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July 1, 2025 | Articles Best Buy

The best American Express cards

Written by Andy Webb

Which Amex credit card will earn you the most cashback or rewards in the UK in 2025?

There are a number of different American Express cards, so which is the best?

In this best buy guide, I’ll take you through my top picks whether you want to get your first card or change the one you already have.

Some articles on the site contain affiliate links, which provide a small commission to help fund our work. However, they won’t affect the price you pay or our editorial independence. Read more here.

The best American Express for welcome offers

There are a number of great welcome bonuses from American Express that could earn you more than £100 extra in your first few months. They are often boosted too, making them even more profitable.

Importantly you can only get these offers (on most cards – more on this in a bit) if you’ve not an an Amex in your name in the last two years.

Each offer also comes with a spending requirement to trigger the bonus, so make sure your normal spending will fit this.

The best first Amex card welcome offers

To keep you eligible for additional welcome bonuses, I’d actually only consider one of these two cards, even though you’ll earn less from the bonus. They rarely have boosted welcome deals so I’d go for them at any time.

If you aren’t going to later for a second bonus with the Amex Platinum then you could also consider the Amex Preferred Rewards Gold – though I’d wait until it’s boosted.

Here are the standard offers you can expect, and we share boosted Amex welcome offers here.

Card	Fee	Standard welcome offer	Condition	Value	Ongoing cashback rate
Nectar American Express credit card	Free in year one, then £30 a year	20,000 bonus Nectar points (+ 2,000 points from spending)	Spend £2,000 in the first three months	£120 in Nectar points	2 Nectar points per £1 (=1%)
American Express Cashback card	£25 a year	5% cashback	On the first £2,500 spent in the first three months	Up to £125	0.75% on the first £10,000 spent a year, then 1.25%
American Express Preferred Rewards Gold card (review)	Free in year one, then £195 a year	20,000 bonus Amex points (+3,000 points from spending)	Spend £3,000 in the first three months	£115 in Nectar points	1 Amex Reward point per £1, bonus points for every £5,000 spent (= 0.5% to 0.75%)

Additional Amex welcome offers

After the Nectar or Platinum Cashback, there’s the chance to get another boosted offer on both the British Airways American Express Premium Plus (as long as you’ve not had either BA Amex card in the last two years) and the American Express Platinum credit cards (as long as you’ve not had the Preferred Rewards Gold or Rewards cards in the same time). I’ve written in more detail about this multiple Amex welcome offer hack here.

However, these cards come with big fees and the bonuses have large spending requirements, so I’d wait until they are boosted and you can earn more points.

If you are a member of Vitality health or life insurance then you will also be eligible for a £100 statement credit when you spend £2,000 in the first three months, even if you’ve got any other Amex.

Here’s what you could be looking at based on increased sign-up offers that have run in 2024.

Card	Fee	Most recent boosted welcome offer	Potential condition	Total value	Ongoing cashback rate
British Airways American Express Premium Plus card	£300 a year	60,000 bonus Avios points (see most recent promotion here)	Spend £6,000 in the first three months (and earn 9,000 more points)	£330 in Nectar points	1.5 Avios per £1 (=0.75% in Nectar points)
American Express Platinum card	£650 a year	80,000 bonus Amex Reward points (see latest promotion here)	Spend £10,000 in the first six months (and earn 10,000 more points)	£450 in gift cards	1 Amex point per £1 (=0.5%)

The latest Amex offers

Check out this article with details of boosted referral bonuses and other extra offers with your American Express card.

The best American Express card for spending

So what do you do once you’ve got bonus (or bonuses) and you’re faced with a fee at the start of the second year? Well, I’d be looking to ditch that card and find an alternative.

But the headline cashback/reward rate isn’t the only thing to consider. You need to take into account whether there’s a fee or minimum spend. And you also need to decide how you want to receive your money back – as cash or points?

Depending on which card you went to for your first card (the Nectar or Cashback), I’d actually then get the other one next or look at the Amex Preferred Rewards Gold which is free in year one.

But after the first year on each of these, the annual fees on all three will eat into your cashback earnings.

But if you want to keep an Amex, then there’s the Amex Rewards card or BA Amex which are both always free. Just don’t get these (or the Gold) if you haven’t yet claimed those additional Platinum and BA Amex Premium Plus welcome bonuses.

Amex card	Annual Fee	Cashback/Reward	Equivalent rate
Nectar	Free in year one, £30 after	2 Nectar points per £1	1%
Cashback	£25 (first year can be covered via cashback site)	Up to 1.25% cashback (paid on year anniversary)	0.75% on first £10,000, then 1.25%
Preferred Rewards Gold	Free in year one, £195 after	1 Amex Reward point per £1, bonus points for every £5,000 spent	0.64% to 0.75% if you spend at least £5,000
Reward	Free	1 Amex Reward point per £1	0.5%
British Airways American Express	Free	1 Avios point per £1	0.5% (if converted to Nectar)

Best Amex for extra offers

There’s a final category to consider when choosing your Amex – are there extras that come with the card? And if so, how much will they cost?

This table shows the main additional card benefits you might want to take advantage of.

Amex Card	Key additional benefits	Annual fee
Preferred Rewards Gold	2 x £5 Deliveroo credit every month 4 Priority Pass airport lounge visits each year	£195
Platinum	Worldwide family travel Insurance £200 UK dining credit each calendar year (£100 every six months) £50 Harvey Nicholls credit until the end of June 2025 Airport lounge access all year	£650
British Airways Premium Plus	BA Companion voucher if you spend £15,000 each year (lasts 24 months, and valid in all classes)	£300
British Airways	BA Companion voucher if you spend £15,000 each year (lasts 12 months, and only valid in economy)	Free

I wouldn’t keep the Gold card once the fee kicks in after the first year. I’d also avoid the Platinum after the year which includes a welcome bonus.

It’s a harder call with the BA cards. If you opt for the free BA card, it’s only valid for 12 months and only in economy, which might make it hard for you to find a flight you want to use as tickets are released 12 months in advance on the BA site, so you could well miss out on big destinations.

The Premium Plus voucher lasts longer, but you will be paying £300 to get it. From my experience it’s hard to get that back on economy flights, so you’d want to aim for Business.

But, to use a 2-4-1 Companion voucher you need to have enough Avios points to pay for the first flight AND you have to pay for taxes and fees on top. If that’s unlikely then neither are worth it. And you also need to weigh up whether you’ll be able to get a cheaper flight shopping around.

Best Amex to protect your Amex Reward points

If you decide to cancel the Platinum card at the end of your first year, make sure you protect any Amex Membership points linked to it before doing so. You’ll need to swap them or open up a different Reward card to ensure you don’t lose them.

There are two options here. The Reward card and the Preferred Reward Gold card. Remember, do not open up either of these cards before the Platinum if you think you’ll try for the boosted welcome offer on that card at some point.

Amex card	Annual Fee	Cashback/Reward	Equivalent rate
Preferred Rewards Gold	Free in year one, £195 after	1 Amex Reward point per £1, bonus points for every £5,000 spent	0.64% to 0.75% if you spend at least £5,000
Reward	Free	1 Amex Reward point per £1	0.5%

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Best Amex for 2-4-1 flight vouchers

Two American Express cards can earn you British Airways companion vouchers. However, don’t get the free BA Amex card before the BA Amex Premium Plus if you want to try for the higher welcome offer with the latter card detailed further up this article.

With the Premium Plus you’ll need to spend £15,000 in the first year you’ll get a BA Companion voucher. This gets you 2-4-1 flights or an upgrade and is valid for two years and in all flight classes. Remember there is a £300 annual fee.

But after this year you have two options. If you cancel completely you won’t lose your Avios as they’ll have been added to your British Airways Executive Club account. This resets the clock to enable you to (potentially) get another bonus in two years time.

Or you can downgrade to the free BA Amex easily via a call or live chat and this will mean you keep an Amex without a new credit check.

If you choose to keep spending on it you still need to hit £15,000 in a year for a BA Companion voucher to use in economy class, valid for a just one year.

