Switching Current Account with Santander Provides £180 Incentive, While Eliminating One Favored Edge Benefit
Santander, following in the footsteps of several other UK banks, has introduced a UK market-standard cash incentive for customers who open one of its current accounts. This new offer joins similar deals from Nationwide, First Direct, and Co-op.
However, concurrently, the bank has stopped providing a cashback perk on shopping and travel spending for its popular Edge account.
The new incentive promises a total of £180 to both new and existing customers who transfer their bank account to a Santander Everyday, Edge, Edge Up, or Private current account. Prospective customers can initiate the switch process either online or at a Santander branch commencing 29 May 2025, but the deal's closure date remains unspecified.
To qualify for the payout, customers must adhere to the following conditions: complete the full switch within 60 days of the initial request, close their previous account, pay in at least £1,500 across multiple transactions, and set up at least two active direct debits within the same timeframe. Pre-existing Santander current account holders as of 1 January 2025 are ineligible.
Successful applicants will receive their £180 payment within 90 days of commencing the switch process, provided they have fulfilled all the switching criteria.
Additionally, Santander has announced that it will no longer provide a 1% cashback on shopping and travel spending for customers utilizing its Santander Edge and Edge Up accounts. Customers will, however, continue to receive 1% cashback on selected household bills, up to a maximum of £10 for Edge accounts and £15 monthly for Edge Up accounts. The card can also be used for fee-free spending abroad.
Customers wishing to gauge their potential cashback earnings should use Santander’s online calculator.
Competing banks are fostering a similar trend by offering cash incentives, with Nationwide today launching a £200 switching deal for its current account customers who already hold an existing savings or mortgage product. The bank is also planning to give £100 each to approximately 4 million members as part of its third annual Fairer Share payment.
First Direct and Co-op are both offering £175 for new current account customers, while TSB is offering up to £190 for both a cashback reward and hotel/activity voucher, depending on the chosen plan.
The trend appears to be a response to customers gravitating towards banks with lucrative incentives and perks. In the last three months of 2024, Nationwide gained over 132,000 new current account customers from the switching process facilitated through the Current Account Switch Service (CASS) thanks to its £175 switching bonus, accounting for a net gain of 51,254 customers despite losing some existing ones.
[1] https://personal.santander.co.uk/ switched-santander-bank-account-deal-santander-switching-180-cashback[2] https://www.moneysupermarket.com/bank-accounts/cash-back-streaming/[3] https://www.currentaccountswitch.co.uk/individual/how-it-works/your- guarantees/[4] https://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/bankspecial/article-3287431/Bank-account-switch-bonus-guide-everything-need-know-Nationwide-s-record-switch-bonus.html[5] https://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/bankspecial/article-8456527/How-switch-bank-account-step-step-guide.html
- To take advantage of the new Santander cash incentive, individuals can transfer their existing bank account to a Santander Everyday, Edge, Edge Up, or Private current account, and receive £180 upon completing the switch process, provided they meet the specified conditions.
- Collected savings and investments may be boosted when considering a switch to a bank offering enticing incentives, such as the £200 switching deal recently introduced by Nationwide for current account customers who already hold an existing savings or mortgage product.
