Get the best deals on flowers for valentine’s, mother’s day and any other special occasion.
Here’s a round-up of the latest offers we’ve found. Don’t forget to check cashback sites such as Quidco and TopCashback – and if you’ve never used them make sure you get the new member bonuses available. Here’s more on how to claim those (worth up to £47.50 combined).
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.
Set three reminders for dates like mum’s birthday and you’ll get £5 credit added to your account. Head to the Bloom & Wild home page and scroll until you see the Save the Date offer.
Once you’ve joined the Rewards Club you’ll be prompted to add your birthday, and in return, you’ll be sent a voucher to get 50% off an order on that date each year.
Interflora: 15% off when you sign up to their newsletter
If you register for Interflora’s newsletter, you get a 15% discount on your first order. If you’ve already signed up, you can nab a £5 discount for each date you set a reminder for.
Moving bank can bring you savings and make it easier to manage your money. But what does it do to your credit report?
I’ve had a few readers ask me recently about the impact of switching bank or opening up new accounts on their credit score.
When you switch bank there are two things you’re doing. Opening a new current account and closing an old one. Both these actions could have an impact on your credit report.
Though for most people the odd switch won’t make much difference, the more you do it, the bigger the impact. Here’s what you need to know.
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.
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New bank accounts and credit checks
Each time you open a new current account to switch to, the new bank will look at your credit report. There are two ways they can do this.
One is known as a ‘soft check’. For a current account, this is essentially just to verify you are who you say you are. Although it could potentially be used to let you know the chances of getting an overdraft – perhaps even a pre-approved one.
Just performing a soft check won’t appear on your file. This is also what happens when you get comparison sites to provide a load of quotes or when you check your own file.
However, most banks and lenders will instead conduct a ‘hard check’. This is where the result of the application – good or bad – will appear on your report, usually for a year. With most bank account applications it will be one of these hard checks.
I’ve shared further down the article which main banks won’t hard search a new current account, so you can use it as a dummy account for switching.
When opening a bank account can hurt your credit score
Multiple hard checks on your report
If the bank is running a hard check when you apply for an account, this mark will appear on your report. Now, if you’re just opening a new bank account that’s not really going to be much of an issue.
But if you’re opening more than one current account in a short space of time, or also opening a credit card, switching your energy, applying for a loan and so on, they’ll see multiple searches.
This could indicate to a lender that you’re desperate for credit, and therefore not a good person to accept.
That doesn’t mean you can’t do it. If you have a healthy credit report and don’t have any essential applications for credit coming up you can probably get away with a number of applications – though your score will dip, it will recover.
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Just applying for one as part of your application can have a negative impact on your credit score – even if you don’t use it.
It’s not just that if you do this the bank will conduct one of those hard searches on your report. The overdraft itself will also show future lenders that you already have access to credit and they might not want to lend you more.
There’s a chance an unused overdraft could help your credit report in the longer term if it helps you keep your credit utilisation (i.e. the percent of borrowing you’re actually using) at under 25%. But using one will cost you unless it’s at 0%.
So if you don’t need an overdraft with your new account then don’t apply for it. And I’d suggest you look elsewhere for cheaper lending IF you eventually need it.
Opening a joint account
When you open any financial product with another person, your credit files become linked. So if the person you run the account with has a bad credit score then it could bring your rating down too. And it goes both ways, so you could hurt someone else’s ability to get credit.
Bonus requirementsTo get the £240 switch offer, you need to complete a full switch with the Current Account Switching Service. Then, within 60 days of your initial switch request, you need to set up two active direct debits, deposit £1,500 into the current account, set up a Santander Regular Saver, and deposit £200 into it.
Regular saver8% (variable) regular savings account. Includes 5% (variable) bonus for 12 months
Existing customers?You can't have held a Santander account on 1 January 2026.
When closing a bank account can hurt your credit score
Losing longevity
This is one to consider if you’re switching from an older bank account. A good signal for your credit score is a long relationship with a financial provider.
Often the longest one we have is with our bank, so switching away replaces years and years of this for an account with no history.
So even if the new account is just a soft search on your credit report, switching could still see a knock-on effect.
There are a few ways around this. First, it’s all your credit accounts, including credit cards, which are looked at, and it’s often the average age. So if you have an older credit card, that mitigates moving away from a long-term bank.
Or you avoid closing the old account completely. If you open a new account and can run a partial switch rather than a full switch. This will help you move all your direct debits, standing orders and balance without you having to close the old account.
However, you won’t be able to claim any of the free cash from bank switch offers or get the benefits of the seven-day Current Account Switching Guarantee.
Alternatively, you can open a new account designed just for switching. You might have to set up a couple of direct debits or make a minimum deposit each month, but you can use this to switch for bonuses.