With both companion vouchers, bear in mind you need to have enough Avios points saved up to cover the cost of one ticket before adding the 2-4-1 voucher, and you still pay tax and fees on both tickets.

Amex card	Annual Fee	Cashback/Reward	Equivalent rate
British Airways American Express	Free	1 Avios point per £1	0.5% (if converted to Nectar)
British Airways American Express Premium Plus	£250	1.5 Avios point per £1	0.75% (if converted to Nectar)

July 1, 2025 | Articles

Is your holiday protected?

Written by Andy Webb

You need to make sure you’re covered in case something goes wrong before or when you go away.

Whether you book your holiday through a travel agent or do it yourself, things can always wrong. Hopefully they won’t but if they do, there’s every chance you’ll lose your money.

That is unless you do the following. Though there are always complications, it’s better to have as many protections in place to help you get any lost money back or reschedule your trip with limited, if any, extra costs.

Book your insurance

It’s so important you book travel insurance, and you should do it as soon as you book your holiday, too. That’s because it’s not just about cover while you are away, you’re also partly paying for cover in case you can’t go on your trip.

You could break your leg, have a close relative pass away or see your airline collapse – all of which could prevent you from travelling. But with insurance in place you should be covered to get your money back.

Having the insurance when you’ve booked will also help if the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) later declares a destination as unsafe to visit. And this isn’t just about obvious danger zones like war zones. During the height of the pandemic many countries were off limits. You can see the latest list of places with warnings here.

A few more quick things on travel insurance.

Do read the policy documents to check exactly what you’re covered for. A few years ago I wasn’t covered for coming back early from the USA when I hurt my back as this was categorised as curtailment – and only unused costs were covered, not new costs. So though my original flight home was refunded, the more expensive earlier flight I did take, wasn’t.

Check for cover for things like natural disasters (remember the ash from the Icelandic volcano) and pandemics too – these could be excluded. It’s worth paying a little more for this cover.

In fact, lots of people might think they are covered by a policy that comes with their bank account. You might be, but check those extra terms and conditions to be sure.

In addition, you must declare any pre-existing medical conditions. If you get ill and the insurance company discovers you didn’t declare you’ve had treatment – even if it’s not for the thing you’re ill with on holiday – they will likely reject your claim. It can be more expensive to find a policy if you have been ill before, but it really is worth getting the right one.

And if you’re going to take two or more trips in a year, annual insurance could work out more cost-effective. The problem you get here is do you need to get just European cover, or are you likely to go worldwide. If there’s a strong chance of the latter then make sure you get cover for this. And don’t forget things like winter sports too if you’re going to be getting involved in those kinds of activities.

Look for extra legal protections such as ATOL and ABTA

Though I tend to book everything myself, if you’re looking at a simple holiday, packages can be the easiest way to book – and they can come with added protection.

The biggest of these is ATOL. If you’ve bought your hotel and your flight – whether as a package from a travel agent or since the 1st of July 2018 from the same website at the same time (e.g. Expedia) – then you will have ATOL protection.

With ATOL, the big benefit is if something goes bust – whether with the hotel, flight or tour operator – then you will either get your money back before you go, or you will be flown home if already abroad (though as we saw with the Thomas Cook collapse in 2019, that’s not always straightforward).

So it’s important to look for ATOL certification when booking, and you can check it’s the real thing via the Civil Aviation Authority website.

Package holidays also give you consumer rights if the holiday isn’t what you expected – say there was constant building work you weren’t told about. You can claim compensation.

Now if your holiday doesn’t involve a flight, say it’s a cruise or a coach tour, look for ABTA membership as you’ll get support if something goes wrong. Again you can check the ABTA membership is the real thing, this time on the ABTA website.

Of course you don’t get ATOL if you book the flights and hotels separately from different companies, so it’s worth making sure your travel insurance covers things like airline failure and consequential losses.

However, although it’s not defined as a package, if you bought your flights and hotel from the same website or travel agent within 24 hours but in separate transactions you can also claim money back if one of the providers goes under.

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Existing Trading 212 customers get a rate of 4.1%

FSCS Protected?: Yes

Allows transfers in?: Yes

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Pay with a credit card

Whether it’s a package or a DIY holiday, if any part of it costs more than £100, pay for it with a credit card. Do this and if there’s a problem, such as the hotel going bust, then the credit card company is equally liable for any losses you make. This is thanks to something called Section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act.

But there are two things to keep in mind. First, the £100 minimum relates to each individual item purchased. So let’s say you are buying two single flights. If one is £120 and one is £70, it could be that only the first flight gets this cover – even if you brought them from the same operator at the same time. However, if it’s a return flight at £190 then both are covered.

Secondly, this is only if you have a direct relationship with the provider. So buy EasyJet flights from EasyJet then yes, you get this protection. But buy them from a third party such as Lastminute.com then you won’t.

And of course, with credit cards, make sure you can clear that debt each month before interest charges are added.

Get a GHIC

The Global Health Insurance Card is essential if you are going to Europe this summer, and replaces the previous EHIC that ended under the Brexit aggreement.

With a GHIC you can access the same health care as locals at the same price they pay, which isn’t necessarily free. But without one it could cost you a fortune – and most travel insurance policies require you to have one too or they could reject any claim you make.

These are free – so don’t fall for dodgy websites charging you to get one. Instead go via the NHS website.

July 1, 2025 | Best Buy

The best business credit cards

Written by Zoe Stabler

You can earn cashback or earn rewards on your business spending

Business credit cards can be used for your business spending to earn you rewards and cashback. They often come with an annual fee; however, a lot of them offer a free first year, so you can switch cards after a year if you don’t want to pay. Here are some of the best business credit cards available at the moment.

Free business credit cards

Virgin Money Business Credit Card

Annual fee

£28 (from year 2)

Cashback

1% cashback on your spending

Interest free days

Representative APR: Based on a credit limit of £1200 charged at 16.9% variable per annum for purchases. Fee of £28 per annum applies from year 2. Representative 22.4% APR variable.

More details ▼

Additional Info

FSCS Protected: Yes

Rewards: Potential rewards include 25% back on Slack, 20% back on Dropbox, 5% back on Microsoft Advertising and 5% back on Avis car rental in the UK

Additional cards: Split your credit limit between as many cards as you want

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Capital on Tap Business Credit Card

Annual fee

£0

Cashback

1% earned back in points

Interest free days

More Details

Representative APR: Based on a credit limit of £1200 charged at 35.28% variable per annum for purchases. Representative 35.28% APR variable.

More details ▼

Additional Info

FSCS Protected: Yes

Rewards: Exclusive offers at partner brands

Additional cards: Unlimited, free employee cards

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£50 Amazon gift card

American Express Amazon Business Prime Card

Annual fee

1yr free then £50 per year

Cashback

0.50%

Interest free days

£50 Amazon gift card then £50 statement credit if you spend £1,000 within the first 3 months. Representative APR: Based on a credit limit of £1200.00 charged at 27.6% variable per annum for purchases. Representative 39.0% APR variable.

More details ▼

Additional Info

FSCS Protected: Yes

Rewards: Earn 2% on selected Amazon purchases or get 90 extra interest-free days on some Amazon purchases

Additional cards: Up to 20 complimentary Supplementary Cards for your employees

Offer details: If you spend £1,000 on your card within the first three months you'll get an additional £50 as statement credit

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Funding Circle Cashback card

Annual fee

£0

Cashback

2% earned for the first 6 months (up to £2,000) and 1% on all spending after that

Interest free days

Representative APR: Based on a credit limit of £1200 charged at 34.9% variable per annum for purchases. Representative 34.9% APR variable.

More details ▼

Additional Info

FSCS Protected: Yes

Rewards: None

Additional cards: Not available

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£25 Amazon gift card

American Express Amazon Business Card

Annual fee

1yr free then £50 per year

Cashback

0.50%

Interest free days

£25 Amazon Gift Card upon approval then £75 statement credit when you spend £1,000 within the first 3 months. Representative APR: Based on a credit limit of £1200 charged at 27.6% variable per annum for purchases. Representative 39.0% APR variable.

