Chip

Chip is a savings and investing app rather than a bank. It says it has more than 400,000 users¹. The savings accounts you open through the Chip app are provided by ClearBank, a UK bank, and are opened in your own name with their own sort code and account number², so each one behaves like a normal savings account you could pay into from any bank. Chip itself does not take deposits³.

What that means in practice is that Chip sits between you and the institutions doing the holding. You use one app to move money into savings accounts, cash ISAs, a Stocks & Shares ISA, a general investment account and a personal pension, and Chip handles the administration, the transfers and the interface. The deposits end up at ClearBank, the investments are held with a custody firm, and the protection you get depends on which of those is holding your money at the time. This page explains each product, how the charges work, who can open an account, how to get help, and where the protection starts and stops.

What Chip offers: savings, ISAs, investing and a pension

Chip's range covers four savings accounts, a cash ISA, a Stocks & Shares ISA, a general investment account and a personal pension⁷. The savings side is the core of the app: the accounts are provided by ClearBank and opened in your name, so each one behaves like a normal savings account you could pay into from any bank². The investing side works differently: Chip's investment arm provides the Smart Cash ISA and the Chip Personal Pension⁷, while a separate ISA manager administers the Stocks & Shares ISA⁹.

The tax wrappers follow the standard UK rules. Individual Savings Accounts, or ISAs, are products that allow tax-free investment into cash, funds and equities¹⁰, and Chip offers access to both a Cash ISA and a Stocks & Shares ISA¹¹. Investment platforms generally let you hold investments inside tax-efficient wrappers such as ISAs and SIPPs alongside an ordinary trading account with no special tax benefits, sometimes called a general investment account¹², and Chip follows that pattern with its Stocks & Shares ISA and GIA¹³.

Chip also runs a personal pension, with funds managed by BlackRock, and describes itself as trusted by over 400,000 people¹⁴. There is a dedicated page explaining the Chip Personal Pension in detail. For background on each product type, see our guides to savings accounts, ISAs, investing and pensions.

Chip savings accounts: Instant Access, Easy Access and Prize Savings

Chip currently offers four savings accounts in one app: the Instant Access Account, the Easy Access Saver, the Prize Savings Account and the Smart Cash ISA⁸. The first three are the straightforward savings options, and all are powered by ClearBank².

The Chip Instant Access Account gives you unlimited access to your money whenever you need it, with deposits and withdrawals made instantly¹⁶. To open it, you download the Chip app from the App Store or Google Play, sign up, open the account on the Savings tab, connect your bank and make your first deposit by bank transfer¹⁶.

The Chip Easy Access Saver works on the same principle: instant withdrawals and deposits via bank transfer, with no limit to the amount you can move in one go¹⁷. The setup process is the same as for the Instant Access Account¹⁵. We have a separate page explaining the Chip Easy Access Account in more detail.

The Chip Prize Savings Account takes a different approach: instead of, or as well as, interest, deposits earn entries into a prize draw. Your money is FSCS protected, you can access it anytime, and the draw takes place within five working days after entries close, with winners' accounts credited within seven working days after the draw¹⁸. Opening it follows the same route: open the Chip app, tap the Savings tab, connect your bank and add at least £10 via bank transfer, debit card or from another Chip account¹⁸.

None of Chip's savings accounts penalise you for withdrawing your funds, and it is free to download the app, open and hold a savings account². While funds are in transit they are held in a Chip client money account with ClearBank². Chip also offers automatic saving features, where it analyses your connected bank account and moves small amounts across, and a Savings Plans feature in the profile tab, for which charges apply². For how savings accounts work generally, see our savings guide.

Chip ISAs: two cash ISAs and a Stocks & Shares ISA

Chip offers access to both a Cash ISA and a Stocks & Shares ISA¹¹. The cash ISA is provided by ClearBank, which also provides Chip's other savings products, and comes with instant deposits and withdrawals¹⁹. One version, the Smart Cash ISA, is provided by Chip's investment arm⁷, and Chip's terms state that the cash ISA on its current terms is only available to new customers who join from 16:00 on 3 March 2026¹⁹. If you opened one earlier, your account continues on the terms you signed up to.