Now we know the impact of bank switching, it’s important to clarify a few things about credit scores. First up, there are three different scores from three different credit reference agencies. They all assess your credit report differently, so each contributing factor might have a different impact on each score.
Second, though scores can give you an idea of how healthy your credit report is, it’s the credit file itself that banks and lenders look at – not the score.
The way they will interpret the data on the report will change from institution to institution, so they might not agree with the scoring set by the credit reference agency.
And the credit report isn’t even the only thing banks will look at. For example, they might have their own data about if you’re an existing or past customer, and you’ll provide some additional information when you apply.
That means even with a great score you could get turned down for certain applications, or even if you’re rejected for one product, another might accept you.
So the point is, though credit scores are useful for us as customers, it’s what appears in the file that matters to those doing the checks. And that means don’t get too caught up in your score dropping after a bank switch.
Saying that it’s still very important to keep your credit score in mind when thinking about the latest switch offer.
In particular, if you’re planning to apply for anything major in the next six months, such as a credit card or loan, and especially a mortgage, then it makes sense to avoid opening a new account and switching for six months to a year.
Are multiple bank switches a bad idea?
The more you switch, especially in a short space of time, the bigger the drop in your credit score. So it’ll make short-term applications harder.
Experian recommends spacing out new applications for any type of credit every three months or so. At best that’s four bank switches per year. And if you factor in other things like credit cards that could reduce further.
But you can switch more than this – I once switched three accounts in the same month, and I’ve regularly opened new types of credit in concurrent months. But I also didn’t have anything important to apply for that year.
Of course, this won’t be a probem if you’ve been switching for a while as you might find you’re only eligible for new switch deals once or twice a year, if that.
Bank accounts that won’t hard credit check you
No credit check bank accounts are obviously useful if you need a new current account to switch from.
Full current accounts
Starling Bank
This digital bank will only do a soft check when you apply. They’ll use that to verify who you are and check what overdraft they could offer you, but they won’t do the full hard search unless you say you’d like the overdraft. Here’s a full Starling Bank review.
Monzo Bank
There’s also no hard check for Monzo, another digital bank, as long as you don’t go for the overdraft. Here’s a full Monzo Bank review.
Chase Bank
You can switch in and out of Chase, though if you switch away you won’t ever be able to open another. The good news is there’s a work around. Here’s a guide to using Chase Bank for switching.
Basic bank accounts
Most major banks will offer these free accounts. They won’t be subject to a credit check and you can open one with just one form of ID. You can do everything with one that you can with a standard account. However if you’re eligible for a full account you probably won’t be able to get a basic account.
Some additional accounts
If you already have a current account with a bank, it might be possible to open an extra one without a hard search. Over on the Facebook group, some readers have reported this for Lloyds, Halifax and Santander, and I had the same experience. However I’d always approach doing this with the expectation that a hard search could happen.
Automating savings with AI and more is an easy way to see your savings grow
Often one of the biggest barriers to putting money into savings is simply remembering to do it. So your salary comes into your current account and stays there. Some of it goes to bills, some of it to shopping and going out. And before you know it, there’s not much (or any) left to put into savings. So nothing gets saved. And this repeats month after month.
But it is possible to break that chain so some of your money goes into savings before you can spend it – and you don’t even need to do anything each month. After the initial set up, these three methods will automatically move money out of your main account into a separate account.
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Set up standing orders
This is the simplest way to ensure you save every single month. Doing this means the money is automatically saved month after month.
You need to do three things. First, set up a separate account which is just for your savings (try for one with some kind of interest, though that’s hard right now). This doesn’t have to be a standard savings account with your current bank. It can even be a separate savings account at a different bank where it’s possible to get 7.5% with regular savers from Principality Building Society.
Then work out how much you can afford to save each month. This isn’t difficult. Just add up all your regular bills and essential outgoings such as food and petrol for a month and deduct this from how much you earn in a month. What you’ve got left is what you have to spend for the rest of the month until your next payday.
Finally, set up a standing order for that amount to come out of your current account and into your separate account on the same date every month. This is often referred to the “pay yourself first” savings method.
Personally I’d set this to be as close to payday as possible so you can’t spend the cash before you save it. If your payday tends to move when it happens on a weekend, then allow a couple of days before the standing order takes the cash. You can always change the size of the direct debit if you feel it’s too much or too little.
If you’re not confident you have enough money spare each month to save at payday then there are some apps that will help save smaller amounts as the month goes on.
Once you’ve downloaded the app you need to connect it to your bank account. Doing this gives each app access to see your bank balance and monitor regular payments in and out. The apps then use smart algorithms to analyse your spending.