More details ▼

Additional Info

FSCS Protected: Yes

Rewards: Earn 1.5% in Amazon reward points or get 60 extra interest-free days on some Amazon purchases

Additional cards: Up to 20 complimentary Supplementary Cards for your employees

Offer details: If you spend £1,000 on your card within the first three months you'll get an additional £75 as statement credit

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Business charge cards

20,000 bonus points

American Express Business Gold

Annual fee

1 year free then £195 per year

Cashback

1 point per £1 spent. 2 points per £1 spent on Amex Travel.

Days to pay

You can earn 20,000 bonus points when you spend £3,000 in the first three months

More details ▼

Additional Info

FSCS Protected: Yes

Rewards: Partner discounts and statement credits with purchases at Dell

Additional cards: Up to 19 additional cards for employees

Offer details: If you are approved and spend £3,000 on purchases within the first three months then 20,000 bonus Membership Rewards points will be awarded shortly after the end of the three months.

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50,000 bonus points

American Express Business Platinum

Annual fee

£650

Cashback

1 point per £1 spent. 2 points per £1 spent on Amex Travel.

Days to pay

You can earn 50,000 bonus points when you spend £6,000 in the first three months

More details ▼

Additional Info

FSCS Protected: Yes

Rewards: Travel rewards, including airport lounges, £200 credit towards Amex Travel, room upgrades and travel insurance

Additional cards: Up to 19 additional Business Gold cards for employees

Offer details: If you are approved and spend £6,000 on purchases within the first three months then 50,000 bonus Membership Rewards points will be awarded shortly after the end of the three months.

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Business credit cards with an annual fee

Santander Business Cashback Credit Card

Annual fee

£30

Cashback

1% cashback on all business spend with no cap

Interest free days

Representative APR: Based on a credit limit of £1200 charged at 18.9% variable per annum for purchases. Fee of £30 per annum applies. Representative 23.7% APR variable.

More details ▼

Additional Info

FSCS Protected: Yes

Rewards: None

Additional cards: Additional cards available at no extra cost and control what each cardholder can spend

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Capital on Tap Pro Business Credit Card

Annual fee

£299

Cashback

1% earned back in points and 1.25% earned back in points for spending on pre-loaded card

Interest free days

More Details

Representative APR: Based on a credit limit of £1200 charged at 35.28% variable per annum for purchases. Fee of £299 per annum applies. Representative 111.39% APR variable.

More details ▼

Additional Info

FSCS Protected: Yes

Rewards: Airport lounge access for the main card holder and two free guest lounge passes per year, Radisson Rewards VIP status, metal card and 6 months free Xero for first-time subscribers

Additional cards: Unlimited, free employee cards

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Featured savings deal

More Details

Trading 212 Cash ISA

AER (variable)

4.98%

Minimum

£1

New Trading 212 customers get an increase of 0.86% AER to 4.98% for 12 months

More details ▼

Additional Info

Existing Trading 212 customers get a rate of 4.1%

FSCS Protected?: Yes

Allows transfers in?: Yes

Flexible ISA?: Yes

▲

Business credit cards explained

Who is a business credit card for?

If you run your own business, then you could benefit from a business credit card.

Anyone, from a self-employed sole trader to a company director, can get a business credit card, but not all sole traders will be eligible for all the cards on offer.

And you should always check if you’re eligible for one before you apply, however, there’s no guarantee you’ll get one if you apply.

Do you need a business credit card?

Credit cards can be expensive if they aren’t cleared each month by paying off the full balance. The interest added on top of anything left over will often cost more than getting a loan, so this isn’t a good idea.

Business credit cards can have benefits like rewards and cashback, which can sometimes be better than what’s on offer for personal accounts, however, these usually come with a cost. In addition, you may get Section 75 protection, however, this depends on whether you’re a sole trader or a ‘corporate business’, such as a limited company or partnership.

Does a sole trader need a business credit card?

If you’re a sole trader, then any credit card for your business is still a personal credit card. Applications will be based on your credit rating, and you’ll be personally liable for any debts you build up.

For this reason, most sole traders will probably be better off with a personal credit card that’s used just for business spending.

You can still take advantage of Section 75 cover, earn cashback with lower annual fees (if any), and even get fee-free spending overseas with some cards.

One of the few areas a business credit card is better for a sole trader than a personal credit card is that you might also get a much higher credit limit. That can help with large purchases. But of course, you need to be able to pay it back!

Section 75 protection for limited companies and partnerships

Section 75 doesn’t apply to these types of businesses. So there’s no added legal benefit to using a credit card in a company. Instead, you’ll need to use a personal credit card and claim the money back if you want to get this protection on purchases over £100.

However, if you run a limited company, it’s much cleaner to have spending made directly via the business rather than claiming it back as an expense. Particularly if you have any employees.

What’s the difference between a charge card and a credit card?

Some of the cards above are charge cards and won’t have an interest rate. These aren’t technically credit cards, as you have to pay the full balance every month. Meanwhile, a credit card lets you roll over a balance and will charge interest after a set period. Be careful which one you choose, as a credit card can make you accumulate debt, however, a charge card may charge you fees if you don’t repay the full balance within the set time provided.

What you get with a business credit card

Additional cards

Most business credit cards will give you supplementary cards tied to the same account for your employees. This reduces your admin for expenses and helps you track individual spending. With some, you can limit the spending allowed per account.

Cashback and rewards

Another feature of business credit cards is earning rewards in the form of cashback or air miles. There are a handful that offer this on purchases. But these tend to come with a fee, which can wipe out most of the cashback you earn if you’re not a big spender.

You’ll need to calculate just how much you’re likely to earn in cashback after the fee to work out if they’re worthwhile. But say you spend £5,000 a year earning 0.5%, you’ll make £25.

Interest-free days

You’ll get a certain number of interest-free days with your business credit card or charge card, ranging from 42 to 59 days. This is how long you’ve got until a purchase will start to accumulate interest at the variable rate you’ve got with the card. Be sure to clear the balance within this timeframe to pay no interest on your purchases.

July 1, 2025 | Best Buy

Best free business bank accounts

Written by Zoe Stabler

Find a free business bank account for your business type

A business bank account is a separate bank account from your personal one that you maintain just for your business. These accounts are more tailored to business banking, so you can integrate accounting tools, make invoices and categorise your expenses. Some accounts are limited to certain types of businesses, so you’ll need to check that your business is eligible to have an account with your chosen bank.

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Anna Money Pay As You Go

Monthly fee

£0

Cash deposit fee

0.95% fee on cash deposits

Fee for transfers in/out

0.95% fee on money paid in (except from your own accounts)

More Details

More details ▼

Additional Info

FSCS Protected: No

Integration with accounting tools: Share access with your accountant or sync with accounting software

Invoicing tools: Yes

Cash withdrawals: Unlimited free withdrawals

Access: Online or via app

Eligible companies: Registered limited companies, Limited Liability Partnerships or sole traders

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Monzo Lite

Monthly fee

£0

Cash deposit fee

£1 per deposit

Fee for transfers in/out

£0

More details ▼

Additional Info

FSCS Protected: Yes

Integration with accounting tools: Not available - Integration only available with Monzo Pro and above

Invoicing tools: No

Cash withdrawals: Withdraw up to £1,000 per day

Access: Online or via app

Eligible companies: Sole traders and registered limited companies

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Starling

Monthly fee

£0

Cash deposit fee

0.7% (min £3)

Fee for transfers in/out

£0

More Details

More details ▼

Additional Info

FSCS Protected: Yes

Integration with accounting tools: Can be connected to accounting software

Invoicing tools: Yes

Cash withdrawals: 6 free withdrawals per day up to a maximum of £300

Access: Online or via app

Eligible companies: Limited companies, Limited Liability Partnerships or sole traders

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Mettle

Monthly fee

£0

Cash deposit fee

£0

Fee for transfers in/out

£0

More details ▼

Additional Info

FSCS Protected: Yes

Integration with accounting tools: Access to FreeAgent and connect to other accounting software

Invoicing tools: Yes

Cash withdrawals: Free

Access: Online or via app

Eligible companies: Sole traders and limited companies with no more than two owners

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Zempler Business Go

Monthly fee

£0

Cash deposit fee

0.55% (min £4)

Fee for transfers in/out

Free to receive, send for free three times each month, 35p afterwards

More Details

More details ▼

Additional Info

FSCS Protected: Yes

Integration with accounting tools: Connect your chosen accounting software

Invoicing tools: Yes

Card issuing fee: £9.95 one off fee

Cash withdrawals: £2 per withdrawal

Access: Online or via app

Eligible companies: Sole traders and limited companies

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3 months free Xero or Quickbooks

Virgin Money M Account for Business

Monthly fee

£0

Cash deposit fee

£0.90 fee per £100

Fee for transfers in/out

£0

More details ▼

Additional Info

FSCS Protected: Yes

Integration with accounting tools: Can be connected to accounting software

Invoicing tools: No

Cash withdrawals: £0.90 fee per £100 withdrawn. Withdraw up to £700 per day.

Access: Online or via app

Cashback: 0.25% cashback on debit card purchases

Offer details: You can get 3 months of Xero or Quickbooks for free with a Virgin Money business account.

Eligibile businesses: For businesses with an annual turnover of less than £1m

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Tide

Monthly fee

£0

Cash deposit fee

0.5% (min £2.50) at Post Office, 3% at PayPoint

Fee for transfers in/out

20p per transfer

More Details

More details ▼

Additional Info

FSCS Protected: Yes

Integration with accounting tools: Connect your own accounting software or export transactions to share with your accountant for free

Invoicing tools: Yes - send 3 per month free

Cash withdrawals: £1 per withdrawal

Access: Online or via app

Eligibile businesses: Registered limited companies or sole traders

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SumUp

Monthly fee

£0

Cash deposit fee

Can't deposit cash

Fee for transfers in/out

£0

More details ▼

Additional Info

FSCS Protected: Yes

Integration with accounting tools: Can be connected to accounting sotware

Invoicing tools: Yes

Cash withdrawals: 3 free per month, 2% thereafter

Access: Online or via app

Eligible companies: Sole traders or limited companies

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Paid accounts with free trials

3 months free & free accounting tools

Countingup Business Bank Account

Monthly fee

£3-£18 per month

Cash deposit fee

Post Office: 0.5% (£2 min) / PayPoint: 3%

Fee for transfers in/out

30p

More details ▼

Additional Info

FSCS Protected: No

Integration with accounting tools: Fully integrated accounting tools

Invoicing tools: Yes

Cash withdrawals: £1 per withdrawal

Access: Via app

Fee details: After the 3 month free trial, you'll pay a monthly fee depending on how much you deposit each month. Deposits up to £750: £3 per month; Deposits up to £7,500: £9 per month; Deposits over £7,500: £18 per month

Eligible companies: Sole traders or registered limited companies

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Do you need a business bank account?

If you’re a sole trader or just earning extra via a side hustle then you don’t need to have a specialist business bank account. You can make do with a standard (and free) personal account.

You don’t have to use the same one you bank with day-to-day. It’s generally best to separate your business money from your personal cash, so it’s best to open a new account — it’s up to you whether you stick with the same bank you use for your personal banking or try a different one. Keeping them separate will be useful when it comes to doing your tax return and working out which purchases were business-related.

But, if you are part of a Limited Company then you’ll have to have a specific business account.

What to look out for when searching for a business bank account

When choosing a business bank account there will be a few differences from regular bank accounts that you’ll want to consider.

Fees

You’ll be more likely to come across fees with these bank accounts. We’ve shown the free accounts above, although this refers to whether there’s a monthly fee. The other fees you might come across include:

Initial set-up fee
Cash deposit fees
Cash withdrawal fees
Transaction fees
Fees for payments in
Fees for transfers out

It’s important to consider what your business is likely going to need. For example, if you take a lot of cash payments, you might be more interested in getting free cash deposits, while a company that doesn’t handle cash much wouldn’t be bothered about cash deposits.

Eligibility

Some accounts aren’t available for all businesses. If you have a Limited Liability Partnership, for example, you’ll have fewer choices when it comes to business bank accounts. Check out “eligible companies” in further details above for an overview. You’ll also want to double-check with the bank directly. Generally speaking, sole traders and limited companies should be eligible for all of the accounts above, although there are often excluded business types.

Cash deposits

Many of the business bank accounts listed above are digital banks, which means there isn’t a high street branch for you to deposit cash into your account, however, most of them will let you deposit cash at the Post Office or using PayPoint. Some have associations with high-street banks — for example, Mettle is owned by NatWest so you can pay in cash at NatWest branches.

Integration

A lot of business bank accounts offer integration with accounting software like Xero or Quickbooks. Or, they’ll offer the option to export your transactions to give your accountant or upload them into your chosen software. If you don’t have accounting software, you probably wouldn’t need this, although it may be useful in the future.

Some business bank accounts come with a free trial of accounting software. While this is worthwhile if you think you’ll need accounting software, remember to cancel it if you don’t think it’s something you’ll need.

July 1, 2025 | Deals

Investing offers and cashback deals

Written by Zoe Stabler

Investment firms often give incentives like free cash to get you to give them your money.

These offers are extra cash payments and freebies you can get via starting an investment. We’re only sharing these promotions as a way to get some free cash rather than a recommendation of individual investment platforms or funds.

Here at Be Clever With Your Cash, we’re not regulated to give you financial advice. We aim to give you the facts about a provider or investment but it’s up to you to decide if it’s suitable for you. If you’re looking for more personalised guidance, find a financial adviser who can give you specific advice. Remember that your capital is at risk when investing — don’t invest more than you are prepared to lose.

Welcome offers

These are offers to tempt you to sign up for an account. There may be a minimum amount you need to add in order to get the bonus. Remember, we’re just sharing offers here and not recommending any individual ISA investment platforms, so do your research before applying. Our S&S ISA best buy tables are a good place to start.

IG: up to £100 of free shares

Up to £100 of free shares

More Details

Platform fees

£8 per month custody fee

Trading fee

£0

Minimum deposit

£0

You can reduce the custody fee to £0 per month when you place more than 3 trades in the previous quarter. New customers can get up to £100 of free shares when they sign up and invest at least £20 by 15 August 2025.

More details ▼

Additional Info

FSCS Protected: Yes

Transfer in existing ISA?: Yes

Interest on uninvested cash: 4.5% on up to £100,000

Flexible ISA: Yes

Foreign exchange fee: 0.70%

Fund fees: If you invest in funds, you'll have to pay fund fees depending on the funds you choose

Offer details: You can get up to £100 of free shares when you sign up for a General Investment Account, ISA or Self Invested Personal Pension and invest at least £20 between 2 June 2025 and 15 August 2025 .

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Trading 212: free fractional share

Free fractional share

More Details

Trading 212

Platform fees

£0

Type of investing

DIY investing

Minimum deposit

£1

New customers get a free fractional share worth up to £100 when you sign up via our link or use the code BCWYC

More details ▼

Additional Info

FSCS Protected: Yes

Transfer in existing ISA?: Yes

Fractional shares: Yes

Interest on uninvested cash: 4.90%

Trading fee: £0

Flexible ISA: Yes

Foreign exchange fee: 0.15%

Fund fees: If you invest in funds, you'll have to pay fund fees between 0.03% and 0.78% depending on the funds you choose

Offer details: Once the account is open, you then need to add at least £1 to your account within 10 calendar days. It will take about three days for the share to be added. This offer is only for Trading 212 Invest or the Trading 212 Stocks & Shares ISA.

Further details: Remember, the value of any money invested, which includes your free share, could go up or down.

▲

InvestEngine: up to £100 welcome bonus

Up to £100 welcome bonus

More Details

InvestEngine

Platform fees

£0

Type of investing

DIY investing and managed portfolios

Minimum deposit

£100

Get up to £100 welcome bonus when you invest £100 or more. Sign up via the button or use promo code BCWYC (T&Cs apply). We may receive commission from those who sign up through our link. You need to stay invested for at least 12 months to qualify for the bonus. ETF costs apply.