Because the cash ISA is a savings account held with ClearBank, eligible deposits are protected under the Financial Services Compensation Scheme up to £120,000, counted together with your other Chip savings accounts at the same bank¹⁹. The tax treatment follows the normal ISA rules: returns are tax-free, and ISAs allow tax-free investment into cash, funds and equities¹⁰.

The Chip Stocks & Shares ISA is the investing wrapper. It is flexible, meaning you can withdraw and replace cash in the same tax year without it affecting your annual allowance¹¹. A separate ISA manager administers the Chip Stocks & Shares ISA²¹, and you do not pay any fees to that manager directly⁶. To open one, you download the app, sign up, select the Chip Stocks & Shares ISA on the Investing tab, then open your ISA and make your first investment²².

For the wider picture of how ISAs work, including the annual allowance and the different types, see our complete guide to ISAs.

Investing with Chip: Stocks & Shares ISA and general investment account

Beyond the ISA wrapper, Chip offers a general investment account, which lets you invest without the ISA's tax wrapper and without its annual allowance limit¹³. As with any investment platform, the choice is between holding investments inside a tax-efficient wrapper or in an ordinary trading account with no special tax benefits²³.

Within the Stocks & Shares ISA you choose from a curated do-it-yourself range of over 50 investment funds²². The standard warning applies, in Chip's own words:

That is the fundamental difference from the savings side: money in the ClearBank savings accounts is a deposit protected by the FSCS, while money in the investment accounts buys funds whose value can fall as well as rise, and the FSCS deposit protection does not cover investment losses. Chip's knowledge hub sets out risk, returns and investment strategies for anyone weighing this up²¹. Standard fund management fees apply on top of any platform charges¹³.

For background on how funds, platforms and wrappers work, see our investing guide.

How Chip's investing charges work: free plan or ChipX

Chip's investing charges come in two layers: what you pay Chip for the platform, and what the underlying funds charge for management. The platform side depends on which plan you are on. On the free investing plan you pay a percentage platform fee on the value of your investments; on the ChipX membership plan there are no platform fees, but you pay a membership fee instead, charged monthly or annually²⁴. Standard fund management charges apply whichever plan you are on¹³.

Chip has also run promotions offering no platform fees for an introductory period of 12 or more months for new investors⁹. The exact percentages and membership prices change, so check Chip's own pricing page for today's figures²⁵.

The practical question is which structure suits how much you hold and how you use the app. A percentage platform fee grows with the size of your portfolio, while a flat membership fee stays the same however much you invest, so the balance between the two depends on your own circumstances. Chip's knowledge hub explains how investment fees and costs work in general terms²⁴. Note that some app features outside investing, such as Savings Plans, carry their own charges².

Who can open a Chip account

Chip's savings accounts are open to people aged 18 or over who are UK tax residents, and the app is the only way to hold them¹. When you sign up, Chip asks for your name, phone number, date of birth and a UK address, and you may be required to provide some form of photo ID². Chip connects to your current account through an Open Banking provider called TrueLayer, which links your bank securely to the app².

A few restrictions apply to specific accounts and rates. The Boosted Easy Access promotional rate is limited to new customers, defined as someone who has never previously transacted in a Chip account and has no other promotional rates applied on any Chip products¹⁷. Chip+1, an older savings account, is a legacy product that is no longer open to new customers or deposits⁶. Promotions have their own eligibility rules on top: Chip's terms for one deposit promotion, for example, required customers to be UK residents aged 18 or over, to be using a recent version of the app, and to have opened their first eligible account within a stated window²⁶.

Using Chip: the app, security and support

Everything at Chip happens in the app, available on the App Store and Google Play. As a security layer, all Chip users need to create a 6-digit PIN to access the app, and once the PIN is created you can set up biometric logins using your fingerprint or FaceID for faster access²⁷. Chip states that every connection is secured with bank-grade encryption and built on Open Banking technology, with fraud monitoring in place¹⁴.

On the fraud side, Chip is a member of the Credit Industry Fraud Avoidance System (CIFAS), which it describes as the UK's leading fraud-prevention service²⁷. Chip says it will contact you mainly via email, in-app messaging or push notifications, and that SMS messages will only ever tell you to log onto the app and will never contain links²⁷. That last point is worth remembering: a text message that claims to be from Chip but contains a link to click is not behaving the way Chip says it behaves. You cannot send money to anyone else directly from the Chip app, and you can only withdraw to your own bank account²⁷.

