With an excellent all-in-one credit card and a selection of offers, not to mention the World Elite Mastercard, Santander could have a great card for you. Rates starting from 24.9% to 49.8%.
To make comparing even easier we came up with the Finder Score. Costs, perks and suitability across 120+ cards are all weighted and scaled to produce a score out of 10. The higher the score the better the card – simple.
Approval for any credit card depends on your status. The APR shown represents the interest rate offered to all successful applicants. Fees and rates are subject to change without notice. It's always wise to check the terms of any deal before you borrow.
Wholly owned by Santander Group, the Spanish bank was established more than 150 years ago. These days, Santander offers its customers good deals across five cards with some allowing fee-free foreign spending – which is unusual among UK cards.
You can take advantage of one of the longest 0% balance transfer periods on the market and pay nothing towards transferring your balance with Santander. As one of the leading credit card providers in the UK, Santander offers a range of eye-catching benefits with its credit cards.
Types of Santander credit cards
Santander bundles several features into a single card, ensuring suitability to a range of circumstances and criteria.
0% balance transfer cards. Most Santander credit cards offer a 0% balance transfer period, apart from the Santander Edge card. Remember to always keep to your card’s terms and conditions, including any minimum payments, or you risk losing your promotional interest rate.
0% purchases credit cards. If it’s an interest-free period on purchases that you need, pick the Santander All in One Credit Card, which offers an exceptionally long 0% period on purchases. This card also offers a very long interest-free period on balance transfers, and there’s no balance transfer fee to pay. Again, it’s imperative to always keep to your card’s terms and conditions, including any minimum payments, or you risk losing your promotional interest rate.
All-rounders. For a card that offers a long 0% period on both balance transfers and on card purchases, choose the All in One Credit Card. In comparison, Santander’s Everyday Credit Card offers only a short period of 0% interest on purchases. Neither card has a balance transfer fee to pay but the All in One Credit Card has a monthly fee. Plus, the All in One Card offers fee-free purchases abroad, so it’s worth considering which of these features would be of most value to you when choosing a card.
Overseas spending cards. Santander is unusually generous when it comes to saving you money when you spend abroad. At the time of writing, all Santander cards with the exception of the Everyday Credit Card offer fee-free foreign spend. In addition, the Zero Credit Card offers fee-free cash withdrawals anywhere in the world. Use a qualifying Santander card while you travel and you will be charged at the Visa or Mastercard exchange rate on your transactions with nothing extra to pay.
Travel perks cards. Available to qualifying Santander banking customers the Santander World Elite Mastercard offers a range of perks, including free Wi-Fi access at over a million hotspots and unlimited entry to a choice of over 1,000 airport lounges courtesy of LoungeKey. You also get discounted travel insurance, access to a Mastercard concierge and cashback on purchases. To top it all off, the Santander World Elite Mastercard charges no foreign transaction fees on purchases made abroad.
What benefits can I get with a Santander credit card?
Rewards. Your Santander card can reward you for everyday card spend. The Santander All in One Credit Card offers cashback on all credit card spend, with no caps on the amount you can earn. The World Elite Mastercard offers cashback on all card spend but with a cap on the total amount of cashback you can earn. Finally, all Santander credit cards offer generous cashback benefits with selected retailers. Simply switch on Retailer Offers in Online or Mobile Banking and earn up to 15% cashback with the offers you choose.
Mobile payments. Link any of your Santander credit cards with Apple Pay, Google Pay, Samsung Pay, Fitbit Pay or Garmin Pay and you can pay for goods and services with a simple tap of your phone, so you don’t have to carry your card with you everywhere you go.
Security. Santander maintains top security measures against a range of security threats, including a partnership with Mastercard SecureCode and Verified by Visa, which helps prevent unauthorised transactions. You also benefit from Santander’s automated fraud monitoring system that keeps a watchful eye on your card purchases.
Long periods of 0% interest. At the time of writing, all the Santander credit card products offer a generous initial period of 0% in interest charges on either balance transfers or purchases. You can save a substantial amount by transferring existing balances or by making purchases on your new Santander card.
Fee-free non-sterling transactions. Santander products are an excellent choice for the frequent traveller. Most of the Santander credit card products waive foreign currency conversion fees when you spend abroad. The Zero Credit Card also waives the usual cash machine fees when you use it to withdraw cash overseas.
How can I apply for a Santander credit card?
