It’s time to switch current accounts. Six months ago I advised people to switch to FirstDirect’s account, which offers new customers £100 if they switch using the bank’s switching service. First Direct was so confident that once you’d switched to them you wouldn’t leave, that they offered another £100 to anyone who left after six months under their “satisfaction guarantee”.
Well the six months are up and, in a wonderful coincidence, Alliance & Leicester have just relaunched their £100 cashback offer for new customers. So sign up to Alliance & Leicester – which also offers an interest-free overdraft and 0.5% on credit balances – and you’ll have made £300 in six months.
• Leeds Building Society has launched a market leading five-year fixed rate Isa paying 4.6%. Savers can withdraw up to 25% of the capital at any time without having to give notice or pay a penalty.
• Christmas may only just be over but Yorkshire Building Society is already encouraging people to start thinking about Christmas 2010. In order to avoid spending more than you can afford next year start saving now with the Yorkshire Building Society’s Christmas Saver account. It has a 12-month term and pays a fixed rate of 3.5%. Savers can invest up to £1,200 throughout the year. You will get instant access to your funds from 1 December.
• Watch out for a wills scam. Lawyers have issued an urgent warning about a scam designed to fool people into paying to have their wills rewritten, warns Scotland on Sunday. People are being told that their wills are no longer valid due to a rule change and they need to have them rewritten to include page numbers and a signature on each page. This is not true.
• If you aren’t snowed in then head down to Yo Sushi! and enjoy 40% off conveyor belt food Sunday-Thursday until 28 January. Just print off the voucher from www.yosushi.com. Caffe Uno is also offering 50% off meals on Sunday-Thursday until 31 January with a voucher from www.caffeuno.co.uk.