The Best Free Cashback Debit & Credit Cards in the UK

In this BWB episode, we make the case that every transaction should pay you back, then run through the best free UK cashback options and a simple stack you can actually use day-to-day. We hit rates, caps, categories, FX gotchas, and when “free” isn’t really free.

We cover

• Trading 212: 1.5% with Cashback Investing (cap £15/mo)
• Chase UK: 1% on groceries & everyday transport (incl. public EV charging)
• Zopa: 2% on direct debits (cap £30/yr)
• Lloyds Ultra: 1% in year one, then 0.25% + 0% FX
• Amex Cashback Everyday: intro bonus, then 0.5–1% (not for foreign spend)

Connect with us (via LinkedIn)

Jan: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jan-watermann/

Jonny: http://www.linkedin.com/in/jonny-pease

Got a question or topic you want us to cover? Drop us a message at jonny@technicallymoney.com

Transcript

00:00:00:00 - 00:00:07:18
Unknown
Okay, so if there's one thing I really, truly believe in, something that I try to encourage people as much as possible is that you have to be rewarded for your spending.

00:00:07:18 - 00:00:19:05
Unknown
Okay. What I mean by that is every time you make a transaction, you should receive some type of cash back or perhaps some type of point system, maybe rev points from Revolut or Amex membership reward points or something.

00:00:19:08 - 00:00:22:02
Unknown
The reason for that is because of interchange fees.

00:00:22:02 - 00:00:28:01
Unknown
Banks are getting paid every time you make a transaction. They're getting paid from the merchants Bank.

00:00:28:01 - 00:00:29:06
Unknown
So you deserve to get

00:00:29:06 - 00:00:47:11
Unknown
a piece of the pie, so to speak. Now, not every provider, not every bank offers this, but there are enough now that are providing cashback points that it is a very competitive system and there are plenty of options, enough options in fact, where I think strongly everybody should be getting rewarded.

00:00:47:11 - 00:00:52:15
Unknown
So today in this video, we're going to talk about some free cash back credit card and debit cards.

00:00:52:15 - 00:01:02:20
Unknown
We don't claim to know every option available. We may miss a couple. So please if there's one that you're using that we don't talk about, or if you think there's a really compelling option out there, let us know in the comments.

00:01:02:22 - 00:01:17:01
Unknown
We always love to hear from people, and we often miss the odd 1 or 2. I say odd, we often missed of Joanna and I, so please do use the comments to tell us. Yes it does. So yeah, please feel free to chime in on the comments if there are any cashback cards

00:01:17:01 - 00:01:20:23
Unknown
that you think we could have mentioned today, but that's what we're going to be talking about.

00:01:21:02 - 00:01:25:09
Unknown
These are specifically free options. And yeah, I first want to ask you the question,

00:01:25:09 - 00:01:29:19
Unknown
why are we not going to talk about paid cards?

00:01:29:19 - 00:01:46:12
Unknown
it's a really good question, Johnny. I personally believe that for most people, pay credit cards and debit cards aren't really worth it because they, they do. I mean, most of them, they they have a have a high monthly fee. If you think about Amex Gold or Amex Platinum, it's a few, few hundred pounds a year.

00:01:46:14 - 00:01:50:17
Unknown
And you, you really have to have a certain level of spending in order to compensate for that.

00:01:50:17 - 00:02:02:01
Unknown
thankfully, there are many free alternatives available, which we'll cover today. Really good ones. And, yeah, but the the level of spending is one of the reasons why I personally don't have a paid, credit card either.

00:02:02:01 - 00:02:18:05
Unknown
What about then okay, what about the prerequisite for these free cashback cards? Before we jump into the exact providers, there is definitely something that we should discuss and that is what should we look for? What is the the prerequisite particulars, so to speak, for the best free cash back card.

00:02:18:16 - 00:02:23:08
Unknown
Yeah, I'd say for for categories, you should look at, the cashback rate. Obviously, the higher the better.

00:02:24:06 - 00:02:24:22
Unknown
Yep.

