You’ll get up to 2.02% interest on savings, plus a freebies if you switch.
Virgin Money launched its new current account in late 2019, based on the B account from Clydesdale Bank. It has some attractive features such as high interest and fee-free spending overseas, but they’ve not been enough to get me to open an account.
But since late 2020 it got a lot more tempting, offering freebies and discounts to entice customers.
Here’s how the account and offers work and my thoughts on whether it’s worth it. Plus my video takes you through some of the features on the app.
Is the Virgin Money M Plus current account any good?
Let’s take a look at each key feature:
The interest on savings
At 2.02% this is the highest paying easy access account for savings at the moment (by a smidge) so it’s certainly worth considering.
There are a few restrictions. The largest is you will only earn interest on balances up to £1,000. Anything over this will get 0%. That works out as £20.20 in interest a year. Not a huge amount but better than what you’ll get elsewhere.
The linked savings account where you can put further money pays 2.02% on the first £25,000. This is variable but it can be beaten elsewhere. You have the option in this account to set up any number of savings pots within this account, all earning interest. This helps you split your savings out for different goals, such as an emergency fund or holiday.
The switching incentives
*Update 3 October 22 – There’s currently no switching offer from Virgin Money *
Unlike other banks, Virgin Money doesn’t offer cash. Instead it rotates between one or a combination of
- 20,000 Virgin Red points
- Free wine
- A Virgin Experiences voucher
- Boosted interest rates
- A charitable donation
I’ve written in full about the latest switching offer.
The Virgin discounts
Virgin Money is calling this new part of the offer “Brighter Money Bundles” – and it is available to all Virgin Money Current Account customers – not just new switchers.
The main offer right now seems to be up to £225 off a Virgin Media package. It’s only for new Virgin Media customers and you have to commit to an 18 month contract and pay a £35 set up fee.
The Virgin Media offers listed at launch can be seen here.
I’ve clicked through to see the offers and prices and it does look like prices are slightly lower than going direct to Virgin Media each month, plus there’s between £50 and £100 bill credit on top. It’s worth checking what you can get via a cashback site though for a proper comparison.
There aren’t any other offers listed right now, but it seems they’ll favour Virgin brands such as the gyms, airline and wine.
Fee free spending abroad
Though we can’t really travel right now, this is a really good feature you only see on Starling or Monzo and some credit cards (though Monzo and some credit cards have restrictions on cash withdrawals).
The app
The app positions itself along the lines of the other challenger bank offerings, with savings pots, budgeting features and the ability to tag and track transactions.
You can also deposit a cheque with your phone and it’s compatible with Apple Pay and Google Pay.
But there are plenty of features it doesn’t have, including some of the extras you’ll get with Starling and Monzo such as round-ups, PIN reveal or the ability to freeze your card.
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Should you open a Virgin Money M Plus account?
Let’s start with the good things.
The 2.02% interest is decent as is the linked 1.71% account, especially if you’ve already had the Nationwide FlexDirect account for more than a year. You can’t beat it in an easy access account right now.
If you don’t have a Chase, Starling or Monzo account then it will also be useful for overseas spending.
Both of these make it a decent option, and the switching deal is worth considering. However, if you are going to switch bank I think there are other options you should consider first. In terms of bonuses, I’d go for one which pays cash. You can see the list of the latest ones here.
Then if you’re after a bank to help you budget I’d look at Starling or Monzo.
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How to switch to Virgin Money
As with other bank switches you’ll need to open a new account with Virgin Money and then use its website to detail which bank account from a different bank you are switching over. Virgin Money will carry out a credit check.
You will have to close this old account completely as part of the switch, but all your money and future payments in and out will be transferred over. This is guaranteed as part of the Current Account Switching Service. You can read more about how bank switching works here.
Please can you tell me if there’s a better deals elsewhere am with virgin M Plus account and M Plus savings account got over £20000 pounds in savings account would this be better of elsewhere that pays higher interest thanks
I switched for the wine deal a year ago now. I cant see if I need to keep the 2 Direct Debits running on this account or if there is a minimum monthly funding level. I want to continue to get interest on my savings but it would be helpful to move the DDs for other accounts
If I do a switch from M-Plus current to another provider (to grab a switching bribe), will I keep the linked M-Plus Saver?
I have interest due.
virgin mobile was great but since its virgin plus it sucks i will definitly get another provender i made all my paiments alwas on time or before as they for some reson they didnot get the payment must go to bank to see what happend and the mean time they cancelled my phone so as i said they suck
Hi
Is this for 12 months or ongoing please?
I have a current account and savings account.
Thank you.
It’s ongoing, though they could of course change it at any time
I’ve just opened a new joint account with Virgin M Plus saving account. I thought we would both get an M Plus Saving account each but that doesn’t appear to be the case. Does that mean we can only get 1.56% paid up to a joint balance of £25,000 including the 2.02% on the first £1,000? I thought we could both save up to £25,000 each.