The wider payments system adds further protections. Confirmation of Payee, the name-checking service used when you transfer money, is described by the Payment Systems Regulator as one important tool for preventing Authorised Push Payment scams²⁸, and further measures to improve intelligence sharing for scam detection and prevention have been consulted on²⁹. If you are unsure whether a message is genuine, our scams and fraud guide explains how to check and what to do.

Chip is not a bank: how your money is held and protected

Chip is not a bank³. It is authorised by the FCA as a payment institution, and all authorised payment institutions must safeguard your money⁶. What this means is a two-stage arrangement: while funds are in transit, they are held in a Chip client money account with ClearBank², and once processed they sit in savings accounts opened in your name at ClearBank².

The protection differs at each stage. Pending transactions, which cover automatic saves, recurring deposits and card payments, normally take one to two working days to process². During that time, usually a period of one to three working days, your money is held in a safeguarded client money account, and Chip states that because the account is with a UK approved bank, your pending transaction money is also eligible for FSCS cover, following changes introduced in April 2023⁶. Chip notes that it may take up to three months for the FSCS to pay compensation for deposits held in safeguarded accounts following a bank failure⁶.

Once your money lands in a savings account, the position is clearer. Eligible deposits are protected by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme up to £120,000 per customer, per bank⁶. Because the Chip Cash ISA, Instant Access Account, Easy Access Saver and Prize Savings Account are all provided by ClearBank, deposits across all of them, and any other account you hold with ClearBank, count together towards that single £120,000 limit¹⁹. Two things sit outside it: prize balances are not covered by the FSCS while held as a prize balance²⁶, and any bonus accrued on the legacy Chip+1 account is not covered either⁶. Investments are a different matter again: their value can fall, and FSCS deposit protection does not cover market losses.

For the wider picture of compensation schemes and what they cover, see our consumer protection guide.

Chip does not give financial or tax advice

Chip states plainly that it does not provide tax advice, that tax treatment depends on individual circumstances and may be subject to change in the future, and that it does not offer financial advice, so nothing it presents should be considered a personal recommendation²¹. The same applies to the pension: Chip does not provide financial advice, and if you are unsure what pension options are right for you, it suggests speaking to a financial adviser¹⁴.

This matters because the app presents products alongside general information, and it can be easy to read that as guidance tailored to you. It is not. Chip has said it is exploring more ways to guide customers and one day hopes to offer financial advice⁷, but as things stand the information in the app is generic. For free, impartial help with money decisions, MoneyHelper is the government-backed service, and our tax guide explains the rules that affect savings and investment income.

Complaints: how Chip handles them and when to go to the Ombudsman

Chip handles complaints through email at hello@getchip.uk, by post, or through its live chat, which is found under the profile tab in the app³⁰. If your complaint is actually about another company rather than Chip or its services, Chip will write to that firm explaining the complaint is theirs, send them a copy of your original complaint, and give you the other firm's contact details³⁰.

Chip handles all complaints in line with the FCA's Dispute Resolution: Complaints rules, known as DISP³⁰. Its published process is:

1. Chip acknowledges your complaint within three working days³⁰.
2. It investigates and issues a final response. For issues concerning payments, such as a withdrawal or deposit, the final response comes within 15 business days, extendable to 35 business days in exceptional circumstances. For general service issues or complaints specific to the investment platform, the aim is a final response within eight weeks, or 56 calendar days³⁰.
3. The final response sets out a summary of your complaint, the results of the investigation, whether the complaint was upheld, partially upheld or not upheld with clear reasons, and any offer of redress³⁰.

If you are unhappy with Chip's final decision, or it has not given you a final response within the relevant timeframe, you have the right to refer your complaint to the Financial Ombudsman Service³⁰. The ombudsman's own guidance is the same on this point: complain to the company first, and if it does not send you a final response letter within eight weeks, or you are unhappy with its response, you can bring the complaint to the ombudsman³¹. Once you do, your case is assigned to a case handler who will get in touch when they start to investigate, and who may ask you for more information to help understand what happened³². Complaining to the ombudsman is free.