00:02:24:22 - 00:02:36:18
Unknown
And then as a cap with most cards, could be, could be 5 pounds, could be 10 pounds, could be 15 pounds a month. Really varies by card. And then the spending categories that you're able to earn cashback on,

00:02:36:18 - 00:02:43:00
Unknown
some categories are excluded with certain cards, you know, as you really got to go look, look at the, the details there, the

00:02:44:04 - 00:02:52:10
Unknown
and then also the foreign exchange policy. If you're traveling quite a bit and you're planning to do second abroad, some cards, they they exclude foreign

00:02:52:22 - 00:03:08:08
Unknown
Yeah, yeah yeah. Whereas there are also some cards that allow it, but also their international spending fees are just really, really bad. So at the same time any bonuses or rewards you can make is completely offset by the fact that you're getting charged a percentage for spending internationally.

00:03:08:08 - 00:03:11:07
Unknown
So where do we sit then, mate? Let's talk about this.

00:03:11:09 - 00:03:15:11
Unknown
What is the what is the first provider we're going to start with today.

00:03:15:11 - 00:03:16:13
Unknown
212 card,

00:03:16:16 - 00:03:18:16
Unknown
Of course.

00:03:18:16 - 00:03:36:01
Unknown
a great, great option for most people. Offers 1.5% of cashback on eligible purchases. When you activate something called cashback investing. So that's, that's a feature where, where the cashback that you earn is automatically reinvested into the, into a certain period you select beforehand.

00:03:36:01 - 00:03:46:04
Unknown
is this a new feature from them. Feels like a it feels new.

00:03:46:06 - 00:03:49:08
Unknown
Yes.

00:03:49:10 - 00:04:09:11
Unknown
Yes. Yes. That's that's correct. And when you do activate this you get 1.5% which will then be invested into stocks or ETFs or like you mention those pies which you could make yourself, which are essentially like a a bucket of stocks. And it's like an ETF. Or you can copy pies as well. Without going into too much detail, this is though, really tremendous.

00:04:09:11 - 00:04:10:19
Unknown
May's really interesting.

00:04:10:19 - 00:04:13:23
Unknown
is a downside though. The cashback is capped at 15 pounds per month.

00:04:14:10 - 00:04:28:16
Unknown
Yeah. It's not not, not a huge issue if you ask me, considering the fact it's a free card. And also the certain spending categories can't earn cashback on compared to other providers, I believe trading two, one, two is a little is a little relaxed as well.

00:04:28:21 - 00:04:39:11
Unknown
So there are many categories that just, you know, that were just for groceries for example, it's is works, but you can't use your, your trading to earn two card to pay for electricity, for example.

00:04:40:04 - 00:04:47:10
Unknown
your electricity provider allows that, in order to earn cashback, that's excluded. So I have a look at the details, the fine print on the website.

00:04:47:10 - 00:04:51:10
Unknown
And, and you can make your. Yeah, make up your mind whether that's worth it for you or not.

00:04:51:10 - 00:05:00:06
Unknown
Yeah. Yeah. The I think the exclusions are pretty standard on there. What about ATM withdrawals. I'm sure I read somewhere that you could earn cashback on ATM withdrawals.

00:05:00:09 - 00:05:02:13
Unknown
I don't think so, to be honest, Johnny, I,

00:05:02:13 - 00:05:03:01
Unknown
no

00:05:03:01 - 00:05:05:06
Unknown
don't think they allow that. I think that's excluded.

00:05:05:06 - 00:05:05:18
Unknown
okay.

00:05:05:18 - 00:05:09:09
Unknown
you get free ATM withdrawals up to 400 pounds per month afterwards.

00:05:09:23 - 00:05:23:15
Unknown
1% fee. So that's pretty good, especially if you compare that to Revolut, for example. Revolut standard account I believe that allows 200 pounds of free, free, free ATM withdrawals and afterwards it's a 2% fee.

00:05:23:17 - 00:05:26:15
Unknown
So it's yeah, almost twice as twice as good.

00:05:26:15 - 00:05:37:14
Unknown
Maybe a caveat. I believe with trading too on two is you can't use the physical card to withdraw cash. You have to use an ATM that allows contactless withdrawals.

00:05:37:14 - 00:05:40:13
Unknown
Is that really an issue? I don't know about

00:05:40:19 - 00:05:41:21
Unknown
Strange, though.

00:05:41:21 - 00:05:48:05
Unknown
personally, Johnny, but, what? Wherever I am, most of the ATMs allow, yeah. Wireless withdrawing.

00:05:48:12 - 00:05:56:06
Unknown
Yeah, the UK is a third world country, my friend. We just about have functioning ATMs, let alone ones that can't.

