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June 13, 2025 | Articles Review

American Express Preferred Rewards Gold credit card review

Written by Andy Webb

Is this the best Amex credit card?

There’s a healthy welcome bonus for the Amex Preferred Rewards Gold credit card, making it one of the most attractive cards at first sight.

Here’s what you need to know about the American Express Gold card, how to hack the point redemption to earn more money and how it compares to other cashback cards.

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.

How much will you make from the Amex Gold?

Earning Reward points

You earn American Express Membership Reward points rather than cashback. There are different levels when you spend with the Amex Gold Rewards card. You’ll get:

1 point per £1 spent
2 points per £1 spent with airlines or in foreign currencies
3 points per £1 spent at American Express Travel

Personally I’d ignore the double and triple points unless you happen to get the best deal direct with an airline or Amex Travel. It’s better to get a lower price elsewhere even though you’ll earn half the points back. You’ll also be better off using a fee-free card to spend in foreign currencies.

Spending bonuses from 15 October 2025

As well as normal points for spending, you’ll also get additional bonus points triggered by cumulative spending. This is changing from 15 October 2025.

When the new system comes into play, it’ll stagger this bonus so you get 5,000 bonus points for each £10,000 you spend.

The bonus points will be added to your account as soon as you reach the spending threshold. It’s capped at a spend of £20,000 a year meaning the most you could get in a year are 10,500 additional points. Here’s how that works:

Spend	Bonus	Cumulative Bonus
£10,000	5,000	5,000
£20,000	5,000	10,000

Of course, the two ways to earn points (point per spend and spending bonus points) stack on top of each other, so the real return has to look at them combined.

If you spend £10,000 (ignoring the welcome bonus which I’ll come back to), you’ll actually get 15,000 points, not 10,000. That’s now an effective cashback rate for the card of 0.75%. You’ll get the same rate if you spend £20,000 in a year.

But if you spend a different amount, the effective cashback rate will be less. Here’s how it’d pan out based on different annual spends with the card.

Annual spend	Points earned	Additional bonus points	Total value as gift card	Equivalent cashback rate
£2,500.00	2,500	0	£12.50	0.5%
£9,999.00	9,999	0	£57.50	0.5%
£10,000.00	10,000	5,000	£75.00	0.75%
£12,500.00	12,500	5,000	£87.50	0.7%
£15,000.00	15,000	5,000	£100.00	0.67%
£19,999	19,999	5,000	£124.50	0.63%
£20,000.00	20,000	10,000	£150.00	0.75%
£25,000.00	25,000	10,000	£175.00	0.7%

So really you’re looking at just 0.5% on this card if you don’t spend more than £10,000., and close to 0.75% if you are on or just over each £5,000 threshold. Only super high spenders above £25,000 will eventually earn less than this.

The new system means you’ll work out the same if you spend annually:

Less than £5,000
£10,000 to £14,999
£20,000 to £24,999

Any other spending level will be worse off, but up to 2,500 points (worth £12.50 as gift cards or Nectar points).

Spending bonuses until 14 October 205

Until mid-October, the system staggers this bonus so you get 2,500 bonus points for each £5,000 you spend. Here’s how that works:

Spend	Bonus	Cumulative Bonus
£5,000	2,500	2,500
£10,000	2,500	5,000
£15,000	2,500	7,500
£20,000	2,500	10,000
£25,000	2,500	12,500

Here’s how it pans out based on different annual spends with the card.

Annual spend	Points earned	Additional bonus points	Total value as gift card	Equivalent cashback rate
£2,500.00	2,500	0	£12.50	0.50%
£5,000.00	5,000	2,500	£37.50	0.75%
£7,500.00	7,500	2,500	£50.00	0.67%
£9,999.00	9,999	2,500	£57.50	0.62%
£10,000.00	10,000	5,000	£75.00	0.75%
£12,500.00	12,500	5,000	£87.50	0.70%
£15,000.00	15,000	7,500	£112.50	0.75%
£20,000.00	20,000	10,000	£150.00	0.75%
£25,000.00	25,000	12,500	£187.50	0.75%

Welcome bonus

New American Express customers who haven’t had an Amex in their name in the last 24 months (here’s more on this American Express rule) will get a welcome bonus worth 20,000 Reward Points when they spend £3,000 in the first three months. You have to spend the full £3,000 to get the bonus. Spend even 1p less and you won’t get it.

This would be valued at £100 if converted to a gift card. The bonus is earned alongside the points given for each £1 spent, meaning that the initial £3,000 spend is actually worth £115 when converted at 0.5p.

However, there are also regular boosted bonuses, increasing the welcome points available to 25,000, and sometimes as much as 30,000 or 35,000 (depending on the offer). Unless you really need the card, I’d wait for one of these offers to run. Check our Amex Gold booster offer page to see if there’s an offer like this available right now.

Be aware that getting the American Express Gold card (bonus or not) will rule you out of earning the welcome bonus from the American Express Platinum, one of the only cards that allows a second bonus.

Annual fee and charges

The American Express Gold card is free in the first year. However after this it comes with an annual fee of £195.

I can’t see how it’s worth paying this much when you can swap to a free or much lower fee card and earn a similar amount on your spending.

Other Amex Gold perks

£10 Deliveroo credit a month

There’s potentially £120 back in credit for spending at Deliveroo with the American Express Gold card. It’s actually two lots of £5 per month, each requiring a £5 minimum spend. This offer needs to be activated on your card, and won’t apply to any supplementary cards.

Free airport lounge passes

You also get four airport lounge passes each year. These can be used at Priority Pass locations, which can be hit and miss – it all depends on which airport you are at. I’d treat it as a nice to have rather than a reason to get the card.

Exclusive events

This is something previously limited to Platinum card holders. You’ll be able to book on (and pay for) events and exclusive food and drink deals throughout the year. Personally I’ve never used this on any of my Amex cards.

Other cashback offers

Something I love about Amex are the extra offers you can select via the app and your online account. Though these are retailer specific and won’t always be relevant, they’re well worth a look.

What are Amex Reward points worth?

It’s all very well talking about these points, but how do you use them and what are they worth? The former is easy. You can exchange your points as soon as they are paid via the Membership Rewards website.

But the value of the points depends on how you redeem them. They’re worth 0.45p when swapped for bill credit or used on retailer sites. So 1,000 points will be worth £4.50.

That increases to 0.5p (£5 per 1,000 points) when exchanged for a gift card at retailers such as M&S, Amazon, Selfridges and Waterstones, or converted to Nectar points. This means the cashback equivalent is 0.5%.

You can also swap them to your Avios or other airline schemes at a rate of 1:1. Personally I think most people are better off getting a cash value they can use on everyday spending than be restricted to using them as part of a flight loyalty scheme.

We’ve written a longer guide sharing the best ways to use the American Express Membership Rewards scheme.