More details ▼

Additional Info

You can't invest in individual shares with InvestEngine, just exchange-traded funds (ETFs)

FSCS Protected: Yes

Transfer in existing ISA?: Yes

Interest on uninvested cash: No

Trading fee: £0

Flexible ISA: Yes

Foreign exchange fee: N/A

Fund fees: When you invest in funds you'll also have to pay fund fees between 0.03% and 0.89%, depending on which ones you choose

Offer details: £100 welcome offer ends 31 August 2025. You need to stay invested for at least 12 months to qualify for the bonus. We may receive commission from those who sign up through our link. You can use this offer alongside the Tax Year End bonus above.

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ISA vs GIA

When you open these accounts you can usually choose between an ISA and a general investing account. If you haven’t used your full £20,000 ISA allowance this financial year, and you don’t plan to do so before 5 April, then that’s the best account for you as any gains you make will be tax free.

If you can’t or don’t want to add any more to an ISA, you can opt instead for the general investing account, although some of these offers may not be available for this account. In this account, you’ll only pay tax on profits after selling your share if it brings you over the Capital Gains Allowance – which is £3,000 in 2024/25.

Bonus offers

These platforms offer a bonus for opening an account or transferring existing accounts. Sometimes the amount you get will depend on how much you deposit or transfer, while other times, it might be a percentage of what’s in the account.

Charles Stanley: up to £1,500 transfer bonus

Up to £1,500 cashback

More Details

Charles Stanley

Platform fees

0.3% (min £5 per month)

Type of investing

DIY investing

Minimum deposit

£0

You can get £300-£1,500 cashback when you transfer an ISA between £20,000 and £200,000

More details ▼

Additional Info

Trading fees: You get £50 worth of free trades every 6 months. Funds cost £4 per trade and shares cost £10 per trade.

Fund fees: If you invest in funds, you'll have to pay fund fees between 0.03% and 0.78% depending on the funds you choose. There are no platform or trading fees when you invest in Charles Stanley Multi Asset Funds

FSCS Protected: Yes

Trading fee: £50 worth of free trades every 6 months

Transfer in existing ISA?: Yes

Fractional shares: No

Interest on uninvested cash: No

Flexible ISA: No

Foreign exchange fee: 1.00%

Offer details: The amount you'll get in cashback depends on how much you transfer. A transfer of £20,000 gets you £300 cashback.

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July 1, 2025 | Deals

Spotify music streaming deals (July 2025)

Written by Andy Webb

The latest free trials, vouchers, discounted annual passes and hacks to save money on Spotify.

Spotify and Be clever with your cash logos on a blue background.

How much does Spotify cost?

Following a price increase in April 2024, Premium prices all went up by £1 or £2, but some will be able to get the Basic tier which reverts the cost back:

Plan	Premium Monthly price	Basic Monthly price
Individual	£11.99	£10.99
Duo	£16.99	£14.99
Family	£19.99	£17.99
Student	£5.99	£5.99

New Spotify customer deals

A couple of times a year there tends to be a new customer deal offering three months for 99p. When these come about I’ll list them below. Otherwise, new customers can always get one month for free.

Four months free Spotify with Just Eat

New customers can get four months free via Just Eat until 28 February 2026. You can cancel anytime or pay £11.99 once the free trial ends.

Get four months of Spotify

Three months free Spotify

New subscribers can get three months free with Freenow.

You need to redeem the offer by 30 November 2025, and it isn’t available to anyone who has tried Spotify Premium before. You need to cancel the subscription afterwards if you don’t want to pay full price as it renews at £11.99 per month.

Get three months of Spotify

Three months free Spotify via H&M

New subscribers can get three months free if you apply via the free H&M membership.

Head to the H&M app and in the offer section of your H&M account you’ll need to generate a code to trigger the free Spotify trial.

You need to redeem the offer by 4 November 2025.

This isn’t open to current subscribers, and remember to cancel the subscription if you don’t want to pay full price, as it’ll renew at £11.99 per month after three months.

Get three months of Spotify

One month free Spotify

If there isn’t an increased offer, when you go direct to Spotify new customers can get usually one month for free.

Get one month free Spotify Premium

Previous Spotify customer deals

These offers for ex-customers are rare, but still appear from time to time.

Two months for £5.99 (expired)

This “welcome back” offer usually provides three months for the price of one, though sometimes it’s just two months. It tends to run a two or three times a year, usually April, August and November.

The most recent offer is a little different – it’s two months for £5.99, so roughly 75% off. You’ve got until 19 May 2025 to take advantage.

It’s for those who had a Spotify Premium account but cancelled it more than 30 days ago, which is roughly before the middle of March 2025 (perhaps a day or two earlier). However, if you’ve used one of these offers in the last 24 months you won’t be eligible this time.

Look out for an email offering you this, or you can also log in and see if the offer is displayed in your account. It’s for the individual Premium account only, not Duo, Student or Family.

Here are the previous dates from recent offers to give you an idea of when it might return.

Mid April to 19 May 2025 (for those who cancelled before mid March 2025)
End of November – 31 December 2024 (for those who cancelled before November 2024)
Late Mid August to 17 September 2024 (for those who cancelled prior to 12 July 2024)
Mid April to 14 May 2024 (for those who cancelled before 18 March 2024)
Mid January – 14 February 2024 (for those who cancelled before 1 Jan 2024)
27 November – 31 December 2023 (for those who cancelled before 27 October 2023)
August to 12 September 2023 (for those who cancelled before 16 July 2023)
21 April – 16 May 2023 (for those who cancelled before 19 March 2023)
29 November – 31 December 2022 (for those who cancelled before 28 October 2022)
August/September 2022 (for those who cancelled before mid-May 2022)
April – 19 May 2022 (for those who cancelled before 14 March 2022)

Existing Spotify customer deals

You don’t need to pay full price for Spotify as an existing customer. Here are my top ways to save.

12 months of Spotify Premium for the price of ten (ish)

This is a decent deal from Amazon for existing Spotify Premium customers. It’ll cost you £120 rather than £144, so you’ll get two months free based on the new prices.

You can it as a digital or physical gift card that is sent in the post. Frustratingly you can’t use gift cards with Family, Duo or Student accounts. It also won’t work on Basic plans.

You can stack this with an existing gift card, or buy one now to add at a later date, though you can’t have more than 18 months of credit on your account at any time.

Buy a year of Spotify at Currys

Featured savings deal

More Details

Trading 212 Cash ISA

AER (variable)

4.98%

Minimum

£1

New Trading 212 customers get an increase of 0.86% AER to 4.98% for 12 months

More details ▼

Additional Info

Existing Trading 212 customers get a rate of 4.1%

FSCS Protected?: Yes

Allows transfers in?: Yes

Flexible ISA?: Yes

▲

Downgrade to Spotify Basic

This new, slightly cheaper, version of Spotify started in May 2024. You get everything that Premium offers such as offline listening (downloads) and no-adverts, but you do sacrifice audiobooks. Not all users will be able to get this, so you’ll need to check your accounts to find out. Here’s everything you need to know about Spotify Basic.

Shared Spotify subscription deals

If you live with others who pay for their own Spotify Premium or Spotify Basic you can save cash by combining them via a Duo or Family plan.

Here’s the breakdown per month per person, with annual costs per person in brackets.

Plan	1 person	2 people	3 people	4 people	5 people	6 people
Premium	£11.99 (£143.88)	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
Basic	£10.99 (£131.88)	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
Premium Duo	£16.99 (£203.88)	£8.50 (£101.94)	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
Basic Duo	£14.99 (£179.88)	£7.50 (£89.94)	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
Premium Family	£19.99 (£239.88)	£10 (£120)	£6.66 (£80)	£5 (£60)	£4 (£48)	£3.33 (£40)
Basic Family	£17.99 (£215.88)	£9 (£107.94)	£6 (£72)	£4.50 (£54)	£3.60 (£43.18)	£3 (£36)

Monthly cost per person on each plan (annual in brackets)

Spotify Family for £19.99 a month and get six accounts

A decent option if there are three or more of you with your own Spotify accounts. Subscribe to a Family pass and you can pay £19.99 all in. So the more of you, the cheaper it gets. You can share with two people but the Duo option will work out cheaper.

Get Spotify Family

Spotify Duo – £16.99 a month for two

Duo is the best option for two people living at the same address, and this is the one we use.

You’ll pay £16.99 a month for Spotify Duo, so £3 cheaper than the family option (£36ish less a year), or £7 less than two standard Premium accounts (£83.88 total less a year). You will be asked to verify your address.

Get Spotify Duo

Save on Apple Music

Here are ways to save on Apple Music streaming including free trials and offers.

Save on Tidal, Amazon, Deezer & more

Here are more music streaming free trials and offers if you fancy changing from Spotify.

July 1, 2025 | Deals

Disney Plus deals and offers (July 2025)

Written by BCWYC Team

Spend less on your Disney+ subscription service.

This streaming service from Disney has increased prices twice in a year and cracked down on password sharing – but there are still plenty of ways to save.

We’ll share the best ways to pay less when we spot them, including special offers, free trials and discount codes.

Disney+ and be clever with your cash logos on a yellow background

Disney+ price

Sadly there’s no free trial for Disney Plus. Though a seven-day trial was initially available, you’ll now need to pay to access the service.

You can pay monthly (and cancel at any time) for three of the options ranging from £4.99 with adverts, £8.99 for the “standard” option and £12.99 for “Premium”. The latter two tiers can also be paid for annually for a small discount.

These prices increased on 17 October 2024. Read all about the new Disney+ price hike.

	Standard with Ads	Standard	Premium
Ads	✓	✗	✗
Subscription Price	£4.99 per month (No annual bundle)	£8.99 per month or (£89.90 per year)	£12.99 per month or (£129.90 per year)
Video Quality	Up to Full HD 1080p	Up to Full HD 1080p	Up to 4K UHD & HDR
Concurrent Streams	2	2	4
Downloads	✗	✓	✓
Audio	5.1 and Stereo	5.1 and Stereo	Dolby Atmos

Disney+ Extra Member password sharing crackdown

You now have to pay between £3.99 and £4.99 a month to share your account with one other household. We’ve explained all in our guide to how Disney+’s Extra Member will work.

Disney plus offers

One year free via Lloyds

This was our top way to get Disney+. The Club Lloyds current account is giving away a year of Disney+ as one of the Lifestyle Benefit freebies.

Sadly, since 1 November 2023 the included tier is Disney Standard with Ads – and there’s no way to upgrade it to a different option at the moment.

Not only is this worth less than before (£59.88 a year rather than £89.90), but you’ll have to watch adverts.

It’ll take a month from opening the current account until you will get access to the service.

How to get Disney+ free via Lloyds

Up to £27 off annual plans with cashback

Users of Quidco and TopCashback can get cashback when they take out a year-long subscription to Disney +. You’ll still pay the full £89.90 for the Standard package but you’ll get £10 paid back into your account with Quidco and £7 with Topcashback.

Even better, if you’re new to Topcashback you can also get a £20 sign up bonus, too.

This is only open to new Disney+ customers.

Get the latest cashback site new member offers

Annual pass: Two months free

Paying for an annual subscription to Disney+ normally offers you two months free.

For Standard it works out at £89.90 rather than £107.88, a saving of £17.98 which is 20% off.

Premium will set you back £129.90 rather than £155.88, saving around 20% too.

You can pay this yourself in your account or buy it as a gift card.

Andy’s analysis – is it worth paying for a year upfront?

If you know you want Disney+ all year round (hello anyone with kids!), the annual pass discount and potential cashback bring the price down.

But it’s worth thinking just how often you’ll actually watch it. Do you only want it for the big Marvel and Star Wars TV shows? If so, maybe you only need to get it when these are released.

And if you can cut Disney+ for at least two months a year (more if you get the cashback), then it’s exactly the same cost to go for the monthly price. So every month on top that you don’t subscribe you are saving cash.

Of course you do need to remember to cancel and not let it keep rolling over month to month.

Clubcard: 50% off

Swap £13.50 in Clubcard vouchers for three months of Disney+ Standard, which would cost £27 at full price.

There’s a cheaper option for Disney+ with Ads, which requires £7.50 in Clubcard points for three months, worth £15.

Swap Clubcard points for Disney+ vouchers

£2 off Standard with O2

If you’re on a pay-monthly refresh tariff or a SIM-only 12 or 18 month contract, then you can add any Disney+ tier to your mobile plan (so you’ll pay alongside your bill) at full price.

But you’ll get £2 credited to your bill every month, effectively meaning you’ll pay £6.99 a month for Standard and £10.99 for Premium.

That’s a decent saving each month, however, there is a minimum term of six months.

And if you keep it for a full year, then the savings are smaller as you need to compare them to the discounted annual plans. Versus the annual Premium plan cost of £129.90, the total saved will be £10.02. For Standard it’s a saving of £6.02 a year versus the annual cost of £89.90.

You can get this offer until 30 September 2025. It’s not available for existing Disney+ subscribers but isn’t specifically for new ones, so you could cancel and then sign up through O2 to get the discount.

Add Disney+ to your O2 contract

Up to six months free with O2

If you’re new to O2 or upgrading then you can claim either one, three or six months of Disney+ for free. This can be a great way to save, but you need to make sure you can’t get a cheaper SIM-only deal elsewhere.

This “Extra” is only available on certain deals, and most of the time O2 SIM deals are more expensive than elsewhere.

However, sometimes you can find a bargain via a comparison site. For example, a two minute search found 10GB of data for £10 a month via MoneySuperMarket, which comes with three months free Disney+.

So you’d pay £120 a year for your phone tariff, get three months free Disney Premium, then (via a deal listed above) get £2 off the Disney+ for the next nine months (and beyond) costing just under £59. There’s also currently £8 cashback via TopCashback for SIM-only deals at MoneySuperMarket. This means you’d pay just under £153 for your SIM and Disney+ for one year.

Let’s compare this to an alternative deal. You can often get 15GB for under £7 a month so the total for 12 months of your phone is £84 before any cashback or other deals. A year upfront for Disney Premium would be £129.90.

So in total, you’ll pay at most £183.90 this way – which is more expensive than the O2 deal. Though of course that’s assuming you don’t use the other deals listed here to reduce that Disney+ cost.

Check out O2 SIM deals at O2

Disney+ with Ads: four months for £1.99 a month (ended)

For a limited time, new and returning Disney+ users can get a four-month subscription for £1.99 a month, so you’ll save a total of £12 versus full price.

After the four, your subscription will auto-renew to the Disney+ with Ads price of £4.99. So be sure to set a reminder to cancel your subscription if you don’t plan on paying.

You’ll need to sign up by 30 June 2025 to get this offer.

Get 4 months of Disney+ for £1.99 a month

Stack up to £24 off + £10 off + 15% off (ended)

There’s a way for new Disney+ users to get a huge discount, by combining four different offers. Not everyone will be eligible for each step.

Join a cashback site as a new member with our special offers to boost the value. Right now you can get £24 from Quidco when you subscribe to the Be Clever With Your Cash newsletter and £20 with Topcashback when you spend £10
Sign up for Disney+ via Topcashback for £7 cashback (for Standard annual plan) or £13 (for Premium annual plan) or Quidco for £10 cashback
Buy an annual plan
Activate cashback offer on participating bank cards, such as American Express or Monzo, for 15% off the full price (potentially capped at £11.99)

This could help you make some decent savings. For example, if you sign up as a new Quidco member it would bring the price of the annual Standard membership down from £89.90 to under £56, before earning cashback on your card.

Details on all these separate offers are below too.

Uber One: free annual Disney+ pass (pay £49.99) (ended)

If you sign up to an annual Uber One pass at £49.99, you’ll get a free year of Disney+ Standard, worth £89.90 at full price (already a £39 saving on the annual cost). The deal ends on 23 May 2025.

If you’ve not signed up to Uber One before, you might be offered the first four weeks free, but you’ll have the option to choose annual payment after the trial.

However if you’ve previously taken the Disney+ offer from Uber you won’t be able to get it again until 14 months have passed.

You’ll also get discounts on Uber rides and Eats. Here’s more in our Uber One review.

Our Uber One review

Uber One: six months free Disney+ w/ ads (pay £30) (ended)

Alternatively, if you don’t want a year of Uber One or Disney, you can get the advert supported tier with the pay monthly Uber One. This costs £4.99 a month, so you’re effectively paying the same as going direct to Disney, but you’ll get the extra Uber features.

It’ll renew with Disney at £4.99 a month once the six months is over, on top of the £4.99 fee to Uber One.

Offer due to end 12 February 2026.

Our Uber One review

Featured savings deal

More Details

Trading 212 Cash ISA

AER (variable)

4.98%

Minimum

£1

New Trading 212 customers get an increase of 0.86% AER to 4.98% for 12 months

More details ▼

Additional Info

Existing Trading 212 customers get a rate of 4.1%

FSCS Protected?: Yes

Allows transfers in?: Yes

Flexible ISA?: Yes

▲

Disney plus deals via banking cards

It’s worth checking apps for your debit and credit cards to see if there’s a discount on Disney+.

15% off with American Express

If you have an Amex card then check the offers tab in your account to see if you can add a deal to save 15% on Disney+.

You’ll need to activate the offer in the app first. The offer comes and goes with different expiration dates, and you’ll get the discount on all transactions that are on your card in that time.

15% off with Monzo

Digital bank Monzo regularly offers customers 15% back when you spend at least £79.90 – so effectively it’s one of the two annual plans.

You’ll need to activate the offer in the app and pay with your Monzo card. It comes and goes, so if it’s not there, check when offers refresh each week.

Plus Disney+ newbies can stack this with the Quidco or TopCashback offer mentioned above and it brings the annual Standard price down.

More about Monzo cashback

15% off with Curve (ended)

The multi-bank app Curve is offering 15% off Disney+ until 19 March 2024, though it could well return or be extended.

You’ll need to activate the offer in the app and pay with a card connected to Curve and spend at least £4.99. The biggest discount you can get is £11.99 (if you pay upfront for a year of standard at £79).

Read our Curve review

15% off with Santander (ended)

If you have access to Santander’s Retailer Offers via a current account or credit card, you might see an offer earn 15% cashback on Disney+.

It says it’s on new purchases, though I reckon you’d get the money even as an existing customer. It’s certainly worth a try if you are already paying. Premier Access payments are excluded.

The offer comes and goes and the most you can earn is £7.99 (so that’s really only 10% off the annual price).

Best credit card offers and promotions (July 2025)

Written by Andy Webb

The best offers and promotions for credit cards from 0% interest through to introductory bonuses.

Used responsibly, credit cards can help you earn money on purchases, give you stronger consumer protections, make holidays cheaper, help you clear debts or spread the cost of a big purchase.

Everyone’s situation will be different, so these are just the best cards out there – you might have to settle for a shorter deal or lower rate of cashback.

This list is updated at least every month – check the published date to see when this last happened.

The best cashback card welcome bonuses

When you’re opening a card, especially a cashback or rewards based card, it’s worth seeing if there’s a welcome offer. And even better, checking to see if it’s boosted.

Barclaycard Rewards double cashback

New applicants to the Barclaycard Rewards card before 4 August 2025 can get 0.5% cashback rather than the standard 0.25% until 30 November 2025. The card is one of our top cards for spending abroad.

To get it, you need to:
Apply for and be accepted for a Barclaycard Rewards credit card by 23:59 PM on 4 August 2025.
Make your minimum payments on time
Stay within your credit limit
Keep your account open until after the cashback has been processed
Not have a Barclaycard now or have had one within the past 6 months

See if you’re eligible

Amazon: £50 welcome offer for Prime Members

If you have Amazon Prime and you sign up for the Amazon Barclaycard by 28 July 2025, then you can currently get £50 in Amazon credit added to your Amazon account.

You’ll also earn 1% at Amazon and 0.5% elsewhere, dropping to 0.25% after a year. Non Prime members can get £20.

Read our review of the Amazon Barclaycard

Check your eligibility for the Amazon credit card

Amazon: £20 welcome offer

You’ll also earn 1% at Amazon and 0.5% elsewhere, dropping to 0.25% after a year.

Read our review of the Amazon Barclaycard

Check your eligibility for the Amazon credit card

John Lewis: double points for 60 days

If you apply for a new John Lewis Partnership card you’ll get double points at John Lewis or Waitrose for the first 6 days, meaning you’ll get the equivalent of 2.5% back.

After this, you’ll earn 1.25% back (5 points per £4 spent) in Waitrose or John Lewis. You’ll get 0.25% back (1 point per £5 spent) at all other retailers.

There’s no end date for this deal.

Check if you’re eligible for the John Lewis Partnership credit card

M&S: 5x points for six months

If you apply for a new Marks & Spencer credit card, you can get five points on M&S spending instead of one, for six months. Every £100 spent gets 500 points which works out as £5 as a voucher.

There is no closing date for this offer but the terms and conditions state it can be withdrawn at any time.

Check your eligibility for an M&S credit card

Featured savings deal

More Details

Trading 212 Cash ISA

AER (variable)

4.98%

Minimum

£1

New Trading 212 customers get an increase of 0.86% AER to 4.98% for 12 months

More details ▼

Additional Info

Existing Trading 212 customers get a rate of 4.1%

FSCS Protected?: Yes

Allows transfers in?: Yes

Flexible ISA?: Yes

▲

Best American Express welcome offers:

We’ve more details on the latest offers in my dedicated guide to American Express offers, but here are the top picks for the bonus available for new cardholders.

Boosted Amex welcome offers

£25 back and 5% on the Amex Cashback card

All the latest Amex welcome offers

Expired deals

Best 0% Purchase & Balance Transfer welcome deals

Before you get a 0% balance transfer card make sure you read my guide to how to properly use them to reduce the cost of debts.

Barclaycard: £20 bonus and £15 cashback (expired)

With the Barclaycard Platinum credit cards, you can get £15 cashback from Quidco when you apply and use the card within 90 days.

And on top of this Barclaycard will give £20 cashback if you spend £500 on the card once accepted. That part ends 6 February 2025.

The card itself offers up to 22 months of spending at 0%, and up to 19 months for a balance transfer, with a fee on the latter of 3.45%. If you use the card for purchases you must pay off at least the minimum each month, even though it’s at 0%.

Remember, even though you need to go via Quidco to get this offer, you should check your eligibility first on the Barclaycard site. If you decide to proceed with the application, close the Barclaycard website down, and start again via Quidco.

If you’re new to Quidco, you could get up to £20 as a welcome bonus as well, though you’ll need to you use this for other shopping as it requires a minimum spend.

Get a Quidco welcome bonus

Check your 0% Barclaycard card eligibility

Bonus cashback: Up to £25

Cashback sites Quidco and TopCashback offer between £20 and £30 to successful applicants for credit cards from Tesco, TSB, HSBC and Barclaycard. Rates can change, so check out both sites.

For balance transfer cards this could work out better than the no-fee option. So for example, the Barclaycard Platinum transfer fee is 0.9%. Transfer £2,222 or less and the cashback wipes out the fee.

These rates can change so it’s worth checking each site to see which pays first.

New to cashback sites? Get an additional bonus of up to £20

Quidco new members can get £20 when they spend £10, while TopCashback new members can get £20 when they spend £10. Find out how to get these bonuses

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Best fee-free travel welcome deals

Most credit cards are expensive to use overseas, but a few are fee-free on transactions and withdrawals.

Best credit building credit card welcome deals

If you’ve got a poor credit rating then spending on a credit card and then clearing the debt completely each month can help boost your score.

I’ve written in detail about this type of card, so make sure you check it out.

Barclaycard Forward: £20 cashback

If you’re eligible for the Barclaycard Forward card then you can apply via Quidco or TopCashback to get £20 cashback.

Tesco Foundation: £25 cashback

You can get £25 cashback when applying for the Tesco Foundation card via TopCashback.

Get paid to switch bank

Check out the latest bank switching incentives, plus the current accounts with the best rewards, cheapest overdraft and highest interest.

Expired deals

Asda Money: up to £50 cashback (expired)

If you open a credit card with Asda Money by 6 January 2025 then you can get 5% back in your Asda Pounds in your first 60 days, up to £50.

You’ll also earn 0.75% on your Asda spend and 0.2% everywhere else.

This is only available for new customers, or those who’ve not had an Asda credit card in the last 12 months. You’ll need to stay within the terms of your credit agreement to get the Asda Pounds.

It’s worth noting that recent offers have paid more, with £50 or £100 available in cashback in 2024.

Read our review of the Asda Money credit card

Check your eligibility for the Asda Money credit card

HSBC: 0% purchase card plus £60 cashback offer stack (expired)

With the HSBC Purchase Plus card, you can get £35 cashback from Quidco when you apply and use the card within 90 days. If you’re not on the Premium level of Quidco (£1 a month – more here), that this drops to £25.

And on top of this HSBC will give £25 cashback if you spend £100 on the card once accepted. That part ends 16 December 2024.

The card itself offers up to 20 months of spending at 0%, and up to 17 months for a balance transfer, with a fee on the latter of 3.49%. If you use the card for purchases you must pay off at least the minimum each month, even though it’s at 0%.

Remember, even though you need to go via Quidco to get this offer, you should check your eligibility first on the HSBC site. If you decide to proceed with the application, close the HSBC website down, and start again via Quidco.

If you’re new to Quidco, you could get up to £20 as a welcome bonus as well, though you’ll need to you use this for other shopping as it requires a minimum spend.

Get a Quidco welcome bonus

Check your 0% HSBC card eligibility

Halifax Clarity: £20 cashback (expired)

Sign up for a new Halifax Clarity credit card and make a transaction within 90 days to get a £20 bonus added to your card.

The Halifax Clarity won’t charge you for spending or using an ATM, but it will charge interest on cash withdrawals.

Check your eligibility for a Halifax Clarity credit card

Virgin Atlantic Reward+: Up to 22,500 bonus points boost (ended)

If you collect Virgin Points rather than Avios, this offer until 4 March 2024 will earn you double the usual points on spending for two months.

Card	Fee	Requirement	Welcome bonus	Boosted points
Virgin Atlantic Reward+	£160 a year	Spend up to £5,000 before 14 April	15,000	Up to 7,500

You’ll get 15,000 points with your first purchase with this card, and then double points (so 3 per £1 rather than 1.5 on most spending, or 6 rather than 3 on Virgin Atlantic/Virgin Holiday payments) until you reach £5,000 or 14 April (whichever happens first).

This means the additional points you can earn is capped at 7,500 and a total of 22,500. After this you’ll get the standard 1.5 points per £1 on additional spending.

It’s worth noting the card is fee free abroad if you spend in Euros, Swedish Kronor or Romanian Lei within the EAA or UK. It doesn’t apply to cash withdrawals.

You’ll be eligible for the offer as long as you’ve not held this Virgin Atlantic card in the last six months. If you have the free version of the card you will be able to get this offer.

The offer ends on 4 March 2024.

Is it worth it?

It’s a decent boost, but sadly this is lower than the 34,500 points available from a similar offer that ran late Autumn 2023.

I had a quick look for an off peak flight in November 2024, and those points would be enough to get you a return ticket from London to New York via Virgin Atlantic, though you’d need to pay taxes of around £281 on top. That’s instead of paying cash of around £574. So in this case the points would be worth around £300.

Bear in mind there’s a £160 annual fee, and you won’t get a refund if you cancel it after getting the bonus, so the flight in the example above would actually have cost you £460. But that’s still a saving of £115ish.

There’s also a upgrade voucher to Premium or a 2-4-1 companion voucher if you spend £10,000 across a year.

Of course these calculations will vary by route, date and availability, and you might be able to pay less if you shopped around for other offers.

If you don’t want to use these towards flights you can redeem them at the Virgin Red site, including for train tickets or gift cards at Costa, Nike and Pizza Express. You’ll get half a penny (0.5p) per point, so those 22,500 points will be worth £112.50.

You can also swap for things like Virgin Wine and Gregg’s sausage rolls!

Check your eligibility for a Virgin Atlantic Reward+ credit card

Yonder: 6 months free (expired)

If you sign up for Yonder, you can get yourself 6 months free (usually £15 per month).

Yonder is a reward credit card that lets you earn points to dine out (mainly in London). Travel insurance is included. A nice draw is that it doesn’t necessarily check your credit report as it prioritises open banking data when making a decision on accepting or rejecting your application.

You don’t have to stick around after the free trial and cancel before the 6 months are up.

Check your eligibility for a Yonder credit card

July 1, 2025 | Deals

Finance app and fintech offers

Written by BCWYC Team

Try out new apps to help you and your finances and also get a free money bonus or voucher when you do

We love trying out new apps that help us track our spending, put money into savings or earn interest. Often they’ll also come with a welcome or referral offer, and we’ll share these and any other decent ones below.

Money app welcome offers

Snoop: £5 Amazon Voucher

Snoop is an app to help you track your spending. It also analyses your bank data to suggest ways you can save money. Right now there’s an offer to get a £5 Amazon voucher.

You must go via the link below for the offer to track.

Once you’ve downloaded the app and signed up you need to connect a bank or credit card account and stay connected until the end of the following month. Do this and the voucher will be sent.

Join Snoop to get your £5 voucher

Sprive: £5 welcome bonus

Sprive is an auto savings app (more on how these work here) where the money moved from your current account goes towards your mortgage rather than a savings pot. The idea is you’ll slowly make overpayments that’ll get you mortgage-free faster.

The standard referral offer is £5 (it’s occasionally doubled to £10). You’ll need to sign up with a code (such as 5NN3KXFL) and set up a Direct Debit linked to your bank account.

The bonus can only go towards your mortgage – so sadly if you’re not a homeowner this won’t be one for you.

More about the Sprive app

Featured savings deal

More Details

Trading 212 Cash ISA

AER (variable)

4.98%

Minimum

£1

New Trading 212 customers get an increase of 0.86% AER to 4.98% for 12 months

More details ▼

Additional Info

Existing Trading 212 customers get a rate of 4.1%

FSCS Protected?: Yes

Allows transfers in?: Yes

Flexible ISA?: Yes

▲

Money data offers

YouGov Connections: earn up to £55 a year

Share your banking data with YouGov and you’ll earn 5 points a day per account, worth 5p. You can add three current accounts, which over a year adds up to just under £55. Our full guide to YouGov Connections explains more.

YouGov Connections explained

Banking app offers

Monzo: £5 welcome bonus

New users of digital bank Monzo can get £5 credited to their account if they sign up via a refer-a-friend link and make a card payment in 30 days.

You’ll need to ask a friend for a link. Make sure the landing page when you follow a link explicitly says you’ll earn £5.

Here’s our full review of the bank.

Read our Monzo review

Expired offers

Tide business: Earn £75 (ended)

Sole traders and limited companies that open a brand new Tide account are eligible for a £75 welcome bonus. You’ll need to enter the code REFORM when you apply. Then once accepted, spend £300 on the debit card in the first three months.

The £75 will be credited to your account within eight weeks of meeting the criteria. You might be asked to prove you are running a business.

More about the Tide account

HyperJar: Up to 2% cashback (ended)

New users of the HyperJar app can earn up to £200 a month if they sign up before 21 June 2024.

You’ll get 1% back on spend with the physical debit card, and 2% on payments via Apple Pay or Google Pay, capped at £200 each month.

So if you spend £500 a month with your card you’ll get £5, and another £10 if you spend a further £500 via your phone’s wallet.

Most of your spending will count, but there are some exclusions, including paying off credit cards, Council Tax, utilities, gambling and tax bills. Also excluded are buying gift cards via HyperJar.

The cashback will last until 31 October 2024 so you’ve potentially got six months to earn the cashback. You’ll get your money 30 days after each month ends. So spend in May and you’ll get the money on 30 June and so on.

The HyperJar account is free so it won’t cost you anything to spend via the debit card.

You cannot be a current or previous customer of HyperJar to get the offer. Full terms and conditions here.

More about HyperJar

Read next: other bank reviews