00:05:56:06 - 00:05:59:03
Unknown
think wireless withdrawing doesn't exist. Contactless withdrawing.

00:05:59:03 - 00:06:18:22
Unknown
but I don't actually know of an ATM local to me that has contactless withdrawals. My friend. Not yet. At least they haven't reached that. Well, they have reached the UK. Of course. I'm being extravagant. There are plenty, I'm sure, but at least not near me. What about buddy the big dog Chase UK?

00:06:18:22 - 00:06:44:21
Unknown
Super popular option, which we've covered many times in on this channel in previous episodes. They offer 1% of cashback on, on groceries everyday transport such as fuel and, EV charging. So if you are you, you happen to, to spend, 1,500 pounds per month in these categories, you can fully max out that plan and earn up to 15 pounds

00:06:45:21 - 00:07:07:07
Unknown
Yeah. Oh, I own an ev. I got one recently. Okay? And I charge it. I charge it at home, so I. It costs about 5 pounds to charge from midnight to five a am, because I have a particular tariff that gives me a discount between those hours. I can't gain anything from using my Chase UK card for charging my Eevee at home.

00:07:07:07 - 00:07:14:20
Unknown
I would have to take it to a charging station, which they are significantly more money than charging at home.

00:07:14:20 - 00:07:29:06
Unknown
So arguably this wouldn't be the most beneficial use of this card in terms of earning rewards. If you were specifically going, oh, how can I earn? Oh, I have an Eevee I could earn on charging. Well, any owner who owns an EV knows it's usually more cost effective to charge at home.

00:07:29:06 - 00:07:38:00
Unknown
I appreciate not everyone has that option. If you live in a flat, for example, you might not have a charger available. Personally though, that's not really that compelling for me.

00:07:38:00 - 00:07:54:05
Unknown
Of course. Please. Yeah, absolutely. Good point. Really good point. Thank you. Yeah. No, you're absolutely right. That's that is true. This Chase UK, how much do I spend on groceries?

00:07:54:07 - 00:08:03:13
Unknown
When it comes to groceries, I probably spend 3 to 400 pounds a month.

00:08:03:15 - 00:08:16:22
Unknown
Yeah, yeah. It's, It's okay. I mean, I'm. Yeah, yeah, I we're going to talk about American Express shortly, but I'm putting all of that on my Amex Gold card, which is a paid credit card. I have my reasoning for having the paid one.

00:08:16:22 - 00:08:18:02
Unknown
there's also

00:08:18:02 - 00:08:24:03
Unknown
Zopa, which have a really compelling cashback option. Right. Because they're offering 2%,

00:08:24:03 - 00:08:26:00
Unknown
but also because you can earn it on direct debits.

00:08:28:03 - 00:08:33:07
Unknown
Only.

00:08:33:09 - 00:08:41:14
Unknown
Do you, yeah. Do you think that that is a genuine opportunity when the cashback cap

00:08:42:16 - 00:08:46:05
Unknown
is 30 pounds max, that you can earn in a year?

00:08:46:05 - 00:09:02:19
Unknown
I think so, right. You have some direct debits. And who allows you to earn cash back on direct debits? I believe that's something that a bank doesn't earn much money with. So that's, a really rare offer. To be honest, I haven't heard of that personally. But I'm also not fully familiar with all the banks that exist in the UK.

00:09:02:21 - 00:09:05:16
Unknown
So I can't really can't really tell. But, have you heard of that?

00:09:05:16 - 00:09:21:15
Unknown
Well, Santander have the edge account where you can earn cashback on direct debits. I believe it's. Which is paid. Yes, yes. Oh yes. You're very good at this. Yeah. Well done. Very good. You're absolutely bang on mate. It is paid. Thank you. And we're talking about free cards

00:09:21:15 - 00:09:29:10
Unknown
It's a great offer. It's a nice to have offer. Right. So if you have a lot of direct debits, would you likely do take advantage of this? I don't see any downside.

00:09:29:10 - 00:09:33:17
Unknown
no I mean, you have the upside as well of the Zopa account, generally speaking is very compelling.

00:09:33:17 - 00:09:42:15
Unknown
You know that regular saver I believe 7.1% where you, you know, you just have to pay in, I think, 300 pounds on a monthly basis to keep it running. That's really, really enticing.

00:09:42:15 - 00:09:45:19
Unknown
They had that easy access savings account that I talked about a couple of weeks ago.