Cancelling your Gold Amex

If you won’t want to pay the fee from year two onwards, you can cancel your card. If you miss the anniversary and get charged, you may be able to cancel and get a pro-rata refund of the fee, giving you back the money for unused months. However this loophole is due to end at some point.

However closing the card will mean you lose unused Reward points. Fortunately there’s a free Amex Rewards card you can apply for which will protect your balance. Make sure you do this before ditching the American Express Gold card.

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Amex Gold vs other cashback cards

Welcome bonuses

When boosted to 30,000 bonus points, along with 3,000 points for the spending (in total the equivalent to £165) is the highest paying welcome offer without a card fee in year one, as long as you can spend £3,000 in three months.

But, as mentioned, having this card rules you out of later applying for a welcome bonus with the Amex Platinum card, which is often boosted to 80,000 points. This won’t be for everyone, but if you think you might do this, then perhaps you’d be better off going for a different Amex first.

Compared to the other cards, the Nectar will earn you the equivalent of £100 in Nectar points, while the Amex Cashback offers up to £125 (5% on the first £2,500). Get either of these and you can still go for the Platinum at a later date.

Everyday spending

The best you’re going to get with this card is between 0.5% and 0.75%. That’s not bad, but it can be beaten. Right now there are a couple of cards which will pay a better rate.

The Amex Nectar pays two Nectar points per £1, which is effectively also 1%. This has a fee in year two, but only £30, so much cheaper than the Amex Gold!

The American Express Cashback card pays 0.75% on spending up to £10,000, then 1.25% for further spending (it resets each year). It also comes with a £25 annual fee, though this can be wiped out in the first year with occasional special offers or a referral code.

Should you get the Amex Preferred Rewards Gold credit card?

Andy’s Analysis

It’s certainly not a bad option for one year, but if you think you will try the second welcome bonus hack for the Amex Platinum card then I’d go for the Nectar or Cashback first instead.

How to get an American Express Preferred Rewards Gold card

You can go directly and check your eligibility with American Express. Once you’ve done this, I’d check the rates at Quidco and TopCashback, or via refer-a-friend links, to see what extra you can get.

June 12, 2025 | Articles

How to get the best value sun cream

Written by Andy Webb

Save money without sacrificing the protection you give your skin.

Is a branded suncreen any better than a supermarket’s own version? And what should you be thinking about other than the SPF number?

I’ve taken a look at how to make sure you’re not overspending but still getting the right protection.

What makes a decent sun cream?

SPF and UVB rays

When you’re going to buy suncream there’s probably only one number you really pay attention to. The big one on the front – the SPF number. Sun Protection Factor.

This ranges from around four or five all the way through to fifty plus. The number which medical groups recommend is at least thirty.

What the SPF number specifically shows is the protection you get against Ultraviolet B rays – or UVB. These are the rays that generally will burn your skin.

Basically the higher the number is, the greater the protection, the longer the protection you’re going to get from these rays.

“Star ratings” and UVA rays

There’s actually more than one type of UV ray coming from the sun. What you should also be looking for when you’re buying your suncream is protection against UVA – Ultraviolet A – rays.

This is the stuff that’s meant to premature age you, the stuff that causes you to get those lines caused by the sun. It will hopefully say both UVA and UVB on the packet.

But how do you know how good that protection is? Because SPF isn’t anything to do with the UVA. Instead, you look for some stars. Bigger packs hopefully have it on the front, though it might be on the back of smaller ones.

You should be looking for at least four stars. That’s going to give you the protection that you need.

Is more expensive suncream better?

Now if you’ve got at least factor 30 on the UVB and then you’ve got at least four stars on the UVA then all the sun creams are pretty much the same. At least they’re doing the same thing anyway in terms of protecting you from the sun’s rays.

So whether you’re going into Aldi or Boots and you’re spending a couple of quid or whether you’re spending more than ten quid by getting some posh brands, they’re not really doing anything different.

I had a look at Which? magazine. They’ve reviewed and tested about 15 to 20 different sun creams.

The best buys were from Boots, Nivea, Sainsbury’s and Superdrug, all relatively affordable. Worryingly, some of the brands didn’t offer the protection promised – and were marked “don’t buy”. These were Asda, Morrisons and one type of Ultrasun.

Broadly, the only real difference they found between the ones that did pass the tests is that some of the cheaper ones can feel a bit greasy when you apply them to your skin. Or they smell not fantastic when you apply them, so you might want to try some different ones and pay a bit more money.

So just because it’s a brand it’s not necessarily any better than an own brand from one of the chemists or supermarkets.

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How much should you buy?

One extra thing to think about when you’re buying your sun cream is the size of the bottle. In terms of getting value for money the bigger bottles will often work out cheaper per unit, usually per ml, So you’d think the bigger the bottle the better the deal.

But that’s not necessarily the case. On the back of most of your sun creams, you’ll see a little drawing of a pot. You see it on lots of cosmetics as well. This little round pot with an open lid and in there it will give a little number. If it says “12m” it stands for twelve months. Most sun creams are meant to last between 12 and 18 months.

Time actually reduces how strong the cream is. The bottle might say thirty on the front but if it’s two or three years old it won’t be delivering that kind of protection.

And it’s worth bearing in mind that if you leave your suncream out in the sun then that’s going to make it last a shorter amount of time as well.

So will you actually use the cream up in that time? Or will you, like I have in the past, have half-used bottles sitting at the back of the cupboard until the next year?

Big families, or people spending a lot of time in the sun, are probably better off buying big bottles at the start of each summer, and then buying smaller ones as the summer ends. And people who aren’t out in the sun much might be better off just buying smaller packs. Of course, it’s important to apply the right amount – so don’t scrimp.

June 12, 2025 | Deals

Tech, appliances and electronics deals

Written by BCWYC Team

From headphones to TVs, washing machines to fridges

If I spot special offers on any technology, appliances and electronics I’ll share them here.

Discount vouchers

Curry’s Trash for Cash: free £10 voucher

Take old electric items to Currys for recycling and you’ll get a voucher for at least £10 off (with a minimum spend of £25). You can provide anything powered by battery or mains, working or not. It doesn’t have to be bought from Currys originally.

Usually, you only get a £5 voucher, but it’s currently £10 for a limited time, although there’s no end date at the moment.

Vouchers must be used within 90 days and they can’t be used on Apple products, consoles or gift cards.

VPN offers

NORDVPN deal stack

A VPN is a service which lets you access the internet privately or browse as if you were in another country (it’s how people watch iPlayer overseas). For a day or two every month or so, Quidco offers 93.5% cashback rather than the usual 70% or 80% on a two-year NordVPN membership. This is worth around £68. Someties it’s increased to 100%!

