Ulster Bank launches £175 switch campaign with a very familiar face

Howard Brown, one of the UK's most famous and recognisable banking professionals, has helped launch Ulster Bank's new switch campaign.

There aren't many bank staff who can claim they became a household name, but Howard Brown is one of them. Initially an employee at Halifax, Howard appeared in advertisements for Halifax singing in their well-known "Who gives you extra?" campaign. He starred in a number of advertisements from 2000 to April 2008 when the campaign stopped, and he left the company in 2011.

Now Howard is back, and 'he's made the switch' to Ulster Bank as part of a new marketing campaign promoting the bank's new switching deal. Customers who switch from another bank to Ulster Bank using the account switching service will get £175 as a reward. The account must be a main bank account that's used for your main transactions.

This is the largest switching bonus offered so far by a bank, and the reward is split into £125 paid after a few months and £50 paid after the account has been open for a year. The deadline for switching to get the reward is 17th May, and it must be done through the Current Account Switch programme.

Howard Brown was in Belfast himself this week to promote the switching campaign. Howard said: “Aside from the obvious fact that this is a great offer for people to switch to Ulster Bank, I couldn’t turn down the opportunity to work with the legend that is Henri Hippo!”. Below are a few photos from Howard's visit to Belfast: