With changes to cashback and savings rates, is Chase still our top pick?
Chase Bank is a well known and popular bank in the US, being one of their high-street banks. Thanks to a strong rewards offering across cashback and savings rates, it’s been a stand out pick since its launch. Here’s our take on the latest bank to shake up the market.
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What is Chase?
Chase is a fully-digital bank in the UK, though it originates in the US where it’s the largest high-street bank. It’s part of JP Morgan Chase which also owns a number of brands, including UK investing app Nutmeg.
It comes with a Mastercard debit card and competes with other digital banks, such as Monzo, Starling and Revolut. It works pretty much the same as the traditional high street banks that you’ll have heard of, but there aren’t any branches, so everything is managed from the app.
Types of Chase account
Chase only has the one account available and there aren’t additional tiers to upgrade the account. This means that there aren’t better savings rates, features or card types that you’ve got to pay for and you can’t pay extra to get additional benefits like insurance or airport lounge access.
Once you have your Chase current account set up you can open up to 20 additional accounts. These all use the same card but have different account numbers, so you can use them for individual purposes, but don’t have to carry multiple cards around. We talk more about this feature further down.
Chase rewards and extras
Rewards are where Chase had previously scored particularly well – there’s in-account interest and cashback available.
Cashback with Chase
When it launched, Chase paid 1% cashback on all of your spending, both at home and abroad. That’s now changed.
You will earn the same 1% rate, but now only on groceries, everyday petrol and transport. We have a separate guide on Chase’s cashback offering with more details, including any exclusions.
You can get up to £15 in cashback each month, so it’s paid on spending (in those qualifying categories) on up to £1,500 a month.
In the first year of having the account, there’s no minimum monthly deposit required to get the cashback. But once you’ve had it for a year, you’ll need to put at least £1,500 per month into the account to qualify for the next month’s cashback – this can be in more than one deposit so you could theoretically move the same amount in and out of the account for it to count multiple times. This amount was upped from £500 in February 2024.
Cashback goes into a separate account. It can be transferred to your main account balance when you want to spend it.
The changes to Chase’s cashback are disappointing, and mean there are better credit cards that offer cashback which are worth a look.
Saving rates with Chase
Chase has two savings options that you can only get with the current account. At times they’ve been right at the top of the tables, but now there are higher paying savings accounts.
First, you can open connected savings accounts that each pay 3% AER on balances up to £3million. This tracks the Bank of England base rate, so it’ll fall in line with any future cuts. New customers can get a boost for six months.
Chase also has a ’round-up’ feature that rounds up your spending to the next £1 and chucks it in a savings account. You can get 5% on your round-ups for 12 months, which is a lot better than any competing auto-savings accounts.
in 2024 Chase removed the ability to earn interest on balances in the main current account.
Does Chase have a switching or welcome offer?
Sadly, Chase has no switching, referral or welcome offers. There was a referral scheme back in 2022, but we’ve not seen any since that ended. The only perk newbies get right now is being able to earn cashback for the first year without depositing £1,500 each month.
If you’re after a switching bonus, we have a guide on the current ones available.
One good thing about Chase is that it can be used as a dummy account for switching – if you set up secondary accounts, you can switch these out without fully closing your Chase account.
You can’t return to Chase if you fully switch your only account out or close the account.
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The Chase app
The Chase app is the hub for everything you’ll do with Chase – you can’t go into a branch or use telephone banking, so this is pretty important.
Design and customisation
The Chase app has a clean and simple interface and it’s really easy to find what you need, but it isn’t anything spectacular. Editor-in-chief Andy actually really likes the interface, while I feel it’s a little too simple.
Everything you need is only a couple of taps away – you can see all of your different accounts on the home screen, including any savings accounts you’ve got.
There’s no customisation available – the best you can do is name the extra accounts you choose to set up.
Categorisation and notifications
When you spend money or money leaves your Chase account, you’ll get an instant notification to let you know.