A quick extra hack – VAT is added on top and cashback doesn’t cover this. So you’re looking at paying around £14, though I know some people have said they’re based in the US or Guernsey to avoid this.

Remember if you do pay in a foreign currency it’s best to use a card that won’t charge a fee. Plus, don’t forget if you’ve not signed up to Quidco yet you can get extra back on your first purchase! More on the latest new member deals here.

Expired deals

Google: 20% off devices (ended)

Until Sunday 19 May 2024 you can use the code SPRINGTREATGB to save 20% on Google products. This includes already discounted items (though do shop around first incase you can beat the price).

It includes Chromecast, Pixel and Nest.

Save 20% at Google Store

John Lewis: Free Google Nest Hub when you spend £75 (expired)

Spend £75 on selected home, furniture and electrical items at John Lewis and you’ll be able to add a Google Nest Hub (currently priced at £49.99) your basket. Then use the code MYJLGOOGLENEST at checkout to get it for free.

You do need to be a MyJohn Lewis member, which is free. Ends 8 June 2022, though previously offers like this have finished early if all the stock as gone.

Shop at John Lewis

Amazon device sale (expired)

Amazon is once again discounting the price of its Echo speakers, Kindles and more. But you don’t have to buy from Amazon direct as loads of retailers are price matching (eg Currys).

Here’s a selection:

Fire TV

Echo speakers

Kindle

Shop Amazon devices

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New Trading 212 customers get an increase of 0.53% AER to 4.38% for 12 months

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FSCS Protected?: Yes

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June 12, 2025 | Deals

National Art Pass deals and offers

Written by BCWYC Team

This card gives you free or reduced entry to galleries and museums.

If you’re an art or museum lover, you’ll know it can be expensive to see all the major exhibitions, especially in London. The National Art Pass is a pretty good way to indulge your hobby for less.

How much is a National Art Pass?

It’ll cost you £83 for the year, reduced to £62.25 if you pay by Direct Debit. Buy a Double membership and it’s £124 a year or £93 via Direct Debit.

Is it any good?

The bigger galleries and museums will probably offer you 50% off with the pass, while smaller ones might give you free entry.

Andy had one before and didn’t quite use it enough. But if you frequently visit galleries and museums, it’s well worth considering.

Where can you use it?

There are hundred of places – from the National Gallery to Tate Liverpool to HMS Belfast. You can search for your favourites or places near you on the National Art Pass website.

National Art Pass deals

3 months for £15

It’s unusual to get a pass for less than a year, so if you want to try it out, then you can currently get a discount for three months. It costs £15 for three months and add a plus one for £5.

This runs until 30 June 2025.

Get a 3 month Art Pass trial

Under 30s discount

If you’re aged under 30 years old you can get an annual pass for £50. (Or £37.50 if you pay by Direct Debit).

You can buy this at any time before you hit 30. So if you’re 29 and your birthday is tomorrow you’ll still get the full discounted membership for a year.

Get an under 30 Art Pass

Student Art Pass for £10

You can buy a Student Art Pass for £10. You need to be over 18 and studying full-time at a UK university or college. You’ll need to prove your eligibility with a uni email address.

It’s worth trying the code TAKE20 for an extra 20% off.

Get a Student Art Pass

Featured savings deal

More Details

Trading 212 Cash ISA

AER (variable)

4.38%

Minimum

£1

New Trading 212 customers get an increase of 0.53% AER to 4.38% for 12 months

More details ▼

Additional Info

Existing Trading 212 customers get a rate of 3.85%

FSCS Protected?: Yes

Allows transfers in?: Yes

Flexible ISA?: Yes

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June 10, 2025 | Articles

Get 2 for 1 cinema tickets all year for just £1 with Meerkat Movies

Written by Andy Webb

This hack will get you cheap tickets every Tuesday and Wednesday for a one-off fee – giving massive savings to film fans. Even better, it could cost as little as £1.

One of the best ways to get cheaper cinema tickets is via the Meerkat Movies 2 for 1 cinema tickets deal – and you can bring the price down even more by stacking it with other deals.

In this blog, I’ll explain how it works, how to get the Meerkat Movies code, and whether you can use it at ODEON, Vue, Cineworld, Picturehouse and other cinemas.

What are Meerkat Rewards

Meerkat Movies is just one perk offered by comparison site Compare the Market. Anyone who’s taken out a qualifying product via the site also gets Meerkat Meals, which offers money off at restaurants and cafes.

How Meerkat Movies works

Once a week you can access a Meerkat Movies code on the app to get “buy-one-get-one-free” tickets at most UK cinemas all year.

You can then use this code on either Tuesday or Wednesday for standard cinema seats – not all cinemas allow you to use it for 3D or premium screens, or they might charge extra to do so.

All the big chains except Picturehouse let you use the code to book online a week ahead – though watch out for online booking fees.

You have to use the code for the same film, so you can’t do a solo double bill, and you can only use one code each week.

And it’s the cheapest ticket which is free. So if you’re one adult and one child, you’ll pay just for the adult ticket.

With your £1 travel insurance policy you also get two for one discounts at restaurants with Meerkat Meals.

How to get Meerkat Movies membership for £1

To get your one year membership you need to buy an insurance policy through the Compare the Market comparison site.

That’s great if you’re looking to sort out insurance for your car or home, but if not there’s a sneaky trick to get you access for just a few quid. Prices vary and normally sit around the £1.20 point – but right now it’s possible to get it for just £1!

All you need to do is get a quote for travel insurance and choose the following options.

UK
Single trip
One night
One person
No extra cover
No pre-existing medical conditions

Follow this and you should be offered a range of policies – just go for the cheapest one. You’re not going to use this insurance so you don’t need to read into any of the terms and conditions. Buy this and you’re now eligible to get 2 for 1 Meerkat Movie codes every week!

Which cinemas allow Meerkat Movies codes

You can search for cinemas in the app, or in this Meerkat Movies map. it looks like you’re less likely to find an independent cinema that accepts the codes, however the following big chains all let you use Meerkat Movies codes:

ODEON
Vue
Cineworld
Picturehouse
Empire
The Light (some locations)
Reel

Cinema chains that don’t allow Meerkat Movies include:

Curzon
Everyman (though you can get 2-4-1 via a Times subscription)
The Light (some locations)

All the latest cinema ticket offers

Find out more ways to save at the cinema.

How to get your 2-4-1 code

The easiest way to get your weekly Meerkat Movies code is via the Meerkat app. If you don’t have a smartphone you can log into comparethemarket.com and print your voucher from there, or just write down the code.

You need a new code every week, and these are released on a Thursday.

Stacking other savings with Meerkat Movies

Two for one is already a great deal, but you can often save even more by combining the Meerkat Movies code with other promotions.

One way to stack is to pay with a discounted gift card. These aren’t that common, but it’s worth keeping an eye out for deals such as 10% off the likes of ODEON, Vue and Cineworld.

Meerkat Movies by cinema

Meerkat Movies at ODEON

ODEON seems to let you use Meerkat Movies with any type of ticket. Look out for discounted locations, with some cinemas charging just £5 a ticket midweek – meaning you’ll pay £2.50 per person with your Meerkat Movies code.

Meerkat Movies is also a great way to save money at the posher Luxe screens, or the refurbished ODEON Leicester Square. You’ll still pay more for these locations though.

Officially the ODEON Limitless card doesn’t work with your Meerkat Movies code, but it’s worth a try. These let you go to as many films as you like, potentially bringing the cost of two people to see a movie every week down to as low as £2.30 per ticket – IF you go every week, and only on a Tuesday or Wednesday.

Meerkat Movies at Cineworld

Again, some Cineworld locations are really cheap mid-week – so check the prices near you. You can use Meerkat movies with child, student and senior tickets alongside normal adult ones.

Though it’s not an official policy, regular Cineworld goers with an Unlimited Card seem to have no problems with combining their membership with the code to get 2 for 1 cinema tickets. To save even more, Tesco Clubcard points can be used to save you money on the annual price.

Featured savings deal

More Details

Trading 212 Cash ISA

AER (variable)

4.38%

Minimum

£1

New Trading 212 customers get an increase of 0.53% AER to 4.38% for 12 months

More details ▼

Additional Info

Existing Trading 212 customers get a rate of 3.85%

FSCS Protected?: Yes

Allows transfers in?: Yes

Flexible ISA?: Yes

▲

Meerkat Movies at Vue

The supercheap Vue day is now on Mondays, so you can’t combine it with Meerkat anymore.

Meerkat Movies at Picturehouse Cinemas

In my experience, you can use your reduced membership price with a Meerkat Movies code – though officially the chain says you can’t.

I’m a big fan of Picturehouse memberships. You get free tickets to cover around half the fee, then you save around £2 or £3 per ticket on top of that and get 10% off at the bar, plus most will have a cheap ticket day and member previews.

June 2, 2025 | Deals

Beauty & health deals

Written by BCWYC Team

From freebies to money off, if we spot a great deal on beauty products we’ll list them here.

You can always get beauty discounts and freebies at various retailers. Here’s our pick of the best savings right now.

Yellow background with "beauty and makeup deals" in blue text

Space NK offers

Space NK: up to 20% off with £5 charity donation

This is a decent opportunity to stock up on beauty essentials (and luxuries) as you can get up to 20% off at Space NK until 2 June 2025

You must donate £5 to the charity Switchboard LGBT+ via Space NK’s link, and then you’ll get a unique code to use.

This includes rarely discounted brands such as Diptyque – only a handful of items are excluded, which you can see here. You can’t use the deal on gift cards or sale items either.

It ends 11.45pm on 2 June 2025

Shop at Space NK

Body Shop discounts

£5 Body Shop voucher on your birthday

Love My Body members get sent a £5 voucher on their birthday every year. You can sign up for the scheme (for free) here.

Join the Love My Body club

Health deals

Vision Express: free eye test with £50 spend

Download the Lidl Plus app, and in the partner offers section you’ll find you can claim a free eye test (worth £30) and get 30% off frames, as long as you spend £50 on prescription glasses at Vision Express.

Ends 10 October 2025.

Grüum beauty deals

Grüum: skincare and/or haircare bundle for £3.95

You can get two or three full-sized products from Grüum (worth up to £43) for just the cost of delivery (£3.95).

There are several bundles to choose between, although some are often out of stock. The options include skin cleansers, shampoo bars, body wash bars and body oils, to name a few.

You have to pay £3.95 for delivery, but for a couple of products, that’s not bad.

Get a skincare bundle for £3.95

Boots offers

There are often regular offers and savings at Boots so we’ve set up a page just for those deals.

Holland & Barrett offers

£3 free spend via Holland & Barrett loyalty scheme

You’ll then earn 4 points for every pound you spend, and vouchers are sent out four times a year (minimum 50 points needed).

Get £3 to spend at H&B

Lush beauty deals

Lush: £3 Lush Club bonus (expired)

If you join Lush’s UK loyalty club then new or existing account holders can get a £3 welcome voucher if they sign into the latest version of the app before 8 October 2024.

You don’t need to do anything to trigger the coupon, though do check if it’s showing in the banner on the app or in the ‘Rewards’ section of the app.

You’ll be able to use the £3 in-store or on purchases via the app. It’ll last three months from activation.

Liberty beauty deals

Liberty: Subscription box offer

You can get an unusual beauty subscription box from Liberty. If you deposit £25 per month into your Liberty “beauty bank” (essentially buying store credit), then you get a “Discovery Box” four times a year for £5 per month, worth a total of £300 per year.

You’ll still have the credit in your account that you deposited (except the £5 fee for each box), but it can’t be refunded or withdrawn.

What’s in the beauty box?

The box is called The Beauty Drop. You get four per year full of trial-sized products. They’re sent in January, April, July and October and they’ll be worth up to £300 throughout the year.

Remember that just because Liberty would sell the products for £300, it doesn’t mean they’re worth that for you.

The drawbacks

Your typical bank account has protection – you’re protected by up to £85,000 if your bank goes bust. However, your money in the “beauty bank” at Liberty isn’t protected. This means that if Liberty were to go bust, the money you have in the account likely won’t be refunded to you, much like a gift card.

You could mitigate this by spending the money you deposit as soon as you can and not letting a large balance rack up, but Liberty’s high prices might prevent this.

June 1, 2025 | Articles

Amazon Prime review: is it worth the money?

Written by Andy Webb

Wondering whether you should shell out for Amazon Prime? Here are the pros and cons.

Amazon Prime is a popular choice of subscription, but it comes at quite a cost. Here’s what you get if you sign up and our thoughts on whether it’s worth getting and when it should be avoided.

What is Amazon Prime?

Amazon Prime is a paid-for membership to the online giant that gives you a series of benefits that normal customers don’t have access to or have to pay more for. There’s a long list of these extras further down.

How much does Amazon Prime cost?

The free trial

Everyone can try Amazon Prime free for 30-days. It’s best to time your trial for when you think you’ll most need free delivery or when there’s a big promo event such as Prime Day, which tends to be in June or July each year; or Black Friday, which is on the fourth Friday of November each year.

Since every adult in the household can take out a free trial, if there’s more than one of you it’s possible to double up – or more. Once again, you can time these trials for times you’ll need to make more purchases, like ahead of an event or to prep for things like Christmas gifts.

You can repeat your trial a year after a trial has finished, so there’s the potential to do this every 13 months. And sometimes there’s even an offer earlier.

The annual membership: £95 a year

Amazon Prime costs a hefty £95 a year. This is a lot so you’ve got to use at least two or three of the perks for it to represent good value.