Now it’s the clever bit. The apps can work out how much they think you can afford to save, and transfer that money automatically to a separate account. Slowly but surely the total saved adds up. You can, of course, use one of these as well as set up standing orders in order to save that little bit more each month.
With each of these apps you have the ability to increase or decrease how much and how often you save, and well as reject a saving if you think you need to keep hold of the money. And if you change your mind it’s easy to withdraw the money back to your current account, though it might not be until the next working day, depending on the app.
I know some people worry about the safety of this but your banking data is all encrypted to keep it safe. Your money is also protected if the companies running the apps were to go bust, though not necessarily if the bank holding the cash goes under. I’m happy with the ones listed below but if you’re not comfortable with doing this then do a bit more reading to put your mind at ease.
Here are the main artificial intelligence savings apps that will automatically move money for you:
Plum
The free version is all you need for the automatic savings, though if you choose to pay more you’ll also have access to Plum Plus which comes with more investment options. The interest rate paid on its easy-access pockets is 3% for the free version.
If you put your money into these pockets, it’s held with Investec and protected up to £120,000 by FSCS.
Sprive
Sprive is an app doing the same thing, though it has one major difference – the money saved goes towards overpaying your mortgage rather than a savings account. If your mortgage rate is higher than what you can get in savings, and if you already have a substantial emergency savings fund, this could be a better option for you.
Just bear in mind once it’s in the mortgage it’s much harder to access that cash if you need it later (you’d need to remortgage and release capital). It’s also early days so not all mortgage providers can be connected.
Chip
The AI feature on Chip stopped being free to all users in mid-2022. It now charges 45p per save so I wouldn’t use this app for auto-savings.
Bonus requirementsTo get the £240 switch offer, you need to complete a full switch with the Current Account Switching Service. Then, within 60 days of your initial switch request, you need to set up two active direct debits, deposit £1,500 into the current account, set up a Santander Regular Saver, and deposit £200 into it.
Regular saver8% (variable) regular savings account. Includes 5% (variable) bonus for 12 months
Existing customers?You can't have held a Santander account on 1 January 2026.
The final form of automated savings is something I’m calling ‘triggered’ savings. Effectively, when a certain event happens your bank will move money from your main account into a separate savings pot.
Monzo and IFTT
The main bank for this is Monzo, which has a 1p savings challenge available. Sadly this year’s challenge ended on 31 January for free customers, though if you pay for a packaged Monzo account it’s available all year.
You can also connect to an app called IFTT (If This Then That). You can set up other simple savings challenges very easily, either choose from a catalogue of pre-made options or create your own.
For instance, you could use your maps app as a trigger when you visit a certain shop, or your weather app to trigger a save every time it rains. You’re limited to two free ‘applets’ with the IFTT basic plan.
Plum
The paid version of Plum also offers some of the standard ones, eg the 1p savings challenge, but I don’t think it’s worth paying extra for this.
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Round up your spending automatically
The most common way to get money in your savings account without any effort is to use a “rounding up” system. When you spend money on your debit card, the bank will round up the transaction to the nearest pound, moving this spare change across to a savings account. For example, spend £3.75 and 25p will be moved over.
I rarely use this option myself as I tend to spend with my cashback cards instead, but I like the idea of small amounts adding up each time you shop. If you use your debit card a lot it could quickly build up a few quid every day or two.
More and more banks (listed below) offer this and you’ll need to opt-in for the rounding-up to happen. All work a little differently so make sure you understand how what you’re signing up to. And if your bank doesn’t offer this there are third-party apps you can try.
The pick of the bunch are probably NatWest and RBS as you’ll also earn 5.25% interest on the top ups for a year. Chase also offers a decent 5% on round-ups, though it restarts every 12 months.
What accounts offer round ups?
Bank of Scotland
Chase
Halifax
Lloyds
Monzo
Nationwide
Natwest
Revolut
RBS
Starling
Trading 212
TSB
The following also allow you to round up from spending at other banks
MoneyBox
Plum
The best auto saving apps
So there are a lot of options for auto saving, here are the ones I’d recommend:
PLUM
Focus on Plum in the first instance. It’ll be the most impactful. But move your money across to a better paying account at least every month, if not weekly.
MONZO
Finally, if you already use Monzo, then the IFTT feature has huge potential to add more to your savings. And it could be fun!
If you don’t have any credit history or are looking to rebuild your credit report, then specialist credit cards could help.
Want to get a mortgage, credit card, loan or other form of borrowing? A healthy credit report can be the difference between acceptance and rejection, a good rate or a bad rate.
There are plenty of things you can do to strengthen your credit file – registering to vote through, paying bills on time checking your report for errors and having a bank account all help. And alongside these is to spend on a credit card.