You can open both a personal account and a joint account each with VM. So you both can have a combined total of 3 current accounts and linked savings accounts. Hope this helps.
I am already a joint account holder with Virgin, not by choice just because they took over Yorkshire Bank B account.
I have my own current account with HSBC .
Would I count as a new customer re interest rates ?
I too had too had an account with Yorkshire Bank a flexible cash ISA earning 0.25% interest. Virgin Money will increase this to 3% but only if I open up an M Plus current account with them which earns 2% interest on balances up to £1,000. The M Plus ac is online only which puts me off.
They are an atrocious group to bank with. Before you even consider them, see their TrustPilot score 1.2, the LOWEST on the site and with very good reason. Customer service (should you not get cut off after being on hold for an hour) are immediately hostile, rude and often unable to answer any questions, trying to bounce you between departments till you give up.
Other banks will match the interest rate soon, do NOT trust them with your money, and good luck trying to get it back when the app locks you out.
Will I get a linked savings account with every M Plus current account that I open and if so will each savings account Individually pay 1% interest on its own £25000
Yes, though you can now only get one individual M Plus and one joint account
Spent one hour 20 mins trying to transfer funds from old Virgin account to M plus account just got passed from one department to another after about 35 mins was told I was speaking to Virgin and should be speaking to Clydesdale was transferred but got nowhere total shambles cancelled and stuck with old account. Not Good Virgim Moneyt
I have put £1k into the saving account, set up 2 direct debits, old bank as closed abs swapped over, my question is to qualify for the offers so you need a certain amount in the current account? Many thanks
No, just make sure you’ve got enough to pay those Direct Debits
Thank you, Andy. I have done that and I am profiting from your advice!
I already have a Virgin Money M Plus current account holding £1,000 for the interest it pays and that works fine. Am I allowed to open another separate Virgin Money M Plus current account so I can gain interest on another £1,000. I am a single man so I cannot open a joint account. I cannot find any information that says I can or I cannot open more than one account and I’d welcome your advice, please. Thank you. (I know I cannot get the switching incentive but I am not too concerned with that!)
Hi Peter, Yes you can apply for multiple accounts and you’ll get the 2.02% interest on the first £1,000 you hold in each one.
If both my wife and I have single current accounts with Virgin already. If we switched with a joint account would we get the switching bonus?
Hi Al, afraid not. It’s for new customers only.
Hi Andy – firstly, thanks for this info.
Question 1 – Do I HAVE to switch my Current account (I don’t really need wine, etc) or can I just open this account (M Plus ?) to take advantage of the 2.02% interest rate for the first £1000 ?
Question 2 – If I had £10,000, can I put £1000 in the ‘M Plus Account’ (which I believe is the Current account) and the remaining £9000 in the ‘M Plus Saver’ to take advantage of the 0.35% interest rate ?
no you don’t have to switch. Just open the account like you would normally. It’s up to you wether you put money in the saver account that comes with the current account
Both my wife and myself have opened our individual accounts. This might be a silly question, but are incoming direct debit payments acceptable towards qualifying for the wine deal ?
Hi Thomas. They’ll need to be direct debit payments out, so things like your energy bill, membership, charity donation or credit card payment
I got the case of ‘free’ wine and have tried two of the reds – awful and undrinkable; ended up using for cooking. Certainly not worth £12 a bottle; seriously the worst wines I’ve tried in a while and I’m not that fussy. I’m hoping there will be some which are okay but really disappointed!
We’ve had a couple of reds so far and they’ve been decent enough – but plenty still to work through!!
I jumped through all the hoops, but they are not giving me the wine. You have to switch ‘online’. I tried to, but encountered an error – because I had a Clydesdale customer number from an old (closed) account. The website instructed me to ring a nomber. I did that and completed the switch by phone. Because of this – no wine!!!
That’s ridiculous- go via their complaints team
I think I may be in the same boat – how long after the completion of the switch does the email come with the wine code?
It was about two weeks for me
I had this same issue with being told I was not entitled to the wine because I had to ring them up to complete my application. I spoke to them and I was very clear and polite with them – it was disingenuous on their part to state that I had to ring them to continue the application when their system would not let me continue on line. At that point if I was not eligible for the switch offer it should have stated that on the website. Once I had rung them to continue with the application they should have told me I was not eligible for the switch offer -they did not. I informed them that I would not have switched if I was not entitled to the offer as I have now lost benefit’s that I had with the old account. Today they emailled me the wine voucher code – result !
That’s ridiculous but so glad you got the voucher. Did they say it was sent because you complained?
Got an untouched Virgin ISA but they declined my App’n -the Clydesdale ‘puter says No. Had followed previous advice & opened another Providers current a/c to save with which blighted the Application despite already saving with Virgin which now ‘includes’ Clydesdale & another provider as one ‘Brand’. Echoes of TSB/Sabotel debacle which later could lead to similar problems. Incidentally comparable Virgin wines are continiously available from German supermarkets less expensively.