In addition, Chase will automatically assign a category to the transaction to allow you to analyse your spending over time. If it gets the category wrong, you can change it, too. This is helpful when a transaction doesn’t necessarily match the category it’s assumed to be.
Budgeting features
Chase lets you set a budget for each account that you’ve got. You can’t do this for individual categories, so it’s easiest to make separate accounts for categories that you want to budget differently in order to do this.
This could be a gamechanger when it comes to organising your money, if you’re committed to it. You’d basically have a bunch of separate accounts and one Chase card. When you’re about to pay, you can change which account you’re spending from within the Chase app to make sure it goes out of the right account. This is similar to Starling’s “Spaces”, except the money will leave the account automatically.
There are also spending insights to help you find out where your money is really going.
Integrations
Like most banking apps, the Chase app is secured with biometrics or a passcode.
You can set up Chase with Apple Pay, Google Pay, Garmin Pay and Samsung Pay. You can’t use Fitbit Pay.
You can also connect external apps such as Emma, Cheddar or Airtime Rewards with Open Banking.
Card controls and virtual cards
Once you’ve set up your account with Chase, you can order a free numberless card. The card number, expiry date and CVV are all found in the app. This can be used for all of the accounts you have with Chase, you just change the account you want to pay from within the app.
You can fetch all the card details and account information from the app – they can be copied straight out of the app if you’re making payments online. The card can be frozen from the app and you can view your PIN if you forget it.
You can also turn off Chip & Pin, disable cash withdrawals, block payments outside the UK and turn off the magstripe within the app.
You can also set your own contactless limit, but you can’t block gambling transactions.
Sending and receiving money in the Chase app
One of the things that Chase falls short on is splitting bills or requesting money from friends and family. You can make transfers with your friends’ bank details – which can be pasted in directly from their WhatsApp message to remind you. You can also copy your own details for when they owe you.
You can set up new payees directly from the app and set up and manage standing orders.
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Chase current account
Chase Bank is a decent current account, though there were a few fallbacks which can hold it back against some of its competitors.
Account basics
When it comes to the basics, you get a standard card with the account at no additional cost. The card is numberless, which means you can take photos of it safely, and nobody can jot down your details from your card to use online later — this has actually happened to me before, so it’s a great benefit.
You can start using the card before it even arrives by setting it up with Google Pay and Apple Pay.
If you want to set up or amend standing orders or direct debits, you can do this directly from the app.
Unfortunately, you can’t pay in cash or cheques with Chase. However the terms and conditions were changed in late 2023 to cover the introduction of adding cash at PayPoint locations in the near future, so we’ll keep you posted.
Chase doesn’t allow Swift or CHAPS payments, but it does allow Faster Payments and BACS payments. This can be problematic if it’s your only account, so it might be helpful to have another current account to allow for these if they ever come up.
There’s a £25,000 daily transfer limit to UK bank accounts. This is in line with what most banks will allow. Monzo and Nationwide are capped at £10,000 while Starling’s limit is £1m.
Does Chase Bank charge abroad?
Chase is a good bank account to opt for when you’re heading abroad. There aren’t any spend abroad limits, and you’re allowed to withdraw up to £1,500 each month abroad. You no longer earn cashback overseas.
You do, however, need to be careful not to use ATMs that charge for withdrawals, and if you’re asked whether you want to pay in your currency or the local currency, always go for the local one. Chase has a calculator that will tell you what currency conversion rate you’ll get if you use your Chase card — this is found in “Manage card” in the app.
We also have a guide on the best debit and credit cards for travelling, if you want to look at other options.
Chase account fees
Chase is a free bank account. It would win the award for simplest Fee Information Document we’ve ever seen at Be Clever With Your Cash, with “No fee” repeated down the entire document. In addition, there aren’t any paid tiers for extra features. It doesn’t even charge for a replacement card, unlike several of its digital-only competitors.
Chase overdraft
Chase doesn’t offer an overdraft facility. We have a guide to the best bank accounts for overdrafts, if this is what you need.
