Santander Boosts was introduced in late 2022 to take over from the outgoing Santander Retailer Offers – the old offer scheme that was available to Santander customers. We thought it would be a good idea to dedicate this article to looking at this new offer to establish who can sign up to it, how it works, and ultimately, whether Santander Boosts is worth signing up to.
TLDR: Santander Boosts Verdict
Santander Boosts is certainly worth signing up to if you are a Santander customer, but you may find that there are some cashback sites that offer a higher cashback rate for certain retailers.
The offers do vary and change all of the time, which keeps it interesting, and the prize draws do appeal as well – you don’t get that with other cashback services. So I would recommend signing up, but it’s always best to shop around to get the best deals when you are making a large purchase.
What is Santander Boosts?
Santander Boosts is a rewards service offered by Santander to their customers. It is essentially a cashback scheme, which means that you can select from a number of retailers that they have chosen.
If you click on the links on the Santander Boosts website and make a purchase with any of these retailers, you will receive cash back (normally around 0.5 – 5% of the value of the purchase) directly into your Santander account.
This isn’t a new concept – in fact there are whole companies dedicated to offering this kind of service, but it should be seen as a bonus system for Santander customers – and another way to save money on purchases.
With Santander Boosts you also get the opportunity to enter prize draws or get tailor-made offers when you sign up, so you can win products from some of your favourite retailers. Different vouchers are made up from time to time, giving you discounts on specific products or product types (e.g. 10% off all homeware at a specific retailer).
Who can sign up to Santander Boosts?
There are three main criteria for people to be eligible for Santander Boosts:
- You’ll need to have a debit card or a credit card with Santander. This will need to be the card that you use for your payment as well, and the cashback will be paid into the account that the card is linked to.
- You must also be signed up for Online and Mobile banking with Santander. You’ll be able to access the Santander Boost homepage through your online banking account, so this needs to be all set up first. To be honest, most account holders will already have this.
- You need to be over 18 for this offer. Which, again, most of the people that have a full online banking account will be.
Unfortunately, you are not able to sign up for Santander Boosts if you only have a business account with them – it needs to be a personal account. There are plenty of other cash back perks for business accounts though, just not with Santander.
How do you sign up to Santander Boosts?
Signing up for Santander Boosts is relatively straightforward, although it is more complicated than the Retailers Offers that it has replaced, which you were automatically signed up for just for having the right type of account.
On Santander Boosts, you need to log into your online or mobile banking account and navigate your way to the Santander Boosts area.
For Mobile Banking, you’ll find this under the ‘More’ button in the bottom right-hand corner of the main page.
For Online Banking, you should be able to see the ‘Santander Boosts’ button in the top right-hand corner of the page when you have logged on – simply click that and you will be directed to the right page.
From there it is self-explanatory – you just need to follow the instructions and enter your details. It’s a little frustrating that you need to create a new password for this feature – it seems like there must be a way to just link this to your online account, without having to create a new login. But that’s a very minor point.
When you sign up, you may need to authorise a payment of £0.00, so it’s important to have your phone with you if you are using a different device to register on so that you can do this in the required amount of time.
That’s all there is to it though, it shouldn’t take more than five minutes and it’s incredibly simple.
Which retailers are on Santander Boosts?
One of the big appeals of Santander Boosts is the sheer volume of retailers that you can get cashback with. They are separated into eleven different categories, plus Santander’s own products. Let’s take a quick look at each one. I should note here that the specific companies that are on Santander Boosts change all the time, but I have listed some here to give you a flavour of what could be on offer.
Auto
This section covers everything from car repairs to travel. You can book parking spaces, get new tyres, rent a car or buy new car parts from companies such as Travel Supermarket, Formula One Autocentre, Halfords and Avis, with cashback from around 2.55% up to a massive 12%.
Babies & Kids
There are plenty of choices for parents here, whether you are an expectant parent, or whether you are looking for things to keep older children entertained. Get your new pram from Mamas & Papas, get those first educational toys from the Early Learning Centre or excite your kids with presents from Nintendo and Disney.
Health & Beauty
From gym equipment to perfume and skincare – there are loads of health and beauty companies offering cashback through Santander Boosts. Check out Yves Saint Lauren, Holland & Barrett and Molton Brown amongst many others.
Entertainment
Whether you are after books from Waterstones, tickets from Ticketmaster or trips to classic tourist attractions like Madame Tussauds and the Sea Life Aquarium – don’t buy anything without checking to see if they are on Santander Boosts first! You could be saving money!
Fashion
From Paul Smith to Saltrock, Ben Sherman to Timberland – whatever your style, you will find an outlet here for you to save some money. You can even get your next fancy dress outfit from fancydress.com!
Tech
Save money on printer cartridges, kettles, computer games, laptops, phones, hoovers, washing machines, ovens, drones – if you can plug it in, you can find it in this section!
Gifts
So many great options here, like Interflora if you’re buying flowers, Cardfactory, Funky Pigeon and Moonpig for greetings cards, Red Letter Days for experience gifts and so much more.
Dining
Another varied selection here – from restaurants like Harvester and Toby Carvery, to Scotch whisky and beer on delivery, and loads of takeaway outlets like Dominoes and Yo Sushi. Something for everyone.
Sports
You’ll find bikes, golf trips, camping and hiking equipment, football tickets and so much more here. There are also prize draws to win tickets to various sporting events.
Travel
Holidays, flights, cottages, ferry trips, theme park trips, airport parking – whatever you need for the perfect break, you’ll be able to get cashback on it here. Travelodge, Emirates, lastminute.com, British Airways and Easyjet are all on here, amongst loads more.
Home & Garden
Retailers like Currys, Oliver Bonas, Simba, Dulux and Bodum are just some of the huge names that you can earn cashback here, whilst making your home that little bit more special.
Is Santander Boosts better than Retailers Offers?
The big question that Santander customers have been asking is this – is Santander Boosts actually better than Retailers Offers which it replaced?
To be honest, I don’t think it is better. It’s a bit more fiddly to set up, and you are slightly more limited with how you can earn cashback – previously you could just select the shops you would be using once and then you’d pick up cashback every time you spent there. Now you have to follow the link from Santander Boosts for every single transaction.
Having said that, the list of possible retailers is much bigger now, so there are more ways in which you can earn cashback, which is certainly a huge plus point.
Santander Boosts Verdict
While I don’t think that Santander Boosts is quite as good as the old Retailers Offers scheme, it is still a nice bonus if you are a Santander customer.
The biggest appeal is the sheer number of offers and retailers that are part of the scheme – if you are buying anything online, you should be able to find an outlet that is part of Santander Boosts, and that presents you with an opportunity to save some money. As this is a free service available to all Santander customers (over 18) with an personal online bank account, then you’d be silly not to sign up. It’s a great way to save little bits of money here and there.
The other great thing is that it can provide inspiration if you are struggling to think of a present for someone – there is so much choice there, that you can save time as well as money.
My advice is simple – sign up to Santander Boosts and before you buy anything online, check to see if you can be saving money. I think you will be surprised at how useful it turns out to be.