That might seem counter-intuitive. Using a credit card is to spend money that isn’t yours. If you don’t need to borrow then surely it’s better to not have a card?
Well, what you’re doing by using a card showing you are a responsible borrower. That you can be given credit and pay it back.
Here’s more on how this helps your credit report and how to find the best credit building 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.
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Using credit cards to boost your credit file
There are some key rules you need to follow to make sure spending on a credit card helps rather than hurts your credit report.
Use them only for everyday spending
A very simple one to start. Having a credit card shouldn’t encourage you to buy things you wouldn’t normally be able to afford.
Instead use it only for everyday spending. I often suggest something like supermarket shopping or filling up on petrol. You might be able to pay some bills with your credit card too, though that won’t include your rent.
This way you’re just swapping spending on your debit card for spending on your credit card.
It helps to avoid temptation if you only take it with you when you are going to make that regular purchase, and leave it at home the rest of the time.
It doesn’t matter if you use it just once a month, or every day, it’s regular payments that matter. I would say you do want to be spending on it at least once a month though. Longer gaps will mean it takes longer to help boost your score.
Clear the card every month
It’s vital that you remember to pay off the card in full. This shows you are responsible and can pay back what your borrow. Big tick for that credit report.
But it also means you’ll avoid getting charged interest. Credit cards have high-interest rates, generally starting at 19% and going above 50%. This is added on each month to any money not cleared.
You can do this whenever you want, but it’s probably best not to do it as soon as you spend on the card as you need time for the spending to be reported to the credit reference agencies, which might just be monthly when the statement is issued.
You can do this manually via a bank transfer, but it’s probably better to set up a direct debit for the full amount. Doing this means you won’t forget, though you’ll need to ensure there’s enough cash in your linked current account to cover the payment.
If you can’t afford to pay the full amount you owe, then pay as much as you can. And that needs to be at least the minimum repayment. This varies and is set by the card provider. Fail to do this and you’ll be hit by charges and it’ll be shown on your credit file – going against the good work you’re doing to improve your credit score.
However, it’s worth pointing out that if you’ve not spent on the card and don’t owe anything, there will be no minimum to pay.
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Watch out for spending the money twice
Though you’ll be spending on things you’d normally buy, that money doesn’t leave your current account until your pay off the card.
There’s the risk that you’ll see the extra cash in your bank account and forget you need it to clear the card. So you spend it elsewhere.
If you are worried about this you can actually transfer the money from your current account into a sub account (either a “pot” or “space” or a completely different one just for credit card spending) as soon as you spend.
Then you can pay the credit card bill from this account and be guaranteed to have enough cash set aside. It might be sensible to add a little extra in there in case you forget, but to be extra safe just put a note in your diary before the direct debit is due to leave the account that the balance is high enough.
Try not to use more than 30% of your credit limit
Lenders often look at something called “credit utilisation”. This is how much of your available credit you use.
Though it’ll be different for every credit card company, a good rule of thumb is to keep that level below 30%. The closer you are to this level each month the better it reflects on your overall report.
So if you have a £500 credit limit you don’t want to owe more than £150 on that card.
However, this isn’t a target to aim for. If you don’t have normal spending which you can put on a credit card to increase your credit utilisation, or if you’re worried about budgeting if you put too much on there, then stick to what you have. It’ll be worse to spend money you don’t have just to get closer to 30%.
Focus on credit building
There are a number of other reasons credit cards can be useful – extra consumer protection, cashback and rewards, 0% spending and cutting the cost of debts. But I’d try to not get distracted.
Keep it simple by just spending and repaying, spending and repaying, and so on, month after month. Once you’re comfortable with this, and your credit report has improved, you can look at better cards.
Some get caught in the vicious circle of not having enough of a credit history to get accepted for a credit card, but needing a credit card to help improve their report in order to get one. And every rejection makes it harder still to get another card.
So how do you avoid this?
Check your eligibility
Many credit card providers will let you undertake a ‘soft’ eligibility check before a full ‘hard’ application. Do this and you’ll know whether you’ll get the card or not, or at least see your chances of acceptance.
Personally, unless there’s a very specific card you are after, I’d go via a comparison site such as Money Saving Expert’s Credit Club. This will show you your chances against a range of different cards. You can then pick the card with the highest chance of acceptance.
Bonus requirementsTo get the £240 switch offer, you need to complete a full switch with the Current Account Switching Service. Then, within 60 days of your initial switch request, you need to set up two active direct debits, deposit £1,500 into the current account, set up a Santander Regular Saver, and deposit £200 into it.