00:09:45:19 - 00:09:55:13
Unknown
That promotion is now ended, but there may be more opportunities like that in the in the future. So I mean, Zopa are working hard to attract deposits. And this is one example of that.

00:09:55:13 - 00:10:00:16
Unknown
I think they deserve them because this is quite a compelling offering. Could be extremely good for some people.

00:10:00:16 - 00:10:01:16
Unknown
the branding as well.

00:10:01:16 - 00:10:04:03
Unknown
you love the branding.

00:10:04:05 - 00:10:11:23
Unknown
Just quickly, John, is there a particular biscuit you like?

00:10:12:01 - 00:10:20:13
Unknown
Hang on. What?

00:10:20:15 - 00:10:26:19
Unknown
I did think there was something not quite right with you, buddy.

00:10:26:21 - 00:10:42:12
Unknown
I'm joking, I'm joking, I'm joking, I'm joking. Okay, I take that back. I'm just joking. Any vegans listening to this? I really respect you. Honestly, I don't know how you do it. And it is obviously quite a healthy lifestyle. I just hope you get enough protein beyond.

00:10:42:12 - 00:10:44:17
Unknown
I do, actually, I, take care of that.

00:10:44:17 - 00:10:46:18
Unknown
good. What else do you take care of? Credit cards.

00:10:46:22 - 00:10:47:12
Unknown
I personally

00:10:48:16 - 00:10:49:09
Unknown
Okay.

00:10:49:09 - 00:11:03:09
Unknown
many people that do, and I, there were moments in time where I wished to have a credit card. Actually, I just went ahead and hired a car for next week. I'm doing a trip with a business partner. And I could not be the person renting that car because I didn't have a credit card, unfortunately.

00:11:03:11 - 00:11:06:07
Unknown
So credit cards? Yeah. They can be really useful. And

00:11:06:17 - 00:11:07:21
Unknown
Yes.

00:11:07:21 - 00:11:12:18
Unknown
offer some attractive cashback, one of them being the Lloyds Ultra credit card.

00:11:13:07 - 00:11:15:17
Unknown
Oh, hey. I love the way you said the

00:11:15:17 - 00:11:16:15
Unknown
ultra? Yeah.

00:11:16:15 - 00:11:40:20
Unknown
Nice. Ultra. Yeah. Yes I well I would probably say ultra but I prefer your, I prefer your way of saying it. Yeah. The, the Lloyds the Lloyds ultra credit card. Now this this really packs a punch. So you get 1% cashback for the first 12 months and it's just a free for all.

00:11:41:01 - 00:11:49:04
Unknown
Obviously there are some exclusions you know, like gambling crypto etc. like the standard stuff. But you pretty much earning 1% on most everyday items.

00:11:49:04 - 00:11:56:23
Unknown
After the first year, it's going to drop down to 0.25%. At that point, you're probably going to want to reassess your options anyway. I don't think you're going to want to stick to that.

00:11:56:23 - 00:11:59:22
Unknown
So possibly set a reminder. Just make sure you're aware of that.

00:11:59:22 - 00:12:06:01
Unknown
Remember when we mentioned those prerequisites at the start of the video in terms of like no foreign transaction fees? Well this Lloyds Ultra card has that

00:12:06:01 - 00:12:13:05
Unknown
Which leads us nicely onto a card. That's not a good vehicle for spending money internationally. The Amex cashback everyday credit card.

00:12:13:05 - 00:12:14:14
Unknown
Yeah. What a cool name, actually.

00:12:16:15 - 00:12:18:23
Unknown
to 5% of cashback in the first few

00:12:19:20 - 00:12:35:07
Unknown
That's capped, though. And then afterwards, their tiered rates based on your annual spend. So if you, if you spend less than 10,000 pounds per year, they give you point 5% of cashback and above 10,000 pounds per year, it's a percent.

00:12:35:07 - 00:12:36:02
Unknown
What do you make of that?

00:12:36:02 - 00:12:43:01
Unknown
Yeah, it's quite compelling. But if you compare that to the debit card to we covered beforehand, obviously it's, it's, inferior.

00:12:43:06 - 00:12:44:15
Unknown
Regarding the choices that we've

00:12:44:15 - 00:12:52:19
Unknown
presented today, what makes this more interesting? What I think makes this a really compelling package of cards is when you stack them together, right? Yeah.

