The bank has launched the £25 cashback offer for new customers opening an RCI Bank 1 year, 2 year, 3 year, 4 year or 5 year fixed term account.

It also applies to its 95-day notice account with all accounts under the offer needing to be opened between Monday 27 June and Sunday 31 July.

It appears to be targeted to savers in the Chase waiting room after the digital challenger said it is dealing with an influx of applications which means it can take up to five weeks for an account to be opened.

To get the RCI Bank cashback, savers must open the account via the RCI Bank savings link; they must deposit £10,000, and send an email with the subject line ‘We’re stuck’, plus a screenshot proving they’re in a waiting room to hello@rcibank.co.uk.

It’s important to note that with this deal, savers need to deposit £10,000. However, if they go direct to the site to open one of its products, it has a much lower minimum deposit amount at £1,000.

The £25 cash bonus will be paid once customers have passed the cooling off period – typically 14 days, and within 45 days of opening and funding the account.

It comes after digital challenger Chase, part of US banking giant JPMorgan, confirmed earlier this month that it had gained 800,000 savers since it launched in September 2021.

However, it also announced that new applicants would be added to its waiting room where the onboarding process may take three to five weeks.

Anna Bowes, co-founder of Savings Champion, said: “I’m all for a bonus to encourage people to switch but the bottom line is to check that the product is appropriate and the amount you will earn will be as much as possible.

“RCI Bank is often very competitive but this feels a bit gimmicky. However, if you were planning to switch to it and you get the £25 bonus, then every little helps.

“We can’t carry out a like-for-like comparison of the Chase easy access account against RCI Bank’s 95-day notice account paying 1.55%. But if we look at the RCI 1 year fixed rate deal paying 2.3% AER/gross against the top paying one-year fixed savings deal from Kent Reliance at 2.61% AER/gross, then on a £10,000 deposit, you’d get £230 with RCI and £261 with Kent Reliance. Even after you factor in the £25 cashback from RCI, you’d have £255 which is a few pounds less than going direct to the top-payer.

“Savers need to check rates to see they can’t earn more elsewhere.”