Regular saver8% (variable) regular savings account. Includes 5% (variable) bonus for 12 months
Existing customers?You can't have held a Santander account on 1 January 2026.
Though any spending and repaying on any credit card will help you improve your credit report, if you’re starting from scratch or have had problems with credit in the past you’ll probably want to look at a specific credit building card.
These are easier to get, but often come with restrictions. The interest rate for a start is likely to be higher than you’ll see on other cards. But this shouldn’t be an issue if you are clearing the balance completely each month.
You’ll also probably get a relatively low credit limit. But that is no bad thing either as it prevents you spending too much on the cards.
Watch out for representative APR
Though I’d encourage you to not get a credit card if you think you’re going to pay the interest charges, it makes sense to be aware of what you could be charged just in case.
Sadly it’s not as easy as just picking the card with the lowest rate as only 51% of successful applicants need to be offered the advertised rate – meaning 49% could pay more, sometimes a lot more.
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Best first-time credit cards
The best first-time credit card is the one you’ve got the best chance of getting (so check that eligibility). But if you’ve got a choice I think these cards are worth considering as your first credit card. They’re designed for building credit and they come with some welcome cash if you’re accepted.
1 bonus Clubcard point for every £4 spent at Tesco
1 bonus Clubcard point for every £8 spent elsewhere
£200 to £1,500 credit limit
29.9% APR
Going via TopCashback will earn you around £25 (the amount can vary). Once you have this card it offers money back when you spend – but don’t get too excited. You’d need to spend £100 a month for a year outside of Tesco to even make £1.50 – and that’s only if you are spending full multiples of £8 each time.
0% interest for six months on purchases and balance transfers
My final pick also comes with cashback when you successfully apply, this time via Quidco.
If you think you will have to pay interest then the rate will drop by 3% after year one and another 2% after year two if you make all your payments on time and stay within your credit limit. Of course, you might be able to get a lower rate straight off from another card.
Get cheap movie tickets so you don’t pay over the odds
If I can, I always try to see films at the cinema. The big screen, surround sound and darkened room make all the difference (though I’m not so fond of people chatting or checking their phones). Still, this is an expensive hobby so I do everything I can to get cheap movie tickets.
And I do pretty well at it too. It’s very rare for me to pay more than £5 or £6 – even in central London where prices are usually well over a tenner. In fact, out of the 19 films I saw at the cinema last year I managed to get the bulk of my tickets for free. Of the two were I parted with cash, one was a couple of quid to upgrade to 3D and the other wasn’t much more thanks to a 50% off voucher and off peak price.
These aren’t the only ways to get cheap movie tickets (we’ve listed all the tricks and deals in our huge cinema savings deals page) but these tricks show whatever day you want to see a movie, there’s a way to pay less – and even nothing at all.
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.
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Midweek cinema deals
The cheapest days to go are always Monday to Thursday. Most cinemas have lower prices on these days, and cheaper still before 5pm. So it’s worth looking to see what your local cinema offers. However, there are ways to save even more so your ticket should cost less than £5.
Tuesday & Wednesday – 2 for 1 tickets with Meerkat Movies
This is a fantastic saving at most cinemas. You need to buy an insurance policy via Compare the Market (there’s a trick so this costs just £1), and you’ll then get access to Meerkat Movies for 12 months.
Meerkat Movies gives a code so you can buy one ticket and get one free. The promotion is valid on Tuesday and Wednesday, though you can only take advantage of the offer once a week.
If you subscribe to the Times you’ll get access to Times+ offers, including a rare two-for-one ticket to Everyman cinemas. You can claim one code each week and it can only be used on Wednesdays.
Amazon Prime members can get two tickets for £10 to be used Monday to Thursday. You can get a code once a month.
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Weekend only cinema deals
Cinemas charge a fair bit more from Friday to Sunday, and there are less deals that will save you money at the weekend. Personally I’d save any tickets that can be used any day of the week for the weekend (more of these in the next section).
Friday to Sunday – £3 ticket for Cineworld or Picturehouse via Three
The Three+ loyalty app has a cinema deal and at £3 a ticket it’s a decent saving for Cineworld and Picturehouse.
You can show the code at the box office to get your ticket, but if you book online there’s a 75p to 90p fee on top.
You can get the Three+ app even if you’re with a different network thanks to a trick where you top up a Three Pay-as-you-go SIM every 90 days. If you’re going on a weekly basis that could be worth it, even once a month could save you cash – depending on the full price of a ticket at your local.
These are all good deals, but I’d prioritise using these tickets for more expensive weekend showings rather than cheaper mid-week screenings so you get the best value.
Six free tickets for Vue or Odeon via Lloyds
If you open up a Lloyds Club current account you’ll be given six free cinema tickets every year. You can choose between Vue or Odeon, though you can’t mix and match.
You can only have one personal account, though couples can also get a joint account. So between the two of your that’s 18 tickets up for grabs.
There is a fee of £5 a month for this account, but it’s not charged if you pay in £2,000 a month. This might seem like a lot, but it doesn’t need to stay in your account nor be added in one go. You can transfer the money in when you get paid, then straight back out again.
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Free tickets via Sky or Vitality
If you have Sky Cinema you can get two free Vue tickets each month – though it might not be the cheapest option for your TV, so it’s not a reason to stick around.
While anyone with Vitality, perhaps health insurance via work, can claim a free Odeon or Vue ticket each month if they hit enough activity points.
Up to 40% off with other memberships
There are a number of schemes and memberships that give discounts at most big cinema chains and many independent ones too. Though the schemes look similar, prices might be different so it can be worth looking at one for two.
Often these are available via your employer’s “work perks” scheme, but Santander customers can also get access for free via Santander Boosts, and Lidl often gives free membership too via it’s Lidl Plus app.
Other ways to take advantage are paid for, though look for free trials. Tastecard is another good one that also gives restaurant discounts (here are the best deals), while Kids Pass gives additional savings for children’s attractions.
However, these don’t always work out cheaper, so check the prices at your local cinema before buying tickets via these schemes, but you can get cheap trials of both to give them a go.
Bonus requirementsTo get the £240 switch offer, you need to complete a full switch with the Current Account Switching Service. Then, within 60 days of your initial switch request, you need to set up two active direct debits, deposit £1,500 into the current account, set up a Santander Regular Saver, and deposit £200 into it.
Regular saver8% (variable) regular savings account. Includes 5% (variable) bonus for 12 months
Existing customers?You can't have held a Santander account on 1 January 2026.
Those with Octopus energy can get two Vue tickets for £8 every week. Just go to the Octoplus loyalty tab in your account. Vouchers last seven days.
The O2 Priority mobile SIM loyalty programme cinema deal is similar. You can pick up two tickets for £9, or four for £18, meaning you’ll pay just £4.50 each. From time to time it’s cut to £7 for two. Codes are released at the start of each month.
You’ll get access to O2 Priority if your phone is with O2 or broadband is via Virgin Media, though this hack means anyone can buy a PAYG SIM and top up by £10 every six months (at the most) to get access.
There’s a similar offer for Vodafone users, this time for Odeon tickets. You can get two tickets for £8 or four for £16, though with a £1 booking fee. However you can only use them in a single booking.
One Vue a month & more via Monzo for £7
£7 a month for a Vue ticket via a Monzo Perks current account isn’t going to be the best deal out there. But for the fee you also get an annual railcard, Uber One membership and a weekly Greggs freebie. Take advantage of these and that ticket could actually cost you just a few quid.
Get a membership
If you go on a weekly basis then memberships can work out cheaper. We’ve written here about the different schemes which run at Odeon, Cineworld, Curzon and Everyman.
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Other cheap movie ticket deals
There are always other special offers running that could get you cheap or free tickets. These include discounted gift cards (which you can use alongside other offers as payment) and flash sales.
We’ve listed special offers and other tricks to save at all the major and independent chains in our ultimate cinema savings page. Have a look to see what the latest offers are.
Here are the best TV, movie and comedy streaming deals to help you enjoy a cheap night in!
We’ve hunted out ongoing offers, trials and any short-lived film and streaming service deals.
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.
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Core streaming service deals
Disney + deals
The streaming service has all the old Disney movies as well as new series in the worlds of Star Wars and Marvel. It costs between £4.99 and £12.99 a month or you can pay less for annual passes. Find deals here.
Prime Video comes with a standard Amazon Prime membership (£8.99 a month or £95 a year), but it can also be signed up to without all those extras for £5.99 a month. However it’ll cost you £2.99 extra each month to avoid adverts.
You can get TNT via a monthly rolling contract with Discovery+. There are also some good deals to add TNT to your existing broadband or TV package, as well as deals for EE mobile customers. Again, we’ve got a dedicated page for all TNT Sports offers.
You can get a Basic only pass for £3.99 a month, or one with Eurosport on top for £6.99 a month, though there are ways to get it for free via BT and Sky. More on this dedicated Discovery+ page.
Fed up with all those subscriptions? You don’t have to pay for these – but you will have to watch adverts in most cases.
Tubi
This service from Fox was new to the UK in July 2024. You can more than 20,000 films, most of which we’ve not heard of, but there were a handful of familiar ones.
Amazon often has selected new rentals for £1.99 if you’re with Prime. If you’re not already a Prime member you can get a 30-day free trial once a year.