There used to be a couple of times a year where you could get the membership for around £59. These were usually in the run-up to Amazon Prime Day and Black Friday, though they’ve not happened in recent years. We always list these on our Amazon deals and discounts page, so bookmark it and check back!

The monthly subscription: £8.99 a month

If you don’t want to pay for the full year then you can opt for an £8.99 monthly subscription instead, which you can cancel whenever you want. It will work out cheaper than the annual plan if you pay for nine months or less, or practically the same for 10 months.

There’s a cheaper £5.99 option but this is just for the Prime Video streaming service and not the other features. This can be difficult to find so we have a guide to find Prime Video.

The student / young person discount: £47.49 a year

There’s a cheaper option for students or young people aged 18-22 who aren’t at Uni. They’ll get six months free, then three years at £47.49 a year. A monthly option costs £4.49.

To get this you need to have a student card or age ID (. Sadly, the loophole where anyone could get a student card is closed, though you might be able to get an alumni card.

Or if you’re 18-22 year olds will also get access even if they’re not at Uni.

Again, each household member can have the trial, so you can easily double up if you qualify.

What you get with Amazon Prime

Here are the key extras you’ll get as part of your subscription.

Free next-day, possibly same-day, delivery

There’s no minimum spend for delivery from Amazon when you’re with Prime, except if you want same-day delivery, where there’s a £20 minimum or a £1.99 fee. If you order from Amazon a lot, the free delivery can be pretty handy.

Normally you’d have to pay extra to get things sent through if the order is under £35, or £10 for books. The minimum amount quietly changed from £25 in June 2024, up 40%. This is standard delivery, so it takes a few days.

Generally non-Prime delivery will cost £3.99 for media (books, CDs, DVDs and games) or £4.99 for everything else. You can sometimes knock these down to £2.99 if you get your order sent to an Amazon “pickup location” such as a locker or newsagent.

So if you’re mainly thinking of Prime for delivery, you’ll need to make 20 orders under £35 in a year to break even with the pickup deliveries, or 16 at the higher £4.99 charge.

However, since not everything on Amazon is sold by Amazon, there will still be items that aren’t eligible for Prime delivery.

Two Odeon tickets for £10

Once per month, Prime members can get two Odeon cinema tickets for £10 or two recliner tickets for £15 at Luxe cinemas on Mondays to Thursdays. This can be stacked with discounted gift cards, so for example a 20% off gift card would mean the two tickets cost £8.

There are better Odeon deals and offers available, especially when you consider that tickets at some Odeon venues are typically £5 with myODEON anyway and can be booked with Meerkat Movies, making the tickets half the price.

Exclusive access to flash sales such as Prime Day

In the middle of July, Amazon marks its birthday with Amazon Prime Day. This usually features some big discounts on Amazon products like Kindles, Echos and Fire TV, as well as all sorts of other items. These deals are only open to Prime members.

The Black Friday sale which tends to run for about 12 days, if not longer, is another big sale with extra offers for Prime members.

We find that most of these deals are stock clearance or encourage you to buy things you don’t need. However, there are bargains to be found, especially if you utilise some of the extra vouchers to buy things you actually need.

Early access to ‘Lightning Deals’

As a Prime member, you can buy the daily deals 30 minutes earlier than everyone else. Since stock is usually limited, this could be the difference between getting the item and missing out. Here’s more about how Lightning Deals work.

TV and movies with Prime Video

There are some good exclusive TV shows such as The Boys and The Marvellous Mrs Maisel, and plenty of other box sets.

There are also some decent recent and classic movies. Amazon is making more original movies and has purchased the legendary studio MGM, so we’ll see even more films appearing just on Prime.

You can stream from your computer, smart TV or devices such as a Chromecast or Fire TV stick, or download to your phone.

Don’t forget though that Prime Video costs £5.99 a month on its own (without the other Prime benefits), which might be a better option for you.

You can’t get ad-free streaming, though. Amazon introduced an extra £2.99 monthly charge for ad-free Prime Video in January 2024.

Pay less for your streaming

Find out which streaming service is the best value for money

Live Champions League Football

Amazon is also increasing the sports you can watch exclusively via Prime Video. Next season you can watch Tuesday night Champions League football with it, though it no longer offers selected Premier League matches.

You can read more about the cheapest ways to watch football in our summary.

Ad-free streaming with Amazon Music Prime

This included streaming service is better than it used to be. It’s ad-free and has grown to 100 million songs (similar to Spotify) so there’s plenty to keep you occupied if you don’t want to shell out extra for premium music streaming.

The problem is you can only shuffle your tunes. That’s ok if you’re mainly listening to playlists (which you can create), but it can be annoying if you want to hear an album from start to finish.

You can also listen to podcasts ad-free – including our one, Cash Chats.

There is an extra Music Unlimited service which you pay £10.99 for, and there’s a £1 discount for Prime members, however, there’s a trick to pay upfront for a year to get Music Unlimited even cheaper.

Digital books and magazines with Prime Reading

Every month Prime members get access to a few thousand ebooks and magazines to read via a Kindle, Kindle app, or even your computer. There are a few big titles, such as the Harry Potter series, but otherwise don’t expect to pick up all the novels on your reading list.

The magazine offering isn’t bad, but the titles change every month. It’s better instead to see if you can get digital magazines from your library.

There’s also “First Reads” where you can pick up a free Kindle book each month from a selection of six or so titles. But don’t expect any future award-winners. You can see previous ‘First Reads’ titles here.

Games via Prime Gaming

You’ll get a Twitch channel subscription each month, along with some free PC games to play.

Unlimited photo storage with Prime Photos

Amazon’s cloud-based storage will keep the photos you take safe if your computer or phone is lost or stolen. You also get 5GB of storage for other file types with Amazon Drive – the same you get with Apple iCloud, but less than the 15GB with Google Drive.

Free Deliveroo Plus

You can sign up for a year of Deliveroo Plus Silver, which will save you money on delivery costs, worth £3.49 a month. However, there’s still a minimum spend of £15 per order. Here’s more about Deliveroo Plus.

Access to Amazon Fresh grocery delivery services

Prime members also get to order food from their local Morrisons, Iceland or Co-op and from Amazon Fresh. It’s free delivery for baskets over £60 but charges you £2 for orders between £40 and £60 and £4 if the total is under £40 or if you want the delivery within two hours.

Free Hello Fresh delivery

Prime members get free delivery on their Hello Fresh orders for a year. Delivery usually costs £4.99 for each box.