Chase Smart Money People rating:
Over at Smart Money People, customers have scored the Chase current account 4.95/5.
When we look at just the customer service, customers gave a rating of 4.92 out of 5.
Positive reviewers feel that Chase is always improving by adding new features.
Negative reviewers don’t like that you can’t transfer money abroad and that you can’t send or receive Swift and CHAPS payments.
There are several Chase reviews that complain that you can’t return if you close your account, so it’s something to be careful of if you’re trying to take advantage of a switch offer and end up switching out completely. You can avoid this by switching out a secondary account.
Is Chase Bank safe?
Yes — your deposits into Chase are protected by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS). This means that if Chase were to go bust, up to £85,000 is protected and can be reimbursed to you.
Is Chase a bank?
Yes, Chase is a fully licensed bank in the UK. In the US, it has high-street branches, though here it’s a fully digital bank.
Is Chase bank ethical?
Ethical Consumer magazine lists Chase Bank as one to avoid, alongside Barclays, Natwest, HSBC and Firs Direct. This is largely due to being among the largest investors in fossil fuel extraction, with Chase parent bank JP Morgan the worst offender.
How to apply for a Chase account
It’s super easy to sign up for a Chase Bank account. As long as you have ID on hand, you don’t even need to get out of your seat. You just need to download the app and answer a few questions. You’ll need to take a photo of your ID – I struggled with this and had to do it manually as it kept telling me there was too much glare, but it didn’t slow down the acceptance process at all.
The whole process takes only a few minutes and a card is posted out to you straight away.
Do you need ID for Chase?
Yes, you’ll need to submit photos of your ID and take a video selfie to create a Chase account.
Is there a hard credit check for Chase?
Unlike most banks you won’t be credit checked to apply for a Chase current account – another reason why it’s a great option to create additional accounts to use for bank switching.
How to add money to Chase
Once your account is all set up, you can add money to your account and start using it straight away. You do this with a bank transfer from another bank account using your Chase account details. You’ll see a prompt to do this on the Home screen which says “Ready to go?”
You can have your income paid straight into Chase by giving your employer your account details. You can’t pay in cash or cheques.
How to get help with Chase
Chase doesn’t have any UK branches. To get help, you can contact the help centre over the phone, and there’s an in-app chat function. You can also drop Chase an email to get some help.
In Smart Money People reviews, people rated Chase’s customer service at 4.92/5, with lots of reviews saying that customer service is great and very supportive.
Pros and cons of Chase
Pros
- Simple and easy-to-use app
- 1% cashback on some spending
- Fee-free spending when using abroad
- Open several accounts for budgeting
- Easy to create extra ‘dummy accounts’ for switching
- 5% interest on round ups
- Numberless card
Cons
- No branches
- No switch or referral offers
- No overdraft facility
- Can’t pay in cash or cheques
- No joint accounts
- No CHAPS or Swift payments
Chase current account
| Cashback | 1% cashback on groceries, everyday travel and petrol for your first 12 months as a new customer. Max £15 per month. |
| £1,500 monthly deposit required after one year to trigger cashback | |
| Spending abroad | Zero fees from Chase |
| Savings | Linked saver account: 3% AER variable, paid monthly. T&Cs apply. |
| Round up account: 5% AER (4.89% gross) variable, paid monthly. Round-up account balance transfers to elected Chase current or saver account on anniversary of account opening. T&Cs apply. | |
| FSCS protection? | Yes |
Is Chase a good bank?
Chase has got a clean app which makes it easy to find everything you’re looking for, though it has a few missing features when it comes to splitting bills and requesting money.
Going abroad is one of the best ways to use Chase, thanks to its generous withdrawal limit and limitless fee-free spendin
The inability to pay in cash or cheques or send or receive CHAPS payments do let it down – but these aren’t very common for most people now.
The savings rates however can be beaten, so we’d suggest you shop around for better rates.
