Sometimes. A few banks pay existing customers who bring another account across, as long as the switch comes from a different bank. Most want you to be new to them, or to open a new account for the switch.
The rule is in each offer’s terms, and it changes from offer to offer, so check on the day you apply.
Nationwide lets you switch into an account you hold
Nationwide’s terms allow a switch into an existing Nationwide account. The clock then starts when you tell Nationwide you want to switch, and you have 31 days from then to pay in £1,000 and use the debit card.
Two catches apply. Money already sitting in the Nationwide account doesn’t count towards the £1,000. And if that account has had a switch offer at any time since 2021, it won’t get another one.
Money already in your Nationwide account doesn’t count towards the £1,000 pay-in.
The switch still has to come from another bank
Every offer here pays for an account moving in from elsewhere through the Current Account Switch Service. Moving money between two accounts at the same bank, or switching between banks in the same group, won’t earn it. Lloyds, Halifax and Bank of Scotland count as
one group, and so do HSBC and first direct, and NatWest, RBS and Ulster Bank.
What we do about it
Bank Switcher asks which banks you already have a current account with and which you’ve had a bonus from, and leaves out the offers those rule out. This is general information and isn’t financial advice.