What you don’t get included with Amazon Prime

You’d be forgiven for expecting Prime to give you all the extra services Amazon offers. But no, you need to pay extra for the following:

Amazon Music Unlimited – an extra £10.99 a month
Kindle Unlimited – an extra £9.49 a month
Ad-free Prime Video – there’s an extra charge of £2.99 per month for this
Audible audiobooks – an extra £8.99 a month
Amazon Channels – costs vary for extra TV channels such as Paramount+ and Discovery+

What’s good about Amazon Prime

People obviously love the next-day delivery, and it’s certainly a service that other retailers find hard to compete with. And there’s much more you can get on top.

If you use most of the features that come with Amazon, you’re getting a lot for your money – effectively £7.92 a month if you pay for the year. Here’s a quick comparison of how this stacks up against some key competitors:

Prime Membership	Cost with Prime	Alternatives	Cost of Alternative
Free next-day delivery	£95	Paying for delivery charges elsewhere (three orders a month at £2 an order)	£72
Prime Video	Included	Netflix (standard) at £10.99 a month	£131.88
Amazon Music Unlimited	Extra £99	Spotify Premium (annual subscription discount)	£120
	*Total* *£194*		*Total £333.88*

We’ve assumed three online orders a month with a charge of £2. Often you’ll get free delivery from other retailers, but charges will also vary. And, you might order more or less, and delivery charges might be different too, but this gives you an idea.

With TV and film streaming, Prime Video is cheaper than Netflix, even when subscribed for full Prime rather than on its own.

And even with the extra charge for Music Unlimited, it’s cheaper than buying the same service with Spotify if you are also using the other parts of Prime.

Prime members can also get access to extra vouchers and discounts, which are great if you are going to spend the money with Amazon anyway.

What’s bad about Amazon Prime

There’s a reason that Amazon packs so much into the membership. It doesn’t want you to spend money elsewhere. If you’ve already paid for delivery with Prime, you’re not going to want to make orders with other retailers and pay for delivery, or get it later than you could with Amazon. This stops you from shopping around. And you could easily end up spending more money as a result.

In part, that’s because Amazon isn’t always cheaper. Across my year without Amazon in 2021 I actually saved money on his purchases – even when you factor in the delivery costs.

Plus, you’re much more likely to buy more because you have Prime. Not just because you’re more likely to be on Amazon more often and open to more temptation, but also because those extra discounts encourage you to make unnecessary purchases — such as on Prime Day and during Black Friday.

You also lose the friction that added delivery costs can add to your purchase, which might usually make you think twice before buying something you don’t need.

Let’s also look again at the table above. Yes, it’s potentially a huge difference in spending, but that’s assuming you don’t also pay for the other services elsewhere.

If you do want Disney+ or Netflix, then also having Prime for film and TV won’t be saving you cash – it’s an extra cost. It’s only cheaper if you ditch the others.

And if you need to shop elsewhere (not everything is on Amazon) you’ll pay for delivery on top.

Featured savings deal

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New Trading 212 customers get an increase of 0.53% AER to 4.38% for 12 months

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Is Amazon Prime worth it?

So, does Amazon Prime offer good value for money? Well, it can, as long as you use at least a couple of the services. Most people will get enough use from the free delivery and exclusive discounts on Prime Day and Prime Video to justify the £95 fee.

However, if you end up buying more and not shopping around because you have Prime, you’re likely to spend more money having Prime rather than not having it.

Don’t forget you can still shop at Amazon without Prime. Yes, you might pay between £2.99 and £4.99 for items under £25 (it’s under £10 for books). But you’d need to order something under that threshold roughly every fortnight to cover your £95 fee. Do you order low-cost items that often from Amazon?

And of course, you need to consider where else you shop. It ultimately comes down to whether you are dedicated to Amazon or happy to shop and stream elsewhere.

If you don’t want to stop completely, then maybe you could cancel your annual membership and go monthly. And then pick and choose the months you need to use it. So perhaps it’s just around Prime Day, Black Friday and when you want to binge on some new box sets. Just see how you go!

My year without Amazon

Why I cancelled Amazon Prime membership

I actively chose to go without Amazon in 2021, so I obviously cancelled my Prime membership – even though I was paying just £39 a year.

This was largely a step to proactively support other retailers (ideally on the high street). But I also wanted to make sure my money didn’t help Amazon continue to grow its profits while it manages to (legally) avoid paying a fair rate of tax here in the UK and elsewhere.

Of course, you might think that going without isn’t possible, but I’d urge you to give it a try. I found it so much easier than I thought I would, and I’ve been surprised by how much less I bought and how much less things cost at the same time.

You can read more about my year without Amazon and how much money I saved.

How to cancel Amazon Prime

Watch this video to see how you cancel – and why you might want to think about using Amazon less.

Other ways to save at Amazon

Make sure you check out our Amazon deals and offers. This is where we’ll list flash sales, gift card bonuses and other extras. For example, you can often get a free top-up when you buy a gift card. All this and more via the link below.

May 28, 2025 | Articles Review

Club Lloyds review

Written by Andy Webb

With free cinema tickets and up to 6.25% interest on savings, is it worth opening this current account with Lloyds?

Regular readers will know I’ve got a lot of current accounts as I like to take advantage of the offers and benefits they each provide. But you don’t need to have as many as me – you’ll be fine with three or four.

So how do you decide which ones to go for? The Club Lloyds account is definitely a contender right now thanks to a choice of free cinema tickets, Disney+ or magazines. Plus, there are regular switching offers worth around £175.

Here’s what you need to know about the account.

What is Club Lloyds?

Club Lloyds is a current account from Lloyds Bank with some extra benefits over the standard classic account. It comes with a fee – though you can easily avoid paying it.

If you are going to get an account with Lloyds, this is the one you’ll get the best value from.

How much does Club Lloyds cost?

It’s not a free account. There’s a monthly £5 fee (increased from £3 on 2 June 2025).

However, if you pay in £2,000 every month you will get that £5 refunded. £2,000 a month is roughly what you’d get paid if you earn £30,000 a year (not including pensions or other contributions).

That means it’s affordable for most people, which means there’s really no reason why you should pay the monthly fee.

Can you get a switching bonus?

Lloyds regularly offers switching bonuses between £100 and £175 for the Club Lloyds and Club Lloyds Platinum accounts. There tend to be three or four a year.

New and existing customers are usually able to claim the offer if they open a new account and switch to it from a different bank. I’ve shared more details on the latest offer over on this page.

Latest Lloyds Bank switching offer

Find out if you can get free cash for switching to Lloyds right now

Club Lloyds Lifestyle benefits

When you open up a Club Lloyds account you can claim a free gift each year. You get to choose from four different ‘Lifestyle Benefits’.

You need to select your choice within 30 days of opening the account and this gift remains fixed for 12 months. You can swap to a different benefit once that period ends, or stick with the same offer.

There’s also the ability to earn up to 3% interest on savings, access a 6.25% monthly saver and get cashback on some purchases.

