Have you ever thought about switching banks? No? Me neither.

The thought of having to open up a new account, switch over all your direct debits, wait for a new bank card to arrive - it makes you tired just thinking about it.

But as I have discovered recently, it's actually not that hard to change banks, and it could earn you some money in the process.

All you need is your ID, details of your old bank account, and that's it.

How I switched banks and pocketed £175 in the process

I've been with the same bank - Barclays - since I moved to the UK more than seven years ago. And before that, I had been with the Commonwealth Bank back in Australia my entire life.

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I had been with the same two phone companies my entire life as well - Virgin (in Australia) and O2 (UK) up until recently when I switched over to EE.

So as you can tell I am very much a creature of habit.

I have only ever had the one, everyday account, with Barclays. And it wasn't until the other day when I thought it was about time I opened a savings account that I began looking around at other banks - in an attempt to find the best interest rate.

I had written, and heard, about switch deals that major banks likes Nationwide, Lloyds and Barclays offered from time to time and so thought I would shop around and see what I could find.

I eventually settled on Lloyds, as they had good interest rates on their savings accounts and a live switch deal.

The switch deal offered £175 if you moved banks and opened a Club Lloyds account, plus a free 12 month subscription to Disney+ (there were other subscriptions available, but I went with Disney+).

You also had to have at least two direct debits to transfer over - which between Netflix, Disney+, Spotify and everything else, I was more than covered.

All I had to do was turn up at my local Lloyds branch and the rest just happened

It all sounded well and good getting this £175 and a good interest rate on a savings account, but the thought of having to open a new bank account, close the other one with Barclays and switch over all my direct debits seemed like a daunting task.

So I thought I'd venture into my local Lloyds branch and ask for their assistance with making the switch.

Let me tell you, once I walked in there any fear I had of switching just melted away. I gave them my ID, explained what I wanted to do and they did the rest for me.

They set up my new Lloyds account there and then, organised a new bank card - which arrived in the post a few days later and set a switch date.

My local Lloyds branch in Llandudno (North Wales).My local Lloyds branch in Llandudno (North Wales). (Image: Patrick Glover)

I asked: "But what about switching over all my direct debits? And do I need to go back to Barclays and close my account with them?"

The Lloyds teller said: "No, we'll do that all for you."

I walked out of the branch a little surprised, and with that feeling you get when you feel like you've forgotten something.

But sure enough when I got home, used the activation code and opened the Lloyds app - all my account details were there already.

A few days later the £175 landed in my new Lloyds account.

Then when the switch date rolled around - all my money from my old Barclays account and most of my direct debits (there were a few that didn't come across, but not a big deal) came across.

I went onto my Barclays app and my old account no longer existed.

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All I had to do was turn up at my local Lloyds branch and the rest just happened.

So I would encourage everyone to shop around, have a look at the other major banks, see what offers they have on and whether or not you may be able to make a few hundred pounds simply by switching banks.

Just pop into your local branch and watch the magic happen.

Just be sure to read all the prerequisites of the switch offers so you don't get caught out.