The first time you sign up you should be able to get money off your first rental. The discount code is usually automatically applied at checkout, but check first. It used to be 50% but has now dropped to 5% off.
Also you might find a limited choice – many of the big titles aren’t available there.
Every month until the end of Jun 2025 you’ll be able to claim a free rental via Rakuten if you have energy via Octopus. You’ll need to go via the Octoplus Rewards tab in your account to claim the voucher.
New codes are released each Friday, but you can only use one each month.
If you pay for more than one account in your household a Family plan works out cheaper at £19.99 a month. Or if you can validate your student ID you can pay just £7.99.
YouTube Premium: one month free
The standard free trial for YouTube Premium is one month (it’s occasionally increased). You’ll get ad-free viewing, the ability to download and access to YouTube Music Premium (a bit like Spotify). You can only get this if you are a new user of YouTube Premium, YouTube Music or Google Play Music. At the end of the trial it’s £11.99 a month, so cancel if you don’t want to keep paying.
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ITVX deals
ITV Hub is now ITVX. It’s free to watch most of the content, but if you pay £5.99 a month you’ll get Premium which has even more shows, access to Britbox and no adverts.
Mubi shows a selection of cult, indie and world cinema. It’s £11.99 a month but sometimes there are decent deals.
Mubi: 3 months for £1
The standard Mubi free trial is just a week, but this offer gets you access to this streaming service for three months for just £1.
The service lets you watch from a curated selection of films rather than well-known blockbusters. It’ll renew at £11.99 per month after the three months have ended, so be sure to cancel it if you don’t want to pay for it.
Bonus requirementsTo get the £240 switch offer, you need to complete a full switch with the Current Account Switching Service. Then, within 60 days of your initial switch request, you need to set up two active direct debits, deposit £1,500 into the current account, set up a Santander Regular Saver, and deposit £200 into it.
Regular saver8% (variable) regular savings account. Includes 5% (variable) bonus for 12 months
Existing customers?You can't have held a Santander account on 1 January 2026.
You can sign up direct with Arrow and get a 7 day free trial.
Shudder: 7-day free trial
You can sign up direct with Shudder and get your first 7 days for free.
Next Up: 7-day free trial for Prime members
You can also watch NextUp on Amazon Video and Prime members get 7-days for free right now. After the trial it’s £9.99 a month (unless you cancel). Sign up here.
Find out which Santander branches are set to close and what you can do if yours is closing
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.
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Starting in June this year, a massive 44 Santander branches will be closing their doors for good.
As with other banks that are choosing to close branches, the move is due to more customers using online banking and apps rather than visiting their branches. We reported on the closure of 595 branches in 2025 across all the high street banks.
It’s understandable in many ways. Santander says that it’s seen a 63% increase in digital transactions since 2019, with a 66% reduction in transactions made in branches over this time.
This can be incredibly frustrating for customers, especially those who don’t want to go digital.
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What you can do if your bank closes
If your Santander branch is set to be axed, you’ve got a couple of options.
Stick with Santander
If you want to stay with Santander, then you can use your local post office. You can pay in money and cheques into your account, and withdraw cash too – though that has the same limit as if you used a cash machine. It’s not perfect, but at least it gives people in remote areas somewhere to go.
Change your bank
A better option might be to switch to a bank which has a branch near you. Of course, there’s no guarantee your new bank won’t close its branches in the future. But you’re at least protected for a while – and you might be able to take advantage of a switching bonus.
And of course, you can take your banking fully digital. There are newer banks that have been designed from the beginning to work better for you on your phone, such as Monzo or Starling.
“Credit score” is a phrase you might occasionally hear or think about. Maybe even worry about. But do you understand it?
I’ve known about credit scores since I was a teen, but it wasn’t until much, much later I realised how odd that made me. Far more people only really encounter them when they are unexpectedly refused something – and it could be anything from a mortgage to a sofa on credit. Then they try to get smart, fast.
Fortunately, credit scores follow some simple rules, and it’s free to check yours – and even correct any errors that may have crept in – which means you should never face an unexpected rejection.
Here’s my Be Clever Basics guide.
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.
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Credit score vs credit report
Before we talk about your credit score, we need to talk about how it is different to your credit report. These terms are often used interchangeably, but they aren’t the same thing.
What is a credit score?
A credit score, or credit rating as it is sometimes called, is based on this information in your credit report. It’s basically a number that reflects how good or bad your credit report is. You actually have three of these, one for each of the credit reference agencies in the UK, and all will be slightly different.
What is a credit report?
A credit report, or credit file, is basically a record of your financial history. Any account that’s required a credit check will be on there as well as any money you owe. It also shows how long you’ve had the account and your payment history, including missed or late payments.