Free cinema tickets

You can select six tickets to use at either Odeon or Vue. You’ll get all six tickets at the start of the year and they’re valid for 12 months.

These tickets are valid for 2D and 3D showings. At Vue you can also use them at VIP or Xtreme screenings. Odeon will let you use them for Premier or recliner seats and some Luxe screens. You can’t use them at the BFI Imax, Odeon Luxe & Dine or screen 1 at the Odeon Luxe Leicester Square.

Though technically you can’t use them with another offer, I’ve seen them combined with things like Meerkat Movies – doubling your saving.

They can be used any day of the week – so they’re probably best to save for expensive days like weekends, if you want to see a movie in 3D or at pricier upgraded locations.

Free Disney+

Alternatively you can choose a year of Disney+ with Ads, the streaming service with Disney, Marvel, Fox and Star Wars content. This is worth £59.88 a year.

You aren’t able to upgrade to a Standard or Premium tier without adverts or additional features.

Free magazine subscription

There’s a decent choice of 29 print or digital titles available. All are Hearst Magazine or Bauer Media publications (full list below). You won’t get the first issue for up to eight weeks which can making it a challenge to know when to stop buying copies if it’s something you already read.

Club Lloyds magazine choices (print or digital)

Bike
Bird Watching
Car
Classic Cars
Cosmopolitan
Country Living
Country Walking
ELLE Decoration
ELLE
Empire
Esquire
Garden Answers
Good Housekeeping
Harper’s Bazaar
House Beautiful
Improve Your Coarse Fishing
Landscape
Men’s Health
Modern Games
Mojo
Practical Classics
Prima
Red
Runner’s World
Spirit & Destiny
Steam Railway
Today’s Golfer
Trail
Women’s Health

Free Gourmet Society membership

This restaurant discount card will give you 25% off your bills, including drinks at selected restaurants. There are also extra discounts available like cinema tickets, theme parks and movie rentals.

Which freebies are the best value for money?

Here’s a quick summary of how much it would cost you to buy those freebies yourself:

The value of the cinema tickets freebies depends on where you live as tickets can really vary in price. I’d say it’s within a range of £30 to £90. But if you choose to go for 3D and VIP seats then they could easily be worth more than £100.

Disney+ with Ads is £4.99 a month, so its worth just under £60. Though this saving assumes you’ll actually watch Disney+ every month. If you have other streaming services it makes sense to mix and match over the year, paying only for ones you’re actually watching.

The magazine value obviously depends on which title you get and how many issues there are a year (e.g. Esquire has only six issues). But to give you an idea, a year’s subscription to Empire is currently discounted to £59.99 via Great Magazines.

The Gourmet Society membership could cost you as much as £79.99 a year, but it’s easy to find offers reducing it to £35 for a year.

Which lifestyle benefit should you choose?

Andy’s Analysis

Ultimately it comes down to which one you’ll actually use – and how much you’d spend on it.

It’s possible to save money on tickets most days, but it is harder to get discounts on weekends or for posh seats. So if you go to the cinema at least six times a year (or three times if you’re a couple), it’s likely this is the best option.

Or if you know you’ll have Disney+ all year around, no matter what, picking that is a locked in saving.

Club Lloyds savings rates

You can earn interest on money held in the account and in a separate regular saver.

6.25% Monthly Saver

Pick of the bunch is a monthly saver that’s exclusive to Club Lloyds customers. This offers 6.25% and you can pay in between £25 and £400 a month.

The 6.25% is fixed for 12 months when the interest is paid and the savings account closed. It’s really easy to open this via your account. I did it via the app. You can’t access the money More details here.

You can also open a standard Lloyds Monthly Saver if you have more to put away. This has a lower rate of 5.25% and the max you can add it £250 a month.

Up to 3% interest in your account

There’s also some in-account interest. To get it you must pay out two direct debits every month.

For the first £3,999 you hold in your actual current account you’ll get 1.5% interest. Then you’ll get 3% on the next £1,000. So if you always have £5,000 in your account you’ll earn the equivalent of just under 2%.

Linked 3.25% Advantage Savers

You also get access to an ISA or normal savings account paying 3.25% – as long as you make three or less withdrawals in a year.

Is Club Lloyds worth it for the interest?

The monthly savings account is a great option, especially since it’s fixed for a year. But the in-account interest and other ‘Advantage’ savers can be easily beaten by savings rates elsewhere.

The best savings accounts

Check out our list of the highest paying regular, easy-access, fixed and ethical savings accounts

Other Club Lloyds perks & features

Free spending overseas

You can use your card abroad for spending and cash withdrawals without any charge. That means it’s a decent pick for your holidays, though a handful of alternatives will earn you cashback on top.

Club Lloyds overdraft

With a Club Lloyds account, you get a £100 interest-free overdraft. Beyond this you’ll pay 39.9%. Here’s more on your alternatives.

Cashback on purchases

All Lloyds accounts also give you access to Everyday Offers, worth up to 15% off when using your debit card.

You will be offered retailers based on your spending and will need to activate them before spending. I’ve only really used this for LNER trains, otherwise my experience of these offers with other banks, is that it’s very hit and miss. Plus the deals are often available elsewhere.

But it’s worth checking to see what you are offered. And where these do work is that you can use them in combination with cashback site savings.

Our podcast

Listen to Cash Chats, our award-winning podcast, presented by Editor-in-chief Andy Webb and Deputy Editor Amelia Murray.

Episodes every Tuesday.

Listen now

Andy and Amelia with the text "Cash Chats Personal finance podcast"

Lloyds app

The app is effectively the same one as Halifax, and it’s relatively easy to use. In fact, it’s one of my favourite ones outside Starling, Monzo and Chase. If you want to see how it compares to apps from other banks, check out this guide.

Here are some of the features worth knowing about:

Account details and management

An important feature for me is the ability to copy and share account details from the app – and Lloyds let you do this. You can also amend your address.

Card details and controls

You can see your PIN, long card number, expiry date and security code in the app. You can also copy the long card number to paste into online shops.

There are a handful of controls too. You can set your own contactless limit and freeze the card for a handful of reasons (overseas, online, in person, gambling and contactless).

Cheque payments

Lloyds is one of a handful of apps that lets you pay in cheques via the app. More info on how this works here.

Save the change

This is available to all Lloyds current accounts and it’s pretty cool. You may have seen it already via digital banks such as Monzo.

The idea is every time you spend money with your debit card the bank will top up the amount to the nearest quid from your account, and move it to a separate savings account.

So, say you spend £2.80, an extra 20p will be taken from your account. It’s a nice way to automate your savings and put money away without any effort.

You do need to activate the feature so it won’t happen unless you give permission.

However you won’t be earning any interest on this money so I’d get in the habit of transferring it across to a better paying account on a regular basis – which kind of defeats the purpose of making it something that happens without you doing anything.

