Which switch bonuses can you take if you already bank with HSBC?

Bonuses are excluded by banking group, not by brand. HSBC and first direct are one group; Nationwide owns Virgin Money; Lloyds, Halifax and Bank of Scotland are one.

9 Sep 2026 · 3 min read

The commonest way to lose a bonus is to be ineligible before you start, and the commonest reason is that the bank you are switching to shares a group with one you already use — or one you took a bonus from years ago.

The groups that matter

HSBC and first direct are the same group. Take one and you cannot take the other.

Nationwide bought Virgin Money, and its offer excludes anyone who has taken a bonus from either.

Lloyds, Halifax and Bank of Scotland are one group.

NatWest, RBS and Ulster Bank are one group, along with Coutts.

The Co-operative Bank and Smile are the same bank.

The two questions banks actually ask

First: do you already hold an account with us? Most offers are for new customers, and some count anyone who held an account on a particular date years ago — HSBC looks back to 2023, NatWest to a date in 2026, and those dates move.

Second: have you had a switch bonus from this group before? Usually that is a permanent exclusion rather than a cooling-off period.

Only you know the answer to the second question. No app can look it up, and a wrong answer produces a plan that cannot pay.

What we do about it

The app asks which banks you hold and which bonuses you have taken, then applies the group rules for you — including picking the better of two offers inside one group, and letting you swap to the other if its pay-in is easier. Where a bank has a date-based rule it cannot check, it tells you what to go and confirm before you do the work.

Want this worked out for your banks?

Six tap-only questions and Bank Switcher tells you which of these offers you can actually take, in the order that collects the most. Free, and about a minute.