The Santander World Elite Mastercard has some generous benefits that make it an ideal travel companion, but they come at a price.
Santander World Elite Mastercard review
By Chris Lilly
- Representative example:
- When you spend £1,200 at a purchase rate of 18.9% (variable) p.a. with a fee of £15 per month, your representative rate is 49.8% APR (variable).
- Earn rate
- 1p per £2 spent
- 0% interest on purchases
- 18 months
- Foreign transaction charge
- 0%
Our verdict
Frequent fliers will enjoy this premium card with impressive perks.Only available to existing Santander Select or Private Banking customers, and going head-to-head with the slightly-more-expensive HSBC World Elite, this card offers interest-free periods on both balance transfers and purchases, as well as significant rewards and travel perks.
Cardholders can travel in style with free LoungeKey membership – one of the most popular programmes going – allowing unlimited access to airport lounges in over 120 countries. Plus when you use your card overseas, you won't have to worry about pesky non-sterling transaction fees.
Other benefits include ongoing cashback, 24/7 Mastercard Concierge and World Elite Privileges discounts and offers.
The obvious downside here is the fairly hefty monthly account fee, but if you take advantage of the 3 additional cards available, you could get more out of the rewards and benefits schemes – potentially making that fee worth swallowing.
Pros
-
No foreign transaction fees
-
Earn cashback on purchases
-
0% interest on purchases and balance transfers
-
No balance transfer fee within introductory period
-
Mastercard Concierge.
-
Free LoungeKey airport lounge membership, with complimentary access for additional cardholders.
-
No extra fees for up to three additional cardholders.
Cons
-
£15 monthly account fee
-
Must be a Santander Select or Private banking customer.
-
High annual income requirement to open Select or Private bank accounts.
Details
Product Overview
| Issuer | Santander |
| Network | Mastercard |
| Representative APR | 49.8% |
| Annual/monthly fees | £15 per month |
| Balance transfers | 0% for 18 months reverting to 18.9% |
| Balance transfer fee | 0% for 18 months reverting to 3% (min. £5) |
| Purchases | 0% for 18 months reverting to 18.9% |
| Purchases interest-free period | Up to 56 days |
| Cash advances | 29.9% |
| Minimum credit limit | £500 |
| Maximum credit limit | Subject to status |
| Additional cards available | 3 |
| Incentive | 0.5% on £1 to £3000 of monthly spend. Maximum of £15 cashback paid per month. Cashback paid Monthly into Card Account. Maximum spend for cashback purposes is limited to credit limit.0.5% cashback on monthly spend of up to £3,000. Access to over 1 million Wi-Fi hotspots, no foreign transaction fees, discount on travel insurance. |
| Lounge access | Membership to LoungeKey, complimentary access to over 1400 airport lounges worldwide. |
| Additional Rewards Info | Access to Mastercard Airport Security Fast Track. Access to Priceless.com from Mastercard. Global Data Roaming access in over 150 countries with Flexiroam. |
| Potential costs | 4.1 ★★★★★ |
| Doing its job | 4.8 ★★★★★ |
| Extras | 3.8 ★★★★★ |
| Overall Finder Score | 4.4 ★★★★★ |
Fees and charges
| Minimum monthly payment | 1% or £5 (whichever is greater) or the total of any interest, default fees and charges, monthly fee plus 1% of the outstanding balance plus any arrears. |
| Annual/monthly fees | £15 per month |
| Balance transfer fee | 0% for 18 months reverting to 3% (min. £5) |
| Foreign usage charge (EU) | 0% |
| Foreign usage charge (rest of world) | 0% |
| Cash advance fee | 3% (min. £3) |
| Late payment fee | £12 |
| Duplicate statement fee | £0 |
| Exceeding limit fee | £12 |
| Additional card fee | £0 |
| Dormancy fee | £0 |
Application Requirements
| Minimum Age | 18 |
| Minimum income | £10,500 |
| Residency | UK Resident |
| Availability | Available to existing customers |
The Santander World Elite Mastercard is issued on the Mastercard network, so it's accepted at more than 50 million merchant locations across more than 210 countries and territories.
How does it compare?
Santander's card
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Finder Score for credit cards
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.