00:12:52:19 - 00:13:02:07
Unknown
This is where this is actually if you if you can if you can, if you do have the bandwidth to handle having multiple cards,

00:13:02:07 - 00:13:03:11
Unknown
this can be really interesting.

00:13:03:11 - 00:13:06:23
Unknown
Can it. Because you can have Chase UK for your everyday categories,

00:13:06:23 - 00:13:15:10
Unknown
your groceries for example your EV charging. You can have Zopa covering your bills and direct debits. You're trading 212 card for your investing and

00:13:15:10 - 00:13:20:04
Unknown
possibly the Amex everyday for domestic spending, for short term for the short term bonus.

00:13:20:04 - 00:13:37:12
Unknown
Yeah, absolutely. If you combine these cards, they become more powerful, of course, because then, you know, as I mentioned, certain certain categories only apply to certain cards. Just combine them and you'll be able to, to use one tax advantages to compensate for the other. Other disadvantages.

00:13:37:12 - 00:13:47:14
Unknown
Yeah, yeah, it's like Thanos with the Infinity Stones. As you collect each one of these cards, you become more and more powerful.

00:13:47:16 - 00:13:51:23
Unknown
Masterful.

00:13:52:01 - 00:14:04:13
Unknown
Massive. Thank you very much. I don't I don't I don't even really watch the movies. It just came to me just in the moment that I just, I had, I got, I got Thanos, but.

00:14:04:15 - 00:14:18:16
Unknown
They need me. Then maybe someone in the comments can write that metal four out of ten. We should definitely discuss fine print and what and what to watch out for, right? Because we talked a little bit about exclusions and we talked a little bit about foreign transaction fees.

00:14:18:16 - 00:14:27:16
Unknown
credit cards for example, you don't need to be told this, but you need to be told this or we need to be reminded at this point at least always pay it off.

00:14:27:18 - 00:14:31:16
Unknown
Otherwise the cash back is not really free. Essentially, if you're paying interest.

00:14:31:16 - 00:14:37:12
Unknown
Oh, absolutely. It's probably the most important point to to watch out for. Then, as I mentioned, some some categories

00:14:37:16 - 00:14:38:02
Unknown
Yeah.

00:14:38:02 - 00:14:44:21
Unknown
so I'll have a look at that. And also know if it's free doesn't necessarily mean that, foreign transaction is free

00:14:45:09 - 00:14:50:02
Unknown
trading 212 card to withdraw money abroad, for example, there could still be an ATM fee or so.

00:14:50:02 - 00:14:52:13
Unknown
And then these, these promotional cashback rates,

00:14:53:05 - 00:15:00:22
Unknown
the, the 1.5% to trading two, 1 or 2 offers or, the 2%. It's all part of us on direct debits. They may change,

00:15:00:22 - 00:15:01:11
Unknown
Yes.

00:15:01:11 - 00:15:13:07
Unknown
because often, often these providers, they are they're making a loss on these, these rates in the short term, you know, it's not always the case, but sometimes and that's obviously to, to attract customers, right.

00:15:13:07 - 00:15:13:12
Unknown
In

00:15:13:12 - 00:15:13:22
Unknown
Yep.

00:15:13:22 - 00:15:22:00
Unknown
term to have a, have a superior offer than other providers. And they have to change that after some time unless they want to continue losing money forever, which

00:15:22:00 - 00:15:37:08
Unknown
Yeah I mean if, if there's something we've learned is that these providers, they pull these offers all the time. Chase UK did it originally when it was 1% on everything and it was unlimited. It was a free for all. You got to keep a close eye on that so you don't continue spending when you're not getting rewarded.

00:15:37:08 - 00:15:40:13
Unknown
as I said at the beginning of the episode, please let us know in the comments if you

00:15:40:13 - 00:15:43:18
Unknown
have a different alternative. This cashback

00:15:43:18 - 00:15:51:07
Unknown
that's available there are of course, as well. Yeah, cashback apps that we didn't mention that you could use to help stack your earnings and earn more. But that's not what we're here to talk about.

00:15:51:11 - 00:16:00:17
Unknown
Maybe we'll talk about those in another episode, but for now, let us know in the comments if you have any thoughts, questions or any information that you want to share with ourselves and other viewers,

00:16:00:17 - 00:16:03:21
Unknown
everyone for listening. It's been a pleasure as always. See you.