Banking

Nationwide has extended its popular 'refer a friend' scheme to allow anyone with one of its mortgages or savings accounts to earn up to £500 a year – though it's added more hoops to jump through to get the cash.

More than half of all Norwich & Peterborough customers now have longer to close their current accounts, and four banks have confirmed that they will be able to earn up to £200 switching to them.

Banks are failing to protect customers from bank transfer fraud despite regulatory calls for action, consumer group Which? has warned.

If you've still got any old-style £5 notes, beware – you only have until Friday (5 May) to spend them before they're officially withdrawn by the Bank of England. Here's what's happening and what you can do if you miss the deadline.

NatWest is cutting cashback for 1.7 million Reward current account-holders from 3% to 2% in June and introducing a hefty £1,500 minimum monthly pay-in for new customers - though it's also cutting the account's monthly fee.

Tesco Bank has started accepting applications again for its popular current account, which comes with a guarantee of at least 3% AER interest on up to £3,000 until April 2019 – but it's added new hoops to jump through to get the interest.

If you're a Barclays current account holder and haven't yet signed up to its Blue Rewards scheme, join by 30 April and you'll get double rewards for the first month. This means you can earn at least £55 in your first year on the scheme.

If you haven't switched to the best bank for you yet, with two hot deals ending from First Direct & HSBC, go quick

An image-based cheque-clearing system will be introduced later this year that will cut the time it takes for money to reach your account from up to six working days to the next weekday.

Skipton Building Society has become the first provider to announce it will offer a cash Lifetime ISA - but you won't be able to get one until June.