The UK supermarket offers attractive rewards to shoppers, with all of the flexibility of most high-street banks.
Sainsbury’s Bank is the first supermarket bank in the UK. It offers a wide range of award-winning financial products with attractive rewards to Sainsbury’s shoppers.
Read on to find out more about Sainsbury’s Bank, and whether it might be suited to your banking needs.
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A bit more about Sainsbury’s Bank
Sainsbury’s Bank opened in 1997, as a joint venture with Bank of Scotland. In 2014, however, Sainsbury’s took 100% ownership of the bank, with the supermarket now offering financial services to over 1.8 million UK customers.
Take a look at some of our tables and guides to compare Sainsbury’s to the other leading banks in the UK.
What savings accounts does Sainsbury’s offer?
Sainsbury’s currently offers several different kinds of savings accounts:
Defined Access Saver
- Variable interest rate on balances of £1 – £2,000,000
- Open your account with just £1
- Save up to £2,000,000
- Manage your account 24/7 with online banking
eSaver Special
- Variable interest rate on balances of £1 – £500,000
- Open your account with just £1
- Unlimited withdrawals
- Manage your account 24/7 with online banking
Extra Saver
- Variable interest rate on balances of £1 – £500,000
- Open your account with just £1
- Save up to £500,000
- No withdrawal restrictions
- Manage your account 24/7 with online banking
Cash ISA
- Tax-free interest (variable) on balances of over £500
- Interest from Cash ISA does not count towards your Personal Savings Allowance
- Open your ISA with just £1
- Deposit your full annual ISA allowance: up to £20,000
- Transfer in your ISA savings held elsewhere
- Manage your account 24/7 with online banking
Fixed Rate Saver
- Fixed interest rate for 1 – 5 years
- Deposit between £5,000 and £1,000,000 within 30 days of opening account
- Choose between paid monthly or annual interest
- Manage your account 24/7 with online banking
Fixed Rate Cash ISA
- Fixed interest rate for 1 – 5 years
- Deposit between £5,000 and £2,000,000 within 30 days of opening your account
- Tax free savings
- Manage your account 24/7 with online banking
What is a 'cash ISA'?
A cash ISA is a savings account where you don’t pay tax on the interest you earn. That’s it! The tax-free bit is the only real difference.
Does Sainsbury’s offer online or mobile banking?
Sainsbury’s offers online banking through its website, but does not have a dedicated mobile app.
Here are some of the basic features of Sainsbury’s online banking service:
- Check balances for any type of account.
- Transfer money between accounts
- Pay bills and people
How do I decide which account is for me?
You need to work out what it is you need from your bank account. Are you looking to put a bit of money away each month? Do you want to put some money away and restrict access to it? Are you after rewards or hoping to maximise interest?
You need to work out what you need before comparing the different offers available for certain types of bank account. Once you’ve done that, useful guidelines to compare include:
- Interest rates
- Fees (if there are any)
- Access to cash (if you need quick access for instance)
- Rewards and loyalty schemes (if you’re into the add-ons or switching bonuses)
What are the benefits and drawbacks of banking with Sainsbury’s?
The benefits
- Loyalty rewards. If you’re a regular Sainsbury’s shopper, it offers you a variety of attractive rewards.
- Online Banking. Your Sainsbury’s savings account can be accessed online through the website.
- Flexibility.Sainsbury’s variety of accounts offers flexible options no matter what kind of savings you’re looking for.
- Effortless and accessible. You can open an Sainsbury’s savings account in just a few minutes.
- FSCS protection. With Sainsbury’s you have peace of mind that comes from knowing your money is protected up to a total of £85,000 by the UK’s deposit guarantee scheme.
The drawbacks
- Limited high street presence. If you like the assurance of face-to-face customer service, Sainsbury’s does have physical branches you can go to, but they are limited to just a few branches.