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Co-op Bank trims Everyday Rewards offering

Paloma Kubiak
Written By:
Posted:
17/03/2020
Updated:
17/03/2020

The Co-operative Bank has trimmed back its Everyday Rewards scheme and will require customers to make double the direct debit transactions to earn the maximum monthly bonus.

Everyday Rewards currently allows customers to earn up to £5.50 a month which they can save for themselves or donate to a chosen charity.

But from June, customers will be able to earn up to £5 a month, 50p less than now.

While this doesn’t appear to be a big drop, to get the maximum customers will also need to double their debit card transactions each month from 30 to 60.

Everyday Rewards consist of two parts with customers currently receiving £4 a month reward for each month they qualify, and then 5p per debit card transaction (up to £1.50 each month).

However, from June, customers will receive a £2 a month reward for each month they qualify and 5p per transaction up to a maximum of 60 per month, so £3 on this part.

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A Co-op Bank spokesperson, said: “We continually review the products we offer to ensure they are good value for our customers and competitive in the wider market. As a result of reviewing our Everyday Rewards initiative we are making a change so that customers earn a higher portion of total reward amount by using their account on a daily basis to pay for goods and services. Although the overall maximum amount that can be earned through Everyday Rewards has reduced, our most loyal and active customers are still able to earn as much as £5 per month by meeting the criteria of the scheme.”

Everyday Rewards

The rewards scheme launched in 2016 and is available on the Co-op Bank’s Current Account, Everyday Extra Account, Current Account Plus, Privilege Account and Privilege Premier Account.

In order to be eligible, customers need to pay in a minimum of £800 each month, stay in credit (or within their agreed overdraft limit), log into online banking or the mobile banking app at least once a month, opt in for paperless statements and pay out at least four direct debits.

There are no changes to the eligibility criteria. If you don’t meet the criteria in one month, you won’t get the rewards for that particular month but you will still be able to earn them in the following months as long as you meet the criteria.

Is the Everyday Rewards worth it?

The changes from June mean for some customers it may be harder to achieve the maximum £5, particularly where a debit card isn’t used as often in the month.

The eligible Co-op accounts already come with a number of criteria for customers to meet, such as the four direct debits when many competitors require just two.

Last week Halifax announced details of its revamped rewards account available from June which will see customers choose between £5 a month or cinema passes or magazine subscriptions. However, it has a steeper £1,500 a month threshold and customers will also need to have a monthly balance of £5,000 or spend £500 a month on debit card.

Both RBS and NatWest are running a £175 current account switching incentive so the cash easily beats the Co-op Bank’s and Halifax’s offering. Standard Reward customers can earn £4 a month if they have at least two direct debits set up (minimum of £2 each) and an extra £1 a month can be earned with one mobile app log in. This means the total standard Reward customers can earn is £5 a month, before monthly account fees (£2 Reward, £10 Reward Silver, £20 Reward Platinum) are taken into consideration.

Santander recently announced that from 5 May, it will cap household bill cashback at £5 for its three cashback categories on the 1|2|3 current account, 1|2|3 Lite, Select and Private current accounts.

This means customers can earn a maximum £15 per month (before monthly account fees): 1% on water bills, council tax and Santander residential mortgage payments; 2% on gas, electricity, Santander home insurance and life insurance; and 3% on mobile and home phone bills, broadband and paid for TV packages. This is being scaled back from the current up to 3% cashback on selected bills and the interest rate will be cut from 1.5% to 1% on balances up to £20,000.