Halifax to cut switching bonus for current account customers to £75

Halifax is chopping its £100 switching bonus offer to current account customers to £75 in a further blow to people looking to move deals.

The bonus will shrink by £25 from March 1, but the bank said the move will still allow Halifax to keep its switching package competitive and attractive "within the current economic climate".

Current accounts have offered relatively generous returns for savers at a time when traditional savings accounts have offered meagre rates.

But several current account providers have reduced their perks since the Bank of England base rate was cut to 0.25% last year.

Halifax previously announced the £5 per month it paid to its Reward current account customers who fulfil certain criteria would fall to £3 from February.

Santander has also recently halved the 3% rate on its flagship 123 current to 1.5%.

Rachel Springall, a finance expert at Moneyfacts, said: "We could well see more banks cut down their cash perks because of this bold move, although on the other hand, this might be the perfect excuse for other brands to use this news to their advantage to try and entice more customers in their campaign."

The most recent figures from the current account switch service (CASS), which was launched in 2013 to make it easier for people to ditch and switch banks, show that Halifax, Santander and Nationwide Building Society were among the providers to see net gains in customers switching between April 1 and June 30 2016.

Halifax said it will continue to pay the bonus, which is open to customers using the switching service, directly into customers' accounts by the time the switch has completed.

Russell Galley, managing director at Halifax, said: "We believe it is not only our competitive switching offer but also the high levels of service we deliver which encourages customers to make the move to Halifax.

"Since the introduction of CASS, we have been a market leader with more than 700,000 customers making the switch to Halifax.

"We're telling people about the change now in order to give them a chance to make the switch before March 1."