Having an overdraft at your old bank doesn’t stop you from switching accounts. Full switches made through the Current Account Switch Service will still go through, even if you have an overdraft. But, your new bank might not automatically give you the same overdraft, or any overdraft at all.

What happens depends on whether or not you’re overdrawn when you switch.

If you have an overdraft but you aren’t in it

If you have an overdraft at your old bank, but aren’t using it when you switch, your switch will go through as usual.

Your old bank will transfer all your payments and any remaining money to your new account, and close your old account.

If you’d like an overdraft at your new bank, they may be willing to accept your existing overdraft. Or you can apply for a new overdraft once you’ve switched.

If you switch to Monzo, we won’t automatically give you the same overdraft you have at your old bank. But before you switch, you can check the overdraft limit we will give you by going to the Account tab in your app.

If you have an overdraft and you’re in it

If you have an overdraft and your balance is below zero, you can still switch accounts using the Current Account Switch Service. Having a negative balance won’t stop the switch from going through.

But remember, switching doesn’t mean that you’ve paid off the money you owe to your old bank. So you’ll have to clear the balance.

To do this, you have two options:

1. Find out whether your new bank will accept your existing overdraft

Your new bank might ask you whether or not you have an overdraft when you switch. Or you can get in touch with them before you start to find out if they are willing to accept your overdraft.

If they are, you should be able to switch everything over through the Current Account Switch Service, including your overdraft.

If you switch to Monzo, at the moment we won’t automatically accept your overdraft, which means we can’t transfer your overdraft from your old bank to your Monzo account. But you can still switch to Monzo and pay off your overdraft with your old bank by following the steps below. And you can check whether we’ll offer you an overdraft before you switch, from the Account tab in your app.

2. Agree on a way to pay off your overdraft at your old bank

If you can’t move your overdraft to your new account, you can still go ahead with a switch. But you’ll need to pay back your overdraft at your old bank.

If you switch your account through the Current Account Switch Service, your old bank might leave your old account open, and get in touch with you to agree on a way to pay off your overdraft. Or they might close your account and ask you to repay the money another way.

What happens depends on each banks’ procedures. Your bank should contact you to agree on a way to pay your overdraft back, or you can get in touch before you switch to find out how it works.

So, you can switch bank accounts through the Current Account Switch Service, even if you have an overdraft at your old bank. But if you’re using your overdraft at the time that you switch, you’ll need to do a bit of research beforehand.

We hope you found this useful! We’ll be answering more common questions about managing your money. Tell us what you think on Twitter or let us know what else you’d like us to cover on the community forum 📣