Read the full methodologyOther popular reward cards
Table: sorted by representative APR, promoted deals first
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Finder Score for credit cards
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.
Read the full methodologyApproval for any credit card depends on your status. The representative APRs shown represent the interest rate offered to most successful applicants. Depending on your personal circumstances, the APR you're offered may be higher, or you may not be offered credit at all. Fees and rates are subject to change without notice. It's always wise to check the terms of any deal before you borrow. Most of the data in Finder's comparison tables is provided by Moneyfacts.
Repayment options
You can make manual repayments through Santander's app by logging in to your online banking or over the phone (0800 912 3123). Alternatively, you may wish to set up a direct debit.
A direct debit protects you from forgetting to make a repayment and either damaging your credit score, getting hit with a penalty fee (£12) or losing any promotional rates as a result.
You can arrange a direct debit for repayments when you apply for the credit card. The table below shows the options available.
Choose from the following direct debit options for your monthly repayments:
| Minimum amount | |
|---|---|
| Fixed amount | |
| Fixed percentage | |
| Full amount |
How to apply
If you're an existing Santander customer and you've compared cards and settled on the Santander World Elite Mastercard, completing the secure online application form takes about 15 minutes. Before you apply, check that you meet the eligibility requirements and have the information and documents you'll need to make the process as straightforward as possible.
Frequently asked questions
What credit limit will I get with the Santander World Elite Mastercard?
If Santander offers you this deal, it will specify a personalised credit limit based on Santander's assessment of your situation. The minimum limit offered on this card is £500, and Santander does not specify a maximum. Once you've had the card for a while and shown Santander you're reliable, you may wish to apply for a credit limit increase.
Can I withdraw cash using the Santander World Elite Mastercard?
Although it's possible, withdrawing cash from a credit card account is generally not a good idea, as "cash-like transactions" (such as withdrawing cash at an ATM, getting cashback at the till, spending at a casino or buying currency) often incur steep fees and/or higher rates of interest.
The cash advance fee on the Santander World Elite Mastercard is 3% (min. £3). For example, if you withdraw £50, you'll incur a fee of £3.00. Withdraw £250 and you'll incur a fee of £7.50.
The interest rate on this part of your balance will be 29.9% (chargeable from the day of the transaction – the card's usual "up to 56 days interest-free" grace period won't apply).
How much does it cost to use the Santander World Elite Mastercard abroad?
Non-sterling transactions are subject to a 0% charge. For example, if you spend 200 euros (£164.83), it'll cost you around £0.00 in fees.
What is the minimum payment on the Santander World Elite Mastercard?
Each month, you must pay at least 1% of your balance at that point or £5.00 – whichever of the 2 figures is greater. So if you had, say, £450.00 outstanding, you'd pay £5.00, and if you had £2,000.00 outstanding, you'd pay £20.00.
Paying only the minimum required amount each month is generally not advisable as it makes it much harder to get debt-free before that introductory 0% period expires.
Can I request an additional Santander World Elite Mastercard?
Yes, in fact, you can request up to 3 more. There's no fee for additional cards. Plus, with additional cards, you could earn cashback at a faster rate. Bear in mind that card debt accrued by additional cardholders is the sole responsibility of the account holder – not the additional cardholder.
Finder credit card scores
★★★★★ — Excellent
★★★★★ — Good
★★★★★ — Average
★★★★★ — Subpar
★★★★★ — Poor
Our experts score rewards credit cards to determine their value against similar products on the market. We look at a number of important factors, like welcome bonuses, introductory and ongoing earn-rates, any caps or restrictions on the points you can earn, plus the potential costs involved with running the card both in the short and longer term.
You can read more about our scoring criteria on our credit card methodology page.
We show offers we can track - that's not every product on the market...yet. Unless we've said otherwise, products are in no particular order. The terms "best", "top", "cheap" (and variations of these) aren't ratings, though we always explain what's great about a product when we highlight it. This is subject to our terms of use. When you make major financial decisions, consider getting independent financial advice. Always consider your own circumstances when you compare products so you get what's right for you. Most of the data in Finder's comparison tables has the source: Moneyfacts Group PLC. In other cases, Finder has sourced data directly from providers.
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