I had been with Chase for several years for Savings and Shopping without a problem.
Unfortunately the only way to prove my identity when I lost my password to access my account was with a current Driving License or Passport.
At 90 I no longer drive and my passport had expired.
I contacted the call centre several times and each time they ignored the question and repeated, like a mantra, the same means of identity.
Eventually I was told that there was no other way to access my account so I asked if it was possible to transfer any money in the account to my main uk bank. This the agreed was possible so thiat’s what I requested and this went through very quickly
Ethical score: 0/5 Chase is UK arm of US bank JP Morgan, one of the biggest fossil fuel financers in the world. The sweeteners they’re offering are a good diversion from the damage they’re helping to facilitate.
Thinking of getting this when my American Express gold runs out in October. How do you get around the fact that as it’s not a credit card, you must have the credit in your account to complete your purchase? For instance, if I pay for a bunch of flights for my friends on my credit card I ask them to pay me close to when my bill is due. For this, I need the money instantly to cover the immediate debit from my account.
For me the biggest issue is not being able to have the app active on both a tablet and mobile phone devise. Had i have known this i would have completed my application on my phone not the iPad. My other account providers allow the app to be active on multiple devises. Come on Chase, get your act together on this
Sept 2023 and still only one device allowed ( I joined yesterday) took to chat to have this confirmed by Chase. Otherwise nice app and quick sign up good 4.1% saver too.
December 2024 and still only one device allowed. I only discovered this after deciding to move most of my banking & finance apps to a tablet that stays at home because I don’t use most of them when I’m out & about and it just increases the security risk if my phone gets nicked. Of course, by sod’s law, Chase is the one that I do want to have on both as most of my spending when I am out of the house, or out the country, is on the Chase debit card. Ridiculous!
I did the same. Opened an account in minutes and tried a £10 transfer from one of my other account and arrive instantly.
A warning did show to say unable to check account details but no problems so far.
DON’T GET A CHASE ACCOUNT, I sold some items and was paid direct into my chase account, had a letter saying that the bank that sent the money wanted proof of entitlement or they wanted the money back, chase said that my account was now restricted. By restriction that mean block it up solid so cannot access any part of your savings or personal account until they have finished. Got intouch with the person who bought the items and he got intouch with his bank and they said there wasn’t a problem and his bank hadn’t asked for any entitlement. Everything time you complain to support services you end up speaking with someone else USLESS, it has now been a week with a blocked solid account.
Hi
I am having major problems with this bank, they have put my account on hold and can’t access my funds, they say I can’t speak to the relevant team and it’s been 3 days now and got no money as they are holding it! Any advice?
Thank you
How long was your account put on hold. I’ve had the same problem and can’t access my funds for 3 weeks now. Every time I contact them they said the account is being reviewed by the relevant team, who do not take incoming calls.
Yes it looks good doesn’t it? You’ve obviously had nothing go wrong. SUPPORT IS NON EXISTENT! They have a “support dept.”. who offer support, do nothing & keep no records.If you need help, go anywhere but Chase and don’t believe a word they say. I am now looking for a new home for my cash. The interest is not enough to compensate for the stress. As I have said elsewhere. americans are in general and US companies in particular, are interested only in Money not People..
I have been getting cashback for Direct Debits through Santander 123 for years. Lately, there is a disturbing trend where the service provider asks for a Visa or Mastercard, and say they will take money in the future from the card, and will not use Direct Debit. NowTV, Safestore and By Miles in particular. I expect if you have no money in the account, which some will do in these straitened times, the Direct Debit will fail. They obviously intend to keep taking the monthly payments, from a credit card, instead of listening to the cheque is in the post excuses. The 1% cashback through a Mastercard Debit card is a potential workaround. I have not received the physical card yet, but will try to substitute for the existing payment card. The only snag is, you have to keep money in the Chase current account, for the monthly payments, and you forget to move fund to cover. Ideally, you can keep money in a Saver account, earning 1.5%, and the system automatically transfers money across, when the current account goes into the red.
