown cover. Covers account holder(s) in any car, and anyone driving their car with permission. Similar breakdown cover we've found elsewhere is from £70/yr.

A family of four needing it all could pay £500+/yr buying all the comparable insurances separately. Do bear in mind that the price of individual cover will vary with the number of people in your family being covered.

It allows multiple trips worldwide and includes winter sports, business, wedding and golf cover (includes golf fees).

It covers you, children under 19 (or 22 if in full-time education) providing they live at the same address and your partner, even if it's not a joint account. The excess (the amount you pay towards a claim) is a maximum of £50. If you've a pre-existing condition, tell Nationwide as you may need a medical screening before getting cover and could be charged.

If you're 70 or over, you'll need to pay a £65/yr premium for your travel cover. This isn't necessarily the best deal on the market, so always compare with the premiums in Cheap Travel Insurance.

It covers repair or replacement after theft, loss, damage or breakdown, insuring each handset up to the value of £1,500, plus the iPhone XR/XS which can cost more. The excess is a maximum of £120 for an iPhone.

Unusually, it covers the phones of your partner and children too, provided they live with you (children must be under 19 or under 22 if in full-time education, and cannot be married or in a civil partnership) – so maxed out, this gives serious value. You can make a maximum of four claims per year.

See the mobile insurance policy document for more details. 

It's for the UK and Europe including home assistance and onward travel. Cover is for the person, and people travelling in your vehicle (so everyone would be taken to their destination). On a joint account both account holders would be covered.

You can also register one vehicle per account holder, and anyone driving that vehicle with your permission will be covered.

For more policy details, see the travel insurance, mobile insurance and UK and Europe breakdown cover documents.

The account's debit card has no fee or 'load' for spending or withdrawing cash, making it a leading debit card for overseas use.

Yes, Nationwide has full Financial Services Compensation Scheme protection, so any money saved with it is safe up to £85,000.

Yes – downloadable for iOS (rated 4.8/5) or Android (rated 4.2/5).

As well as offering in-credit interest or bonuses for switching, a few current accounts now pay rewards for holding the account and meeting certain criteria, such as paying in a set amount each month or having direct debits.

Some of these, such as the Halifax Reward Account and Co-op Bank's Everyday Rewards scheme, are paid with basic-rate tax already deducted. Others, including Barclays Blue Rewards, are paid without any tax removed.

With the introduction in April 2016 of the personal savings allowance (PSA), meaning interest is now paid tax-free, some people hoped that they'd see an increase in the reward amounts paid to them.

However, these payments don't count as savings income for tax purposes and instead are classed as 'annual' or 'miscellaneous' payments. This means that the rewards don't count towards your PSA, and they're still liable to be taxed.

If you're a non-taxpayer, you should claim back any tax taken using the R40 form. Higher and additional-rate taxpayers may need to pay more via tax returns.

In the UK, old, now-dormant accounts hold billions of pounds that lay unclaimed – and if you've switched several times, you may still have old accounts that were never closed.

It's straightforward to get it back, we've full details in the Reclaim Forgotten Cash guide.

This isn't usually a problem. Mostly it just means that you won't get whatever benefits that account offers for that month, though there are a couple of accounts that will charge fees - we notify where this is the case in the product boxes above.

You could try a basic bank account. These don't credit score you (though you need ID) as they don't offer overdrafts. Make sure you ask for their application forms, or you'll get standard ones for standard bank accounts and then be rejected. Full help and tips in our Basic Bank Accounts guide.

If you go onto your bank's website, it will have a 'branch finder' facility. Usually you'll have to type in your location or postcode and your nearest branch will come up. If you're searching on a mobile phone, often it will link to your GPS location and will automatically show you where your closest branch is.

If you just want to find your closest bank and don't mind which bank it is, then visit Yell.com and type that you're searching for a bank and your postcode. It will then list the nearest branches and tell you how far away they are.

Bear in mind, though, that this may miss banks' agencies – they're often found in local solicitors' or estate agents' offices. For these, you may have to ask locally.

Most banks these days use Faster Payments for bank transfers, meaning most transfers you make should arrive within two hours, or at least the same day.

Faster Payments is available 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, so even if you transfer some money to someone you owe on Christmas Day, it will arrive in their account the same day.

If for any reason your bank or building society can't use Faster Payments (many credit unions can't, for example), then they will do a BACS transfer, which takes three to five working days.

