Rewards are funded by the account fee and by what merchants pay to accept cards. If you do not spend enough to earn back the fee, the no-fee account is the better product and we would rather you held that one.
What you can earn
Three things, all automatic. There are no points to convert, no codes to enter, and no partner portal to shop through.
| Reward | Essential | Elite Plus | Prestige |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cashback on eligible card spend | — | Up to 2.5% | Up to 2.5% |
| Foreign transaction fee | Standard rate | Waived on card spend | Waived on card and transfers |
| Out-of-network ATM charges | Not rebated | Rebated to a monthly cap | Rebated without a cap |
| Additional cardholders | — | One included | Up to four |
| When it is paid | — | Monthly, automatically | Monthly, automatically |
No hoops
Cashback accrues on eligible spend and is credited to your account monthly. You do not need to register, activate, or remember anything.
What does not earn
These exclusions exist because they generate no merchant fee for us, so paying cashback on them would come out of your own account fee. Listing them up front is the point.
- Cash withdrawals and anything treated as a cash advance.
- Transfers between accounts, and payments to other people.
- Gambling transactions, and buying foreign currency or cryptoassets.
- Loan, mortgage and credit card repayments.
- Taxes and government charges, where the collector does not pay a merchant fee.
- Transactions later refunded — the cashback is reversed with the purchase.
Never spend to earn
Cashback returns a small percentage. Spending an extra amount to earn it back leaves you worse off by the remainder, every single time. Rewards are a discount on spending you were going to do anyway.
Working out whether it pays
A paid tier is worth holding only when what it returns exceeds what it costs. That is arithmetic, not a judgement call, and it takes two minutes.
- 1Take your card spend in a typical month, excluding everything in the list above.
- 2Apply the cashback rate. That is your monthly rewards figure.
- 3Add last year’s foreign transaction fees and out-of-network ATM charges, divided by twelve.
- 4Compare the total against the monthly account fee.
- 5If it is comfortably above, upgrade. If it is close or below, stay on Essential — which costs nothing.
Re-check once a year
Spending patterns change. Someone who travelled monthly and now does not is often paying a fee for benefits they stopped using. Downgrading is free and takes a minute.
How we run this
- Rates and exclusions are published here and in your product summary, not buried in terms.
- Any reduction in a rate is notified to you in advance, with time to change tier.
- Cashback already earned is paid even if you downgrade or close the account afterwards.
- We do not expire rewards, and there is nothing to claim before a deadline.
- We do not offer a headline rate on a narrow category and a much lower one on everything else.
Documents you may also need
Your Benefits
Everything that comes with a personal account, tier by tier — what is included, what it is worth, and how to claim it.
Account TiersElite Plus
Enhanced rewards: a premium metal card, cashback on eligible spend, no foreign transaction fees and global ATM rebates.
Personal BankingDebit & Credit Cards
Contactless debit, a rewards credit card, and the controls that let you freeze, limit and replace a card yourself in seconds.
This document was last updated on 1 August 2026. We publish the current version here at all times; superseded versions are available on request.
If anything on this page is unclear, write to us and we will explain it.