Like the account – signed up aftre seeing your review.
I have a settlement fee for car finance but can’t work out if this will give me cashback, your thoughts?
It’s unlikely – I think most financial transactions are excluded
I have tried to set up an account and its taken two days for verify now? Is this normal? It does say there has been a high volume of applications so could take 7 days.
Interesting review. Thanks for posting.
My personal opinion would be DO NOT use Chase UK Bank!
Every time you try to make a payment, you have to go through 100 security steps. After you’ve done so, they STILL don’t approve your transfer! They send you a SMS to ring them. You then have to spend at least HALF AN HOUR on the phone to have the honour of being able to get through to their staff.
These staff are based in the third world and incompetent.
It’s only after jumping through several further hoops that they finally allow you to make your transaction.
I have other bank accounts but not ONE other one has anything like this degree of annoyance.
I’ve wasted HOURS of my time hanging onto to their call waiting system to get my simple transactions approved.
Chase do everything possible to maximise inconvenience for customers and make their lives a misery.
App is rubbish too, in a hundred ways. For example, it logs you out after just 60 seconds of non-use, so you constantly have to login and start again. Not a single other bank I use has an app that logs you out so readily.
No web banking, no branch facilities, can’t transact via the Post Office, absolute nothing. This is the Lidl of bank accounts.
Many other people online are just bigging it up to get their £20 free referral cash.
When you reference ‘transactions’ what exactly do you mean, are you refereeing to something as simple as transferring money from your Chase account to another UK bank account
I couldn’t agree more. This is the account for people who want to RAISE their blood pressure.
I honestly agree with you, I wouldn’t recommend for anyone in the UK. They froze my account and said it’s under review for sending money to a new recipient for ages.
Very frustrating and I truly regret opening an account with them.
I have same issue,has the account been opened?
I’d there a Monthy payment fee
No, there are no fees with this account
When I try and transfer from my HSBC account I get a warning that the payee details can’t be verified so there is a rsik my money will be lost? Can you explain this to me? Is this to do with non-acceptance of CHAPS, and is it safe? I have 30k I want to transfer to savings on Chase, but obvioulsy don’t want any risk. Thanks for any advice
I saw this, and have no problem with the account. To be on the safe side I started by transferring £10 which went through instantly. The rest of my intended savings went straight through. Excellent app.
Very helpful, thanks
same here with rbs so i moved 1 pound to make sure .hope that helps
Very helpful, thanks
does this work on google pay now ?
Yes it does
Does anyone know the overseas ATM withdrawal limit?
Thanks
I tried to open a joint account and was informed i had to apply at a Chase Bank branch.
How do i get a joint account. ?
There are no branches in the UK, so you must somehow have been speaking to American support
Support staff are in Edinburgh.
I messaged them through the app about a joint account and they don’t offer one at the moment.
Andy’s review (very clear and thorough IMO) implies that one can run the Chase app on more than one device. I have an Apple iPhone and a Microsoft PC. Given the two different op systems, how does downloading the app and using it on the two machines work in practice?
I have an iphone and an ipad. I wondered how I would manage if I lost my phone, so I downloaded the app onto my ipad. Good idea? Not really….
When I tried to use the app on the ipad it wanted to send me a secure code…on my phone!
So, don’t lose your phone.
A feature I particularly like is the ability to set up multiple spending accounts all of which have different account numbers. This allows you to have a “ghost” account to use only for giving the details to others to send you transfers. Once the transfer is made I immediately move the funds into my “real” account and in this way I never have to disclose the details of an account with any funds in it. Just peace of mind.
Quentin, excellent piece of advice, I will use this method from now. Thank you
What a great piece of advise
Does anyone know if Chase works to wire funds to Crytpo exchange such as kraken?
