Co-op says it will be paying customers free £150 cash 'within 30 days'

The Co-Operative Bank has launched a new £150 cash boost to new customers. The offer is only available for a limited amount of time, though, the financial arm of the popular supermarket chain and grocery store has confirmed.

An amount of £75 will be credited to the eligible current account within seven days of meeting the eligibility criteria, it says. An additional £15 will then be paid into the qualifying Regular Saver account for five consecutive months following the qualifying period.

John Ward, director of product at The Co-operative Bank, said: “We’re pleased to launch this new switch and regular save incentive. As the only UK bank with a customer-led Ethical Policy, our customers can be assured that their money will never be used to fund organisations involved in harmful activity such as the extraction or production of fossil fuels or human rights abuses.”

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On the 30th day after the switch, customers are told they must have two active direct debits set up on the account (these can include any that are transferred as part of the switch), must deposit a minimum of £1,000 into the account, must register for online banking or mobile banking and must make a minimum of 10 card transactions (including via digital wallet).

The Co-op Bank is offering an attractive rate of seven per cent AER. Your account will mature after one year, but the rate is variable which means it could change throughout this period. You have the freedom to withdraw money when you like and this saver can be opened either online or in branch.

If you do not meet the eligibility criteria for one of the months, you can still meet it in one of the following months. The offer runs for the five months following your switch, and the period is not extended should you not be eligible for a month.

To qualify for the £15 a month you must have opened a qualifying Regular Saver account no later than midnight on the last day of the full calendar month, following the month in which the £75 switch incentive in section A was received.