Budgeting and tracking

It’s relatively limited but you can see where your spending goes via a spending insights option. You’re able to view upcoming payments, to help you ensure there’s enough money in your account.

As with more and more apps, you’ll get notifications of spending and money coming in via the app.

Subscription Monitoring gives you the ability to cancel subscriptions within the app. You’ll also be told when subscriptions are due to end. It’s a handy way to avoid overpaying for services you don’t use or stopping subscriptions where it’s a nightmare to get through to someone on the phone. But it’s not a reason to get the account.

Multiple account hack

You’re only allowed one personal Club Lloyds account, but you can get another as a joint account. That means if you’re in a couple, between you there are three accounts up for grabs, and three ‘lifestyle benefits’. You can only get one Club Lloyds Monthly Saver each though, not a third joint one.

Summary – should you get it?

Club Lloyds Current Account

Rewards	‘Lifestyle Benefit’ giving you a choice of 6 free cinema tickets, Disney+, a magazine subscription or Gourmet Society membership Limited cashback
Monthly Saver	6.25% AER up to £400 a month (must apply separately)
Interest on savings	1.5% on balances between £1 and £3,000; 3% on balances between £4,000 and £5,000
Overseas	Fee-free spending and cash withdrawals abroad
Fee	£5 a month (£0 if you pay in £2,000 a month)
Requirements	The account requires two active monthly Direct Debits to earn interest
Overdraft	£100 interest-free buffer Then 39.9%

Andy’s Analysis – Is Club Lloyds a good account?

The Club Lloyds account is a decent all-rounder. Not the best reward, best interest rate or best banking app. But all are still better than what you’d get from most accounts. If you already have it, I’d keep hold of it.

Personally, I think you should open one up as a spare account rather than a main account. It’s always useful to have another account as a backup, and you can claim the lifestyle rewards even if this isn’t your main account.

And you can get that freebie year after year for free as long as you transfer in £2,000 a month – which is easy to do. The same goes for the monthly saver.

But should you switch from another bank to get it? Well if there’s a switching bonus then it’s definitely worth it. But if not, then no, I wouldn’t switch. There are better accounts out there to priotitise, including some offering an incentive to switch.

May 12, 2025 | Articles Review

NatWest 5.5% Digital Regular Saver review – is it worth it?

Written by Andy Webb

NatWest is reducing the rate on this savings. Is it still worth it?

This monthly saver from NatWest (and also RBS) has had one of the highest interest rates since it launched in 2020 – but with a catch. The Digital Regular Saver is designed for those starting off their savings journey, and as such there’s quite a small monthly limit you can put away. Just £150.

And as rates begin to drop elsewhere, NatWest have followed suit and cut the rate here too Here’s what you need to know and whether it’s worth it.

Screenshot of the Natwest Digital Regular Saver in the app

How much can you save in the NatWest or RBS Digital Regular Saver?

Since late 2022, the maximum you can earn interest on will be £5,000. This is a big jump from the previous maximum of £1,000.

But it’s not as simple as adding all that cash to the account in one go. You can save between £1 and £150 a month into the account (at launch it was just £50).

If you keep the interest in the account, it’ll take two years and seven months of saving the full £150 to reach a balance of £5,000 (including the accumulated interest payments).

For those already with £1,000 saved in the account, it’ll be just over two years until you reach £5,000 (again including interest paid each month).

Unlike other regular savers accounts it won’t close after 12 months so you’ll continue to earn interest on your savings beyond this. You can also keep adding money once you get to the £5,000 cap, but I wouldn’t bother.

Another difference to normal regular savers is that you can take the money out whenever you want, not just when it matures. But taking £150 out doesn’t mean you can put extra back in. That £150 monthly deposit limit stays at £150 regardless.

The only way to add more than the £150 each month, and get to that £5,000 sooner, is to use a round-up function on your debit card.

How much money can you earn?

From 30 May 2025, the rate drops to 5.5% AER. This is a fall from a rate of 6.17% that was set in February 2023.

If you save the full £150 a month for the first year that’ll net you £53 in interest. Keep going until you reach £5,000 and the total interest will have been around £348.

However any new deposits will earn far less. Money saved beyond £5,000 will only earn 1.15%. This can easily be beaten elsewhere. Confusingly if you do have more than £5,000 in the account it’ll show the combined interest rate on the app as your earning rate. Don’t worry about this – you’re still getting the full whack on the initial balance up to £5,000.

It’s worth remembering the interest rate is variable. So though it’s changing to 5.5%, that could change again at any time.

The best savings accounts

Check out our list of the highest paying regular, easy-access, fixed and ethical savings accounts

Who can get this account?

You can only open one of these regular savers if you have a NatWest or RBS current account. There are free ones, or you can look at the NatWest or RBS Rewards account.

How many accounts can you have?

There’s only one per person, which means you can’t get another, even as a joint account.

However the same account is offered by both NatWest and RBS, and you can open up an extra current account and then digital regular saver at the other bank to get two.

Account summary

NatWest / RBS Digital Regular Saver (5.5%)

Account name	Digital Regular Saver
Interest rate	6.17% AER (variable) / 5.5% AER from 30 May 2025
Max monthly deposit	£150
Min monthly deposit	£1
Max amount earn interest on	£5,000
Account closes	No
Withdrawals	Easy access with no penalty
Requirements	Must have a NatWest or RBS current account
	Must have a standing order of at least £1 every month from your Natwest current account

How to open an account

If you have an account you need to go to your online banking or app to open the saver. I did this via my app and it took just three minutes. There’s an “Apply” button on the bottom right, and then tap the savings option. It’s all self-explanatory from there.

You need to set up a standing order of between £1 and £150 from your NatWest account, though you can cancel this once you reach £5,000.

Should you open a NatWest Digital Regular Saver?

Andy’s Analysis

Even with the rate cut, it’s still a decent paying account. And the likelihood is that other rates will fall too in the coming months.

However, I’d focus first on the fixed rate regular savers from First Direct, Club Lloyds and Virgin Money as they’ll guarantee you a higher rate (for now – I’d imagine they’ll drop soon too). The problem is these all require a current account with those banks, and opening these will entail a credit check. That’s not an issue for most, but it’s something to be aware off.

If you don’t fancy that, and already have a NatWest or RBS current account then absolutely, I’d go for this Digital Regular saver instead (or as well).

Though there are similar paying regular savers, the big difference here is you will continue to earn interest on this one after 12 months. So in time it could be a better earner. Ideally you’d do both this and a strong competitor.

And for those not with NatWest, don’t forget there’s a £150 bank switch offer running at the moment

Of course, let’s not forget if you have a larger lump sum it’s better to prioritise opening up one of the best paying savings accounts.

The best bank switch bonuses

Check out our list of all the bank switch offers you can get when opening a new current account