It’s not relevant to Chase, but relevant to one part of the article and it’s an important thing. If you use Curve you lose the section 75 protection. They offer their own protection, but nevertheless I think it worth mentioning it, because section 75 is a law, while Curve protection is a “company policy”, a feature in my understanding.
Also, there is a mistake or not complete information in the same article: “In the same way as PayPal or Amazon, 3rd party purchases using Curve are not a direct purchase from the user’s original card, so the purchases are not covered by Section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act.”. It’s true when it comes to 3rd party purchases with these companies, but in the case of PayPay it’s not true if you use Paypal Credit for the purchase. In that case you’re protected by section 75.
Hello; I realise that accounts under this bank are protected by the FSCS scheme up to £85k. But realistically, what’s the chance of this bank going under? I have £350k to put into savings for a year before completing on the purchase of a new build house. I’d rather put it all into one savings account, rather than spreading it across multiple accounts. But if the risk is real, obviously I’d rather spread it about. Thanks for your thoughts..
They are literally on every street corner in the US. As common as Starbucks. Hundreds of thousands of them. Arguably the biggest bank in America today. It’s JP Morgan. Something would have to go drastically wrong for them to “go under”.
04/5 22 Like Fred & Florence then ?
Hi, it says that real estate agent fees are excluded from cashback. Just to clarify, does this mean rent payments?
Be aware Chase does not accept CHAPS payments, any CHAPS transfers get lost in the purgatory of JP Morgans payment system and takes days to refund.
I’d been holding off getting this account as I’m not big on these app-only things but the 1.5% savings account makes it a must-have right now. One thing to bear in mind, looking ahead. As far as I can see Chase isn’t signed up to the Current Account Switch Service. So, when Chase ceases to be such an attractive option, it doesn’t seem you’ll be able to use the account as switching fodder – always handy to have something waiting in the wings to snaffle new switching offers when the opportunity arises.
Great point Chris. Yes I’d keep this as an additional account rather than a main account, so if you left it’d just be a case of withdrawing the money
If you did want to withdraw later on, is there a withdraw daily limit?
I had a look and I couldn’t easily see this anywhere.
If you are looking at saving rates, Virgin Money M Plus account has a saver account attached that is now offering 1.71% on up-to £25k
does this have free overdraft facility ?
No, best ones for overdrafts are First Direct (£250 at 0%) and Nationwide FlexDirect (0% for one year)
Hi Andy,
Do you know how ethical Chase Bank is?
I guess, being from JP Morgan will have a toll on it?
Great question. You’re right, its parent bank is one of the worst!
Chase are now offering the facility to set up direct debits on their UK current account. I received an email on 4th March 2022 advising. Been using the account since its launch last year and have found the customer service good and have not experienced any issues using the account so far.
Hi Andy,
Great video, really interesting debit card!
I know they don’t provide cashback on spending for Government payments such as Self Assessment, however, is there an option to use a Curve Card with the Chase card as the Underlying card for 1% cashback on Self Assessment payments?
Joe
Been using this for two months, generally good, easy to navigate and almost instant spend notifications.
Problem I’ve encountered was registering the card with Airtime Rewards. Whilst it works with online transactions, using the physical (numberless) card results in no tracking, as you and the merchant can only see the last four digits of the card, which is printed on your receipt.
The app card details are ‘virtual’ not the same as the hidden card numbers.
Was worth a try, I suppose.
Thank Colin, useful to know
Hi I like this app too but you can’t have it on another device, unfortunately
Good point, though hopefully most people are ok with that. Though if you lost your phone…
I have the app working on iPhone and iPad…so yes you can..!!
No Google Pay. This is a must for a mobile digital bank
Using Curve is a way around this in the short term
It’s a fantastic account particularly for those who struggle being approved for cashback credit cards such as the Amex everyday account, would highly recommend to anyone, I plan on using it for all of my shopping/meals out/fuel this year and I am going to use the cashback towards paying my £20 Road tax ?. Cheers Andy brilliant blog!
PS definitely register the card for airtime rewards for cashback on cashback.