UK bank referral bonuses 2026: what you get from Monzo, Revolut and more

A refer-a-friend bonus is the cheapest customer a challenger bank can buy, which is exactly why the cash is real. The two offers we cover for 2026 are Monzo — £10 for you on a personal account, or a flat £50 on a business account, paid after a single card purchase — and Revolut, whose new joiners get a free account and any in-app welcome offer while the cash reward goes to the friend who invited them. Both run on FCA-authorised, PRA-regulated entities, and eligible balances held with Monzo or the Revolut Bank UK Ltd are covered by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme up to £120,000. For each we look at how much you actually receive, how little friction it takes to qualify and how protected the money is.

Checked 6 November 2026 by Bez, Editor-in-Chief: every reward below, against the brand's own terms.

Affiliate

MonzoBanking
£10 personal · £50 business
The biggest two-sided upside in UK banking — £10 you actually keep, or £50 on Business, paid in minutes into a fully FSCS-protected account. The one we recommend first.
Claim reward at Monzo
RevolutBanking
Free account and travel card
You get a free Revolut account and travel card in minutes, plus any welcome offer the app shows you. The October 2026 campaign pays its cash reward to the friend who invited you, after four quick steps.
Claim reward at Revolut

What to look for here

Authorised by the FCA and PRA, with FSCS protection up to £120,000 on eligible deposits
A persistent, publicly documented refer-a-friend programme — not a one-off banner
The bonus is paid as spendable cash inside the app, never points or a loyalty tier
The qualifying action is something an ordinary customer would do anyway
No mandatory paid upgrade is required to unlock the headline figure

Today's switching cash, read from each bank's own page

UK bank bonuses ranked by what you get, September 2026

Every cash bonus a UK bank will pay you right now, highest first: switching bonuses, referral rewards and business-account bonuses in one list.

#	Bank	You get	Type	Qualifying step
1	HSBC Premier	£500	Switch bonus	Paid once a full switch lands, for new customers earning £100,000+ or bringing £100,000+ in savings or investments
2	Santander	£240	Switch bonus	Yours for switching to the Everyday Current Account and saving £200 in a Regular Saver
3	HSBC	£220	Switch bonus	Lands once a full switch with 2 Direct Debits completes inside 60 days, with £2,000 paid in and £500 spent on the card
4	first direct	£210	Switch bonus	£175 plus a £35 boost to 2 December 2026, paid after 45 days of switching, £1,000 in, 5 card payments and a digital-banking log-on
5	Lloyds	£200	Switch bonus	For moving at least 3 active Direct Debits into a Club Lloyds or Premier account — ends 9 December 2026
6	NatWest	£200	Switch bonus	For moving your current account into a NatWest Select or Reward account
7	Nationwide	£175	Switch bonus	Paid for a full switch into a Flex account plus £1,000 in and one card payment within 31 days
8	Tide	£100 each	Business referral	You and the friend who referred you both get £100 once £500 has gone through the Tide card in 3 months
9	Chase UK	£50 each	Referral	Both sides earn £50 when £1,000 is paid in within 30 days, using a code from a customer Chase has invited
10	Monzo Business	£50 each	Business referral	Earned through a referral link when your Monzo Business account is up and running
11	Lloyds	£30 each	Referral	Lands within 35 days of opening a qualifying current account through a friend's link
12	Monzo	£10	Referral	Your reward for opening a personal account through a referral link
13	Revolut	Free account + any in-app offer	Referral	ID check, top-up, physical card and card purchases on the invite link
14	Starling	Shown in the app	Referral	Starling's trial scheme, open to randomly selected customers since 5 March 2026

Every figure read from the bank's own page on 29–30 September 2026; each bank's terms apply.

Compare banking offers

Head-to-head

Monzo vs Revolut referral: which is worth more in 2026?

Best of

Bank switching offers UK 2026: the exact cash each bank pays you to switch

Best of

Best student bank account UK 2026: the sign-up rewards a student or first-time banker gets

Best of

Christmas refer a friend rewards 2026: every UK sign-up bonus side by side

Best of

Top UK referral codes 2026: the sign-up bonuses and exactly what you get

Verdict

Is the Monzo referral code worth it in 2026?

More banking verdicts

Revolut referral: is the code worth it in 2026, and how does it work?

Banking questions

Which UK bank has the biggest referral bonus in 2026?

Monzo has the biggest upside: a personal account lands £10, and a Business account £50, both after one card purchase, with no campaign clock and full FSCS-protected banking behind it. As a Revolut new joiner you get a free account and any in-app welcome offer; the campaign's cash reward goes to the friend who invited you.

Are UK bank referral bonuses taxable?

Cash paid for opening an account is usually miscellaneous income in HMRC's eyes. Most people stay inside the £1,000 trading allowance and have nothing to declare, but if you stack a large number of bonuses in one tax year it is worth checking with HMRC or an accountant.

Can I claim a bonus at more than one bank?

Yes. Nothing stops you holding accounts at Monzo, Revolut, Starling, Chase and others at the same time, and each brand pays its new-customer bonus once. What you cannot do is claim the same brand twice — anti-fraud systems flag a repeat sign-up even on a new email or number.