Santander

Santander is one of the UK's largest banks, offering the full range of personal banking products: current accounts, savings, mortgages, credit cards, loans, insurance, pensions and investments. Its best-known current account is the Santander Edge, which pays cashback on household spending, and it also sells accounts under the Cahoot brand¹. On the lending side it is a major mortgage lender, with deals for people buying a home, remortgaging or moving from another lender².

Money you hold with Santander is protected by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) up to £120,000 per customer, in total across all the accounts you hold with the bank, including Cahoot³. Santander appears on the Bank of England's list of UK banks allowed to accept deposits⁴.

Santander is in the middle of two big changes that affect customers. It is closing branches, with 40 closures scheduled in 2026 