Martin: 'Time to fix?', free £50 inves tment, NEW 1% no-notice savings & free £150, hot cashback app

New. Martin: Play the system to...
Get a massive TOP paying easy-access savings (1% - next best 0.75%) and a FREE £150...

This is good old-fashioned MoneySaving, the type of thing I started the site on, back near the turn of the century (I was very young). It's about combining deals to max a payout - a game to gain. And frankly I wanted to lead on something positive amongst the tragic news this week.

This is all about a lust for your bank account custom as Virgin Money has put on new financial glad rags and is willing to pay customers to join it. Luckier this is easier to do than to explain...

The new Virgin Money M Plus* account has four eye-catching elements to draw in accepted new customers:
- A free £100 'experience days out' voucher for scores of activities such as driving track days, indoor skydiving or afternoon tea.
- 5% AER in-credit interest (3% is a 12mth bonus) on up to £1,000.
- A top debit card for spending overseas, giving you near-perfect rates.
- Access to its linked M Plus easy-access savings account which pays a whopping 1% AER variable on up to £25,000. That's substantially more than the top normal easy-access account Atom's 0.75% (though if you can lock money away you can beat it with top fixed savings).

Yet crucially while you need to use its switching service (which closes your old account, so this then takes over) to get the first two elements, you DON'T NEED TO SWITCH TO IT TO GET THE 1% SAVINGS and the debit card.
So you can just open it up, without switching, alongside your existing current account to get 1% savings on up to £25k, and for the cheap overseas spending (it asks if you want to switch another account in - say no if you don't want to). Though if you don't switch, you don't get the 3% bonus within the main account, just the still very good 2% on up to £1,000.

Its full switch is a good deal - there just may be better

I've split the savings account element from the bits you need to switch to it for, as it's best to see these as separate decisions.
If you're happy to switch bank, Virgin is a decent option, with the benefit of simplicity - but other banks are willing to pay too. And as the terms allow you to grab Virgin just for savings, you can independently assess whether it's the best account to fully switch to or instead...

Currently (pun intended), competition in the bank account market is white hot. Our Best current accounts guide has full info and eligibility criteria, but the main options are below (more in the guide). To switch, you normally need to be new to the bank and...
... pass a not-too-harsh credit check.
... use its 7-working-day switch service. This moves all standing orders and direct debits for you, closes your old account and auto-forwards payments to the new one. In my snap Twitter poll 80% said it's mostly hassle-free.
... pay in a set amount, some just a one-off to get the bonus, and some each month - their way to encourage you to use it as your main account.

Of course, if you open one of these as well as Virgin Money, it mildly increases the impact on your credit file. This shouldn't be an issue for most, but I wouldn't do it if within the next few months you're due an important credit application, such as a mortgage or balance transfer credit card.
A quick final PS for savers... can you earn more?

I've focused on easy-access savings above, where you can put your money in and withdraw it when you want. Full help on that in our Top savings guide, yet there are a host of ways some can earn more interest, so here's a quick list to click to read.
- 50% bonus for many on universal credit or tax credits: Help to Save.
- 25% bonus for first-time buyers aged 18-39: Lifetime ISAs.
- Got expensive debts? Pay 'em off: Repay debts or save?
- Can you lock money away? Higher rates in fixed savings.
- Earn up to 5% if you save monthly: Regular savings accounts.
- One of the few who pay tax on savings interest? Top cash ISAs.
- Earn '1%' easy access, but prizes are a lottery: Premium Bonds.
- Prefer to invest? Hopefully bigger returns, but possible losses too. Stocks & shares ISAs are a decent start point for many.