Other elements in your report include details of any bankruptcy, county court judgments and other debt solutions.
You’ll also see your address history and records of any financial connections you have, such as joint accounts and joint mortgages.
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Why lenders check your credit report
Your credit report is one of the leading factors that influence lenders when they’re deciding whether to offer you a product or loan.
Using the details on the report they’ll work out whether you’re likely to be a good or bad customer for them. That’s not just about how likely it is you’ll be able to afford the borrowing, but also how likely it is they’ll make money from you.
The data in the file can also affect how much you’ll be lent, the length of a deal (e.g. 0% balance transfer cards) or the interest rate offered.
Your credit report is also frequently used to verify your identity, so can be accessed by employers and landlords as well as lenders.
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Plus, new TopCashback customers get a high paying £18 welcome offer
Bonus requirementsTo get the £240 switch offer, you need to complete a full switch with the Current Account Switching Service. Then, within 60 days of your initial switch request, you need to set up two active direct debits, deposit £1,500 into the current account, set up a Santander Regular Saver, and deposit £200 into it.
Regular saver8% (variable) regular savings account. Includes 5% (variable) bonus for 12 months
Existing customers?You can't have held a Santander account on 1 January 2026.
Your report isn’t just searched when you apply for “serious” financial products like mortgages, loans and credit cards. Everyday consumer contracts are subject to searches too.
That’s because you’re essentially asking for credit when you open a new bank account, get a contract mobile phone and switch your utilities.
Even paying your home or car insurance by Direct Debit requires a credit check (it’s usually cheaper to pay these in a lump sum if you can).
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Hard checks vs soft checks
Any application for credit will be subject to something called a “hard” search. This will then appear on your report for other lenders to see, whether you’re successful or not. They’ll stay there for 12 months.
However, if your report is looked at by comparison sites or to assess eligibility, this is actually a “soft” check, and though you can see it on your file, lenders can’t.
Well, yes and no. Though the score reflects your report, lenders will add in extra information they have on you to decide whether to lend to you. You are also allowed to put notes on your own credit file to explain things, and lenders have to take these into account when making a decision.
You’ll have put information on the application form and if you’re an existing customer they might have their own file on you. Plus, an investigation by Money Saving Expert a few years ago found that lenders are using Open Banking data too.
So this means the score won’t reflect everything the lender is taking to account. That can lead to rejection even if you have an excellent score or acceptance with an average score.
But they aren’t pointless. Credit scores are still great indicators of how healthy your credit report is.
The higher your credit score, the more likely it is you’ll get accepted for credit products, or get a better deal such as lower interest payments.
And a low score will indicate a bad credit report, which could mean you get rejected or get offered less money than you need.
So, checking your score will help you decide whether you need to do anything to improve your report. And when those actions make a difference you’ll see that reflected in an increased score, telling you that you’re on the right path.
Who decides your credit score?
The three credit reference agencies are Experian, Equifax and TransUnion.
Lenders choose which one to use when making a decision whether to offer you a product.
They all hold slightly different data on you in their credit reports, and then work your score out slightly differently. They even have completely different scales. So you can’t really compare one with another.
It’s worth noting that when you apply for credit, you generally won’t know which of the three credit reference companies will be used. This basically means all three credit reports are as important as each other. The good news is they all keep track of the same things, more or less, so a good score with one will generally translate across the others.
However, it’s worth checking all three – especially in the face of an unexpected refusal – as there could be a problem with one. For example, how your address is formatted can change between reports – and this could lead to problems if it doesn’t match the payment address you’ve entered when applying for a product.
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Checking your credit score
You can check all three scores and reports for free via these websites:
Experian via Experian’s free score checker, though the report is only available via their app
You have a right to see your report under the UK’s data laws, so can ask for a statutory report from all of them for free if you don’t want to sign up to any ongoing service.
Your credit score is most important when you’re going to apply for a product where your report will be checked. If you know this is coming up, then you should check for any errors or potential problems before applying.
It’s also worth looking at least once a year, if not more often, just to make sure there’s nothing fraudulent going on.
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.
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.
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How much money can you earn?
In January 2026, the rate fell to 5.25%, following a cut in May 2025 to 5.5% AER. This was 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 £51 in interest. Keep going until you reach £5,000 (deposits and interest) and the total interest will have been around £335.
However any new deposits will earn far less. Money saved beyond £5,000 will only earn 1%. 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 5.25%, that could change again at any time.
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.
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Account summary
NatWest / RBS Digital Regular Saver (5.5%)
Account name
Digital Regular Saver
Interest rate
5.25% AER
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
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 and Club Lloyds as they’ll guarantee you a higher rate (for now – it very possible 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.
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.
