Santander launches current account with increased cashback

Despite coming with a fee, its Santander Edge Up users can earn up to £30 a month cashback on essential spending.

Santander launched its Santander Edge Up current account today, offering its users up to £30 a month in cashback.

“Our new Santander Edge Up Current Account is all about making it easier for our customers to make the most of their everyday spending and help them make their finances stretch a little bit further,” said Andrea Melville, Director for Personal Current Accounts at Santander.

Cashback via essential spending is divided into two categories. Customers will earn 1% cashback on supermarket and travel spending and can earn a further 1% on selected bills paid by direct debit.

The cashback on these categories is capped at £15 each, adding up to £30 in total.

This means, in order to earn the entire £30 cashback, its users will need to spend £3,000 a month across these categories.

“Overall, it’s a package that may suit customers who use their primary account for both their regular bills and daily spending, but it’s important they ensure they are earning enough off the account so they can cover the monthly account fee,” said Rachel Springall, Finance Expert at Moneyfactscompare.co.uk.

The Santander Edge Up account comes with a £5 monthly fee, which means if you maximise your cashback then you’ll be making £25 a month from this account.

The newly launched Santander Edge Up current account also earns 3.50% AER on balances of up to £25,000. This translates to about £72 a month in interest, according to Santander’s calculations.

In comparison, its Santander Edge current account, which was launched in November, offers a better rate of 4.00% AER in a separate savings account. However, this is only available on balances up to £4,000 and includes a bonus rate of 0.50% AER for the first 12 months.

The Santander Edge Up account also comes with other perks, such as 0% fees for spending abroad, arranged overdraft subject to eligibility, and access to Santander Boosts. This is a reward service where customers can earn vouchers to use at stores such as Tesco, Greggs and Adidas.

Despite withdrawing its 123 current account from sale, Santander still accepts applicants for its Santander Edge account. This comes with a lower monthly fee of £3, but restricts its cashback to £20 a month.

It is possibly an account for someone who won’t spend enough to earn £30 in cashback from the Santander Edge Up account.

In addition to Santander’s other accounts, Springall also encouraged potential current account switchers to revalue all their options on the market before committing to a provider.

Some providers, like NatWest and HSBC, offer a current account switching incentive of £200 instead. Otherwise, first direct’s 1^st current account offers eligible applicants a £250 interest-free overdraft. This deal comes with a £175 switching incentive.

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