BANKS and credit cards are battling it out in a perks war to lure new customers.
Bribes range from Ferrari drives and helicopter rides to thousands of reward points — and even cash in triple digits.
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Applying for a credit card is simple enough, but if you are worried about the hassle of switching banks, fret not.
Incentives for changing banks all require you to use the Current Account Switch Service, meaning your new bank does the hard work for you.
Your balance, direct debits and standing orders will be transferred over and payments accidentally sent to your old account will be redirected.
Your account will need to have at least two direct debits or standing orders to be switched over to get the perks.
Rachel Springall, finance expert at moneyfacts.co.uk, said: “There are some fantastic perks this summer but consumers mustn’t get blindsided by one perk and should compare overall packages.
“To maximise rewards, download the Stocard app for free and load all your loyalty and rewards cards for quick use at the till even if you forget your physical card.”
Here are the banks busting out the big guns.
Fly high
SWITCH to a Virgin Money M Plus or Club M account and get a £150 gift card for Virgin Experience Days.
Choose from helicopter rides, supercar drives and more.
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For instance, if you take a Ferrari and another supercar out for a six-mile spin each, it would normally set you back £129.
And you would usually pay £150 for a 15-minute helicopter flight for two over London.
Switch within 45 days of opening and pay in at least £1,000 to the linked savings account to get the gift card.
Existing or recent customers of Virgin Money, Clydesdale and Yorkshire Bank are not eligible.
Money missile
GET £125 for switching to an HSBC Advance account. Act fast — the deadline is 11.59pm tomorrow. You must deposit a minimum of £1,750 a month.
Switch within 30 days of opening to grab the cash. First Direct customers can only apply if their accounts were opened before 2018.
Cash cannon
IF you’re put off by the monthly minimum deposit, switch to HSBC’s sister bank First Direct and get £100.
Apply, switch and pay in £1,000 within 90 days to bag the cash.
Current HSBC customers can apply if their account was opened before 2018.
Dosh dagger
ZERO per cent credit cards with perks can be a good way to tackle a chunky purchase.
Get approved for an M&S Shopper Plus or Transfer Plus card through MoneySavingExpert and get £25 cash back. Find the offer on the Money SavingExpert site. But pay off the balance within the 20-month 0% interest period.
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You also get points on spends that add up to M&S vouchers so it’s great for those who shop there.
Open account by August 9 and spend or transfer at least £100 in the first 90 days to get the perk.
Nuclear nectar
NECTAR members of six months-plus can use this card to earn up to 7,500 bonus points (worth £37.50) — while borrowing at zero per cent for up to 21 months.
Apply for the Nectar Dual credit card by August 8 to collect 750 bonus points on every £35+ spend at Sainsbury’s.
You can collect these bonus points up to ten times in the first two months — meaning a total of 7,500 points. Break big shops up into smaller £35+ payments at the till to max out the offer. Also get up to three Nectar points per £1 spent at Sainsbury’s, Argos, Habitat and others.
Double team
APPLY for the Marriott Bonvoy American Express card by August 31 and receive a double bonus of 40,000 points and Gold Elite status for a year from October 15.
Redeem points at hotels or convert to air miles. The 40,000 points is enough for a night’s stay at places such as The Ritz-Carlton in Tenerife (pictured above).
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Marriott’s Gold Elite status means room upgrades and 2pm late checkout — plus earn 25 per cent more points on stays.
Be approved by August 31 and spend £3,000 within three months. Annual fee is £75 and interest is 22.2 per cent so pay off the full balance each month.
Aviators
BARCLAYS is bribing big earners to switch and join its Avios Rewards scheme by giving them 25,000 Avios — that’s enough for a return trip to Nice in economy.
It applies to premier banking accounts only so you will need an annual gross income of at least £75,000 or £100,000 invested with the bank.
Switch within three months of opening the account to get the perk. Barclays Avios Rewards has a £12 monthly fee but you get 1,500 Avios every month in addition to your signing bonus.
Half-price mobiles are twice as nice
A PREMIUM smartphone can set you back over a grand.
If you find that off-putting, you will be pleased to know there are phones that cost a fraction of that but still offer cutting-edge features and great design.
I’ve been checking out the very latest releases as well as a couple of classic handsets to see what they offer.
Can they compete with the most expensive Samsung or iPhone if they are less than half the price?
Read on, and you might not need to save up for that overpriced blower after all . . .
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OnePlus Nord 2, £379, from John Lewis
Pros: Great design, 5G, bright display, fast-charging
Cons: Average battery life
Specs: 6.43in display, 5G, 3 cameras, MediaTek Dimensity 1200-AI chip, fingerprint sensor in display
CALLED the “flagship killer”, it has a lot going for it. It’s 5G, so if you’re in the right place to pick up a 5G signal, it will download music or movies very fast.
The design suggests something much pricier. It also has good cameras including a 50MP main sensor, seen on the much more expensive OnePlus 9 series.
Battery life is not outstanding, but it comes with a charger for full power in half an hour.
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Apple iPhone SE, £399, from Apple
Pros: Compact and fast performer, great value for Apple
Cons: No 5G, no Face ID, only one camera
Specs: 4.7in display, A13 Bionic processor, 12MP camera, fingerprint sensor but no Face ID.
CAME out last year and has been very popular because it’s so much cheaper than other iPhones. The design isn’t new (it’s near-identical to the iPhone 8) but the processor – the phone’s brain – is the same as found in the iPhone 11 and amazingly fast.
If you like a small phone, this one is hard to beat.
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Sony Xperia 10 III, £399, from John Lewis
Pros: 5G, distinctive shape, good fit in the hand, OLED display
Cons: Performance is decent but not outstanding
Specs: 5G, 6in OLED display, 3 rear cameras
AN OLED display at this price is a real bonus, as is 5G and a toughened glass, not plastic, back. And there’s a 3.5mm headphone jack. Sony’s display is longer than most, so a 6in screen can still fit the hand easily.
There’s an ultra-wide and a telephoto to go with the main camera lens.
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Google Pixel 4a, £349, from Google
Pros: Great camera, pure Android
Cons: Only one camera, design could look basic
Specs: 5.8in OLED display, Snapdragon 730G processor, 12MP rear camera
GOOGLE’s Pixel 4a is even more affordable than the rest here. Only one camera but Google’s clever software manipulation means that the shots are very good.
Squeezes a big screen into a small body and there’s Google’s brilliant Recorder app for transcribing.
There’s a headphone jack and the plastic back means it’s light – though some may feel it looks cheap.
