Santander offers the best of both worlds to its customers. It’s a big, established high street bank but it also offers a wide range of rewarding current accounts and regularly entices new customers with generous switching bonuses.
Whether you’re looking for cashback on your bills or for a premium account that offers dedicated 24/7 customer service, you’re likely to find something that suits you.
Our expert says: A premium account from Santander: Is it worth it?
"As far as packaged accounts go, the Edge and Edge Up accounts are pretty decent. Both have relatively low fees, and both offer rewards that can easily outweigh the monthly cost of the accounts. What’s more, Santander’s website includes a calculator to help you easily work out whether paying for your account will be cost-effective – something that isn’t always clear-cut with other packaged accounts.
With the Edge account, the maximum cashback you can earn each month on household bills is £10. But to earn that, your household bills would need to total £1,000 a month. If, on the other hand, they totalled £400 a month, you’d earn £4 a month, and this more than covers the £3 monthly fee.
On top of this, you can earn up to a further £10 a month in cashback on supermarket spending and travel costs. This is something you might be able to achieve if you regularly commute by train, for instance. But even if you only earn half of that, say £5 a month, add it to the £4 a month you’ve earned from your household bills and you’re looking at £9 a month. Or £6 a month once you’ve deducted the account fee.
It’s not bad when you consider this works out to be an extra £72 a year (with fees deducted), and all you’re doing is spending as normal.
Further benefits of the Edge account include fee-free spending abroad and access to a highly competitive savings account paying 7.00% AER. So all in all, I think it’s pretty good value, as long as you earn enough in cashback. You’re likely to find it particularly valuable if you open it as a joint account as you’ll only have one monthly fee to pay, but you’ll earn more cashback. The Edge Up account works in a similar way but has a higher monthly fee of £5. In return, you can earn up to £15 a month in cashback for both household bills and travel spend."
Like most big banks, Santander has current accounts for all tastes, including:
Regular current accounts
If you’re looking for a simple and straightforward account then you can apply for Santander’s Everyday Current Account in less than 10 minutes. It doesn’t charge any fees and is open to anyone over the age of 18. You can apply for an overdraft on this account too. Learn more about regular current accounts
Reward and incentive accounts
In exchange for a monthly fee, with Santander’s reward accounts you can get cashback on your household bills and interest paid on your balance. Reward accounts can be ideal as main current accounts, because they offer good perks if you use them regularly. Learn more about reward and incentive accounts
Premium accounts
If you meet the demanding financial criteria of a premium current account, you should probably go for it and enjoy the extra perks it comes with. Santander’s Select Current Account offers dedicated customer support and monthly interest paid on your balance. Learn more about premium current accounts
Student accounts
Students usually need extra support with their finances and Santander’s student’s account provides it through a fee-free overdraft feature and a free railcard. Learn more about student accounts
Children’s accounts
Santander’s 1|2|3 Mini Current Account can teach your children how to manage their finances from an early age, while also giving a little boost to their pocket money with a nice interest rate. Learn more about children’s accounts
Business accounts
There are three business accounts to choose from with Santander. The 123 Business Account offers benefits such as cashback and interest paid on balances, while the Business Account is a straightforward bank account that offers free everyday banking for start-ups for the first 18 months. The third option is a Treasurer’s current account which offers free day-to-day banking for clubs, societies and charities. Santander are temporarily only supporting existing customers who are looking to open new business current accounts.
Perks. Santander offers different perks and rewards to its account holders depending on the type of current account – some even pay a decent interest rate on in-credit balances.
Linked savings accounts. Some Santander current accounts come with linked savings accounts paying very healthy interest rates.
Multiple ways to bank. Depending on your preferences and banking style, you can do everything online or talk to someone in person at one of Santander’s 450 UK branches.
Mobile banking app. Santander’s mobile app doesn’t have tons of features but it looks clean and tidy, and allows you to see all your Santander accounts in the same place. In a nutshell, it does the job just fine.
A wide range of related products. One of the benefits of big banks such as Santander is that if you need a bunch of different financial products (a mortgage, a credit card or a savings account) you can have them all with the same providers and choose from a variety of options.
Global acceptance. Santander cards are all either Mastercard or Visa, so they’re accepted pretty much anywhere in the world.
Santander has a reputation for offering a good cashback current account. These are great household bills accounts. Pay in enough each month to cover all your bills and set up direct debits to pay everything automatically then sit back and watch the cashback reward you.”
Opening an account with Santander
To open an account with Santander, you’ll have to provide the following information:
Your personal details and address history.
How much you expect to pay in each month.
Date you started your job.
Your salary details and any assets you have.
Your nationality/citizenship.
Proof of identity (passport, driving licence, EEA or Swiss national identity card).
Proof of address (utility bill or bank statement).
You can open a Santander account online or by visiting a branch.
Does Santander offer any promotions, discounts or refer-a-friend offers?
In our independent 2024 customer satisfaction survey, 91% of Santander’s users said they’d recommend the brand to a friend. Customers highlighted the bank’s reputation for helpful customer service and easy online banking. Here’s what some of those Santander customers had to say:
“I’ve never had a problem with Santander, there is a local branch if I need it, and their app is easy to use”
“I have had a Current account with Santander for over 5 years. I have never had a problem with my account.”
On Trustpilot, Santander has a score of 1.5 out of 5 from 7,800 reviews. On the Apple App Store, it’s rated 4.8 out of 5 from 1.2 million reviews. On the Google Play Store, it has a score of 4.7 out of 5 from 291,000 reviews (November 2024).
Our verdict: Is Santander a good bank?
Santander offers a range of current accounts, but is particularly good for rewards accounts. If you’re looking for a current account that pays rewards for spending and keeping an in-credit balance, it is definitely worth checking what Santander has to offer. Another attraction with Santander’s current accounts is that some of them come with linked savings accounts that pay very competitive interest rates.
The bank also regularly offers generous switching bonuses so keep an eye out. But if Santander’s current accounts are not for you, you can also compare other current accounts here.
Frequently asked questions
Yes! There isn’t a limit to the number of current accounts you can open, although realistically you won’t be able to manage too many of them at one time. Remember to check out the competition on the market, and be wary of opening multiple accounts just to use features like overdrafts.
Santander’s Edge Up account and 1|2|3 Mini Current Account both come with monthly interest paid on your balance.
You can find Santander’s general terms and conditions for current accounts on Santander’s website.
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Valentina Cipriani was a writer at Finder UK. She wrote news, features and guides about banking and credit cards, helping people to improve their financial lives. She holds an MA in International Journalism. See full bio
Jason is a writer and editor. He worked as a senior subeditor for Finder for 5 years and in that time became familiar with a wide range of financial products and services. Before that, he worked for Australian Associated Press. He has a BA from Macquarie University in Australia. Jason loves to help other people find new ways to save money. See full bio
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