Best bank accounts for cashback 2024 - Which? (2024)

We reveal the current accounts offering the most cashback and rewards on your energy bills, transport costs and shopping.

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Chiara CavaglieriSenior researcher & writer

Does your bank account give you extra?

Many banks and building societies offer cashback on monthly bills to open or retain a current account.

Others will pay a monthly bonus or non-monetary rewards if you meet certain conditions, such as using your debit card a certain number of times.

Here, we explain how to get the most out of cashback current accounts and the crucial T&Cs to look out for.

• Looking for upfront cash for moving bank? See our guide to thebest current account switching offers.

Best bank accounts for cashback and rewards

We show the current accounts that pay cashback or rewards below, ranked by maximum cashback per month.

Bank accounts paying cashback and rewards reviews

Santander Edge Up vs Santander Edge

The Santander Edge account, launched in November 2022, costs £3 per month and offers up to £20 in cashback per month:

• 1% cashback on essential grocery shopping and transport spending, capped at £10 per month.
• 1% cashback on household bills paid via direct debit covering council tax, gas and electricity, mobile, landline, broadband and paid-for TV packages, capped at £10 per month.

Edge customers can apply for an exclusive linked easy-access savings account paying 7% AER on balances up to £4,000 falling to 4.5% after 12 months (at the time of writing), fee-free international and UK CHAPs transfers and free withdrawals at Santander ATMs overseas.

The Santander Edge Up account, launched in June 2023, costs £5 a month and pays up to 1% cashback on selected household bills, capped at £30 each month (£15 per cashback tier):

• 1% cashback on mobile and home phone bills, broadband and paid-for TV packages council tax, gas and electricity bills and water bills, capped at £15 per month.
• 1% cashbackon supermarket spending and travel spending , capped at £15 per month.

The Edge Up account pays 3.5% interest on credit balances up to £25,000 (best high-interest bank accounts).

For the Edge Up account, you'll need to pay in £1,500 every month and have at least two active direct debits. For the Edge account, you also need to have at least two active direct debits, but you'll only need to pay in £500 every month.

Chase

The Chase current account has no monthly fee and offers 1% cashback on debit card purchases for the first year.

For accounts opened after 9 May 2023, cashback is capped at £15 per month. Exclusions apply, though. For example, you won't earn cashback on cryptocurrencies, debt payments, estate agent fees or gambling transactions.

You earn 1% AER variable on your current account balance for the first 12 months of holding your account and you can open a linked savings account paying 4.1% AER on balances up to £500,000, although we advise you to keep balances within the £85,000 compensation limit.

Ongoing perks include no debit card fees on transactions or ATM withdrawals abroad and 5% on 'round-up' savings.

If you opt into this, Chase automatically rounds up your spending to the nearest £1 and saves the difference. You can't make additional payments into the savings pot and after a year the balance will be automatically transferred to your Chase current account so you won't earn 5% on a large balance.

You must be 18 years old-plus and have a smartphone, as accounts are operated via a mobile banking app and there are no Chase bank branches.

NatWest and RBS Reward

Previously, the NatWest and RBS Reward accounts paid 2% cashback on household bills paid by direct debit, but this perk was scrapped in February 2020.

Now, you can earn £4 for paying out two or more direct debits (valued at £2 minimum), plus £1 for logging into the mobile banking app each month. Both banks offer 1% cashback on spending at certain retailers as well.

You must pay £1,250 into the NatWest or RBS Reward current account each month to qualify for the perks.

Your Rewards become available to spend once you've earned the equivalent of £5 or more.

At this point, you can choose to either bank it so that the money is transferred to your current account, trade it for gift cards and shopping codes to use at selected retailers or donate it to a participating charity.

Barclays Blue Rewards

Barclays Blue Rewards has become considerably less generous.

The monthly fee is now £5 (it was £4) and you only earn £5 cashback for maintaining two active monthly direct debits (it was £7). You must pay at least £800 into your Barclays account every month to be eligible for Blue Rewards.

The only way to earn more cashback, is to hold other products with Barclays:

• £3 a month for a Barclays mortgage (was £5)
• £5 a month for life insurance with critical illness cover (£1.50 for standard life insurance)
• £1 a month for a personal loan.

As a Blue Rewards customer, you can also open a Barclays Rewards Saver, offering a rate of 3.56% AER if you make no withdrawals and 1.16% in the months where you make withdrawals.

Blue Rewards can be added to all Barclays current accounts except Basic, Young Person's, BarclayPlus, foreign currency accounts, non-personal Wealth and Business.

• Go further:the Money Helper bank account fees and charges tool canhelp you compare current accounts offered by most banks based on what they charge for different services and facilities.

Should you get a cashback or rewards bank account?

Many providers ask you pay in a minimum amount each month or maintain a certain number of direct debits to be eligible for current account rewards.

In some cases, you may need to hold other products with that provider, such as a mortgage, personal loan or insurance to benefit fully.

Compare rates to the rest of the market as you might be better off holding these products with other providers, even with the extra cashback.

Watch out for fees being increased, or benefits being chopped and changed. If they are, take the time to reassess whether the account is still working for you and consider switching if the benefits no longer stack up.

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