Barclays pays up to £300 if your employer pays £2,000 of salary into the account within 30 days. Other offers accept a transfer from your own account.
4 Oct 2026 · 4 min read
Almost every switch offer asks you to pay money in, and almost every one accepts money from your own account. Barclays wants a salary paid by an employer, and it pays the most.
If you’re starting a new job, your pay is about to be set up somewhere anyway, which makes the Barclays condition simpler to meet.
Check whether the bank wants a deposit or a salary
HSBC’s terms show what most banks mean. "Deposit means money paid into your account, including salary, bank transfers and cash." Moving £2,000 from your own savings counts there.
Barclays wants "a salary of at least £2,000" paid by Bacs from an employer within 30 days of opening the account. The money has to come from an employer’s payroll.
Barclays is the one offer that needs your employer to pay your salary into the new account.
How the Barclays £300 is made up
That’s up to £300 if you qualify every month. Miss a month and you lose that month’s £30.
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£150 once the switch and the first £2,000 salary are done, within 30 days of opening.
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£30 for each month you get £2,000 of salary paid in and make 10 card payments, for up to five months.
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The switch also has to carry at least three active direct debits.
Time it to your first payday
The 30 days start when the account opens. A new employer can take a few weeks to set up payroll, so open the account close to your first payday, give your employer the new details straight away, and check your first payslip went to the right account.
If your monthly pay is under £2,000, the Barclays offer won’t pay out. The other offers still work.
Who can’t get it
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Anyone who had a Barclays current account open on or before 1 October 2026, including a student or graduate account.
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Anyone who has had a Barclays switch bonus before.
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Joint account holders. The offer is for a sole Barclays Bank Account.
Moving your salary
Every other offer works with a spare account and money you move yourself. Barclays means changing where you’re paid for up to five months. If Barclays is one stop on a longer run of bonuses, plan when you’ll move your salary again.
What we do about it
Bank Switcher marks Barclays as the one offer that needs your salary and says so on its step, so you can see whether it fits before you open anything. This is general information and isn’t financial advice.