Santander has a streamlined range of cards, but there remains a few key distinguishing features. Look at each card and decide which suits you best: do you need a long balance transfer offer, or are you better off with 0% interest on purchases?
Consider the eligibility criteria for the card you want to apply for. Santander looks for individuals that have a good credit record and no history of county court judgements or individual voluntary arrangements.
Complete the online application form accurately and you could have an answer within 15 minutes. Occasionally, an application is referred for manual evaluation, in which case you will have to wait a few days for an answer.
If your application is approved your Santander credit card and PIN will arrive in the mail within 7 to 10 working days.
What supporting documents and information will I need?
Santander follows the standard credit card application process, so you’ll need your full personal details including recent address history and your employment details including your current income. Although it’s unusual, some applications can result in a request for you to submit additional documents.
Can I use a Santander credit card abroad?
Santander operates on the Mastercard network which means your card is accepted all around the world. If you travel inside the EU, you don’t need to notify Santander, but do contact the bank if you are travelling outside the EU so that customer service can leave a note on your account in case automated fraud monitoring triggers an alert.
When you spend in a foreign currency using a credit card, a currency conversion fee may apply. Impressively, many of the credit cards in Santander’s range waive this fee. We’ve outlined the interest and fee structure of each Santander card in our reviews.
What will my credit limit be?
Credit limits are tailored to the individual and your personal limit will be determined by Santander when you apply for a credit card.
The Santander 123 credit card isn’t available for new customers and was discontinued in 2016. The 123 credit card was replaced by the All in One card but existing customers can still use the card. The All in One card offers a lower flat cashback rate of 0.5% on all your spending.
Santander customer reviews
Santander ranked highly in our 2024 customer satisfaction survey, with 91% of Santander credit card customers saying that they’d recommend the brand to a friend. Many of its customers in our survey cited how reliable the company was, while others stated they had experienced “good customer service”.
However, Santander as a whole received a score of only 1.4 out of 5 on Trustpilot, with some reviewers there complaining about the standard of customer service (updated February 2024).
The bottom line
Exceptional balance transfer offers and fee-free foreign spend on many of the Santander cards means that you could apply for a Santander card which meets all of your personal requirements in a single product. A solid track record in personal banking and excellent security measures makes Santander one of the most popular and reliable choices for a credit card.
Contact Santander’s customer support
Telephone support
Call +44 1512 648 725. Available 24/7.
Report card lost or stolen
You can report a lost or stolen card via the app. Log into the app, click ‘More’, then ‘Cards’ and choose the card you want to report. Click ‘Report as lost, stolen or damaged’.
Overview of Santander credit cards
Representative APR
From 24.9% to 49.8%
0% balance transfer offer
Up to 31 months
0% purchases offer
Up to 18 months
0% money transfer offer
No money transfer offer available
Cashback with brand
Up to 2%
Cashback elsewhere
Up to 2%
Cash advance
From 29.9%
Introductory bonus offer
No introductory bonus offers available
Other frequently asked questions
The Santander 123 credit card isn’t available for new customers and was discontinued in 2016. The 123 credit card was replaced by the All in One Card but existing customers can still use the card. The All in One card offers a lower flat cashback rate of 0.5% on all your spending.
While you receive a lot of benefits with a Santander card, some Santander credit cards have a modest monthly card fee. Look at the benefits you receive with the card and decide whether these will compensate you for the monthly fee, which is likely to happen if you regularly use the card. If you prefer not to pay a monthly card fee you can apply for the Everyday Credit Card or the Zero Credit Card.
Outside of any promotional introductory periods, your Santander credit card has a variable interest rate. That means it can be adjusted – typically in line with Bank of England rates. If you misuse your card you could lose your access to any 0% deals. However, as long as you keep within the terms of your credit card agreement any balance transfers or purchases made under a 0% interest deal will stay interest free for the duration of that deal.
It is likely that different balances on your card will carry different interest rates – you may have a 0% rate on a balance transfer, for example. Santander will allocate repayments to the part of your balance with the highest interest rate first to help you minimise interest charges.
Each Santander card comes with the option of adding up to three additional cards to your account. This way your partner or family members can share the benefits associated with the card, including any cash-back offers or travel perks.
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Chris Lilly is Head of publishing at finder.com. He's a specialist in personal finance, from day-to-day banking to investing to borrowing, and is passionate about helping UK consumers make informed decisions about their money. In his spare time Chris likes forcing his kids to exercise more. See full bio
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Take advantage of interest-free balance transfers without the fees with this Santander credit card.
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