The bank accounts paying the biggest joining bonuses

The battle for current account customers shows no signs of slowing down, with more and more banks offering juicy joining bonuses to get our custom.

Here are the best on offer right now, and what the accounts actually offer.

Clydesdale and Yorkshire Bank

After a short break Clydesdale and Yorkshire banks have brought back their switching bonus of £150! What's more, it's available on all personal and private current accounts.

All they ask is that you use the full Current Account Switch Service (CASS) to transfer your main bank account, switch a minimum of two active direct debits within 31 days of switching and pay in at least £1,000 a month.

But hurry, the offer ends on 31 March 2016.

If you've taken up the switching bonus since 17 November 2014, you won't be eligible.

Halifax

Halifax is offering £125 to those that switch to its current accounts.

The offer applies to the Current Account, Reward Current Account and Ultimate Reward Current Account.

The Reward Current Account is a particularly good deal to go for. It pays £5 a month, providing you credit the account with £750 each month, pay out at least two direct debits per month and manage to stay out of the red. So in total you could pocket £160 in the first year from the Reward Account!

You'll also be able to benefit from a scheme called Cashback Extras, which allows you to earn money when you shop online at certain retailers.

First Direct

First Direct offers new customers a £125 joining bonus if they open a 1st Account.

To avoid the £10 fee monthly fee for the account you'll need to pay in at least £1,000 a month. Alternatively, you'll need to have another First Direct product – such as a savings account or insurance.

The account comes with a £250 fee-free overdraft, exclusive access to First Direct products like its market-leading 6% regular savings account and is consistently recognised for its high level of customer service.

Plus in the unlikely event that you don't like the bank and decide to leave after a year it will pay you another £100.

M&S Bank

M&S Bank has recently revamped the rewards on offer from its M&S Current Account, and they are now pretty substantial.

First up, when you open the account, you get a £100 M&S gift card which you can spend in store.

On top of that, if you deposit £1,000 a month into the account, that gift card will be topped up by £10 each month for the first year. So that's the potential to pocket essentially £220 in your first year with the account.

What's more, with the M&S Current Account you get exclusive access to a regular saver paying a whopping 6%. If you pay in the maximum of £250 a month, you'll get a further £96. So you could make £316 in 12 months with this account, an incredible deal.

If you want to earn interest

If you do have a bit of money left aside each month, you might want to take a look at two accounts which are paying market-leading levels of in-credit interest.

The Nationwide FlexDirect account pays 5% interest before tax on credit balances of up to £2,500 for the first year you have the account. You need to pay in £1,000 a month to qualify.

The TSB Classic Plus Account also pays a gross rate of 5%, but on balances up to £2,000. The good thing about this account is that the rate is ongoing and you only need to deposit £500 a month to qualify for the interest.

These rates are miles better than the top easy access savings accounts right now.

Elsewhere Tesco Bank will pay 3% on balances up to £3,000 (and allows you to earn Clubcard points on your debit card spending), the Bank of Scotland Classic Current Account with Vantage pays 3% on balances between £3,000 and £5,000 and Lloyds Bank will pay 4% on balances between £4,000 and £5,000.

http://aol.lovemoney.com/currentaccounts?Source=6000000Compare the top current accounts