You should be able to withdraw money paid in by cheque by the end of the next working day at the latest. Check with your bank if time is of the essence. 

If you pay the money in over the counter in your branch, then the money will count towards your balance immediately. However, if you pay the money in via one of the bank's ATMs, it will vary and can take up to two more days to count towards your balance.

A direct debit is where you give permission to a company to take money from your bank account, and the amount can vary depending on what you're paying for. You have very little control over how much money is taken, though the company you're paying will tend to send you a statement informing you of how much will be taken and when.

A standing order is an instruction from you, to your bank, to pay a fixed amount of money to an account. You can send a standing order to any account, bill, mortgage payment or organisation. You have full control over how much and how frequent the payments should be.

A recurring payment is where you give a company your card details, and they use them to set up a regular or continuous payment from your card. You'll know if it's a recurring payment if you give the company your 16-digit card number, rather than your bank account number and sort code.

They're usually used if you're paying for a subscription, like a DVD rental service or a gym membership. With these payments you have very little control over how much or when they'll take out your money, and you usually won't be informed that the company will be taking a payment.

However, you can ask your bank to cancel them, as well as asking the retailer if you want to end the service. See Recurring Payments.

Direct debits are set up by the company you're paying. In most instances, the company will ask for your account details and they'll set up a direct debit for you. However, sometimes they'll send you a direct debit form that you need to fill out and hand in to your bank or send back. You can't set up a direct debit yourself.

A standing order is a payment you can set up yourself. You'll do this via your bank, in branch, on the phone or online. To set one up, you'll need the account details you're sending money to and you'll need to put in a set amount you want to send each time (you can change the amount with a day or two's notice).

If you don't specify a date, everything will be switched over seven working days after the switch begins. If you opt for a specific date, the process begins seven working days before that date.

Bizarrely, given the song and dance about seven-day switching, your debit card and PIN aren't covered by it. So despite your account being open and set up – and your old account closed – in seven working days, you may have to wait a few days to access your money.

If you have a smartphone, you can use a service called Paym, which allows you to transfer up to £250 a day by using a mobile phone number.

You need to link your mobile phone number to your account, through your mobile phone app or your online banking. Once linked, you can make a payment by selecting the person you want to pay from your mobile phone contacts, or manually enter a mobile phone number – but you can only send cash this way to people who have also registered their mobile number to receive mobile payments.

You'll then be asked to confirm the name of the recipient. Once you're happy, check the amount and press 'send'. You'll also receive confirmation that your payment has been sent. And don't worry, you won't be able to pay anyone who isn't registered.

See the Mobile-To-Mobile Transfer MSE News story for more.

Yes. Banks have security systems in place that ensure fraudsters can't hack into your account, whether you're logged in online or on your phone. But you still need to be careful – never ever send your online/mobile banking information to anyone.

If you're using a mobile app, make sure you download your bank's official mobile app from your app store and make sure you update the app regularly with any new security features.

It's also worth keeping your computer up to date with Free Antivirus Software, so you're protected from viruses and spyware.

When sending money to a different account, for now the only information banks use to identify payees is the sort code and account number, and not the recipient's name, meaning if these details are wrongly entered the cash could end up in a stranger's bank account.

However, all is not lost. The UK's largest six banking groups (which make up 90% of transfers) have agreed to start checking whether the name of the account you are sending money to matches up to the sort code and account number you type in. If the name doesn't match, the bank will let you know so you can amend any errors before making the payment. These new measures will be in place by 30 June 2020.

If you end up sending money to the wrong account, here's what you need to do and what happens then:

• Contact your bank straight away to let it know about the mistake. While banks can't stop payments that have already been made, contacting it as soon as possible will help speed up the process of sorting it out. It’s a good idea to keep a note of all correspondence you have with the bank and also to make note of exactly when the error was made. If you know the mistake you made (eg, you used the wrong sort code), then make a note of that too.
• Your bank will act within two working days of you telling it. And it doesn't matter if you discovered your mistake after a week or even a year... though it's good financial sense to keep an eye on your account(s) to make sure your payments have reached the right recipient.
• As long as there are no disputes, your money will be returned within 20 working days. Where there's clear evidence of a genuine mistake, your bank will contact the receiving bank on your behalf requesting that the money isn't mistakenly spent by the person who accidentally received it, and you'll get your money back.

If there are issues eg, if the person you accidentally sent it to refuses to return it, you’ll be notified of the outcome of the bank’s investigation within 20 working days from the point that you let it know.