Santander Edge Explorer review: is it worth it?

The Santander packaged account offers insurance, cashback and high interest on savings

Santander Edge Explore is a packaged bank account, meaning you get the features of the Edge current account with insurance cover on top – for a higher monthly fee. Here’s what you get and whether it’s worth it.

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How much is the Santander Edge Explorer account?

You’ll pay £17 a month for all features of the account. That works out as £204 a year, and is one of the cheaper packaged accounts available.

What do you get with Santander Edge Explorer?

Travel, mobile phone and breakdown cover

It’s a pretty comprehensive package and compares favourably with other similar accounts at different banks.

The travel insurance is worldwide for your family and includes winter sports. You and your partner are covered until the age of 75. Kids are covered until the age of 23 if they’re still in full time education.

The mobile phone insurance also covers your whole family, not just the account holder. You’ll be able to claim for loss, theft or accidental damage.

Breakdown cover is for the account holder, whether the driver or the passenger, though if you get a joint account then you’ll both be covered. It’s valid in both the UK and in Europe.

Of course, all insurance policies are different so you’ll want to take a look at the full coverage and exclusions to check they suit your personal circumstances.

Remote GP access

Something Santander offers that isn’t common on other packaged accounts is remote access to a GP for your family.

1% cashback on bills

This is the core feature of the Santander Edge account. You can earn 1% back on core household bills. Though it’s up to £10 a month, for most people it’ll be less. Here’s our full review of the Santander Edge account.

1% cashback on debit card spending

This additional perk has been removed from the Edge and Edge Up accounts, but it is part of the Edge Explorer. You’ll get 1% back, capped at £10 a month. Spending is limited to groceries and travel spending as follows:

• Supermarkets
• Trains
• Buses
• Electric vehicle charging
• Petrol and diesel

Bear in mind this is for UK spending only, and there will be exclusions.

To get the £10 a month on debit card spending, you’d need to spend £1,000 a month in those categories. Supermarket spending on its own won’t hit this mark for most households, though filling up a car each month will improve your return.

It’s obviously going to be easier to max out this category for those who commute – though if you buy an annual season ticket you’ll miss out.

I’d say expect a spend of £500 a month, so £5 cashback, and anything more is a bonus.

6% interest on savings

The good news is you get access to the Edge Saver account too – something previously only available to Edge current account holders, and not those with the Edge Up.

This is one of the highest paying savings accounts right now, with 6% for one year on balances of up to £4,000. After 12 months you’ll lose a 2.5% bonus, reducing the rate to 3.5% – though since it’s variable that underlying rate could change.

However, as we detail in our Santander Edge Saver review, you can close it down and open a new one each year, taking advantage of the bonus for another year.

Fee free spending overseas

As is the case with the other Santander Edge cards and many other packaged accounts from different banks you can spend and withdraw cash in a different country without getting charged a transaction or conversion fee. However we think there are better cards for spending abroad.

How Santander Edge Explorer differs from other packaged accounts

✅ It’s not just the insurances that come with the account, the cashback and interest are great extras on top

✅ You get European breakdown cover and UK cover. Most other packaged accounts only offer UK breakdown cover — others with this benefit include Nationwide FlexDirect, Co-operative Bank Everyday Extra and Lloyds Silver
✅ Phone insurance is for the entire family. Again, a lot of the other packaged bank accounts don’t have family cover as standard — the Virgin Club M account includes phones and other gadgets, including laptops for the entire family, making it a contender in this area
❌ Breakdown cover only covers the account holder

Santander Edge customer reviews

Customers have rated Santander 3.73/5 over at our sister site, Smart Money People.

Is Santander Edge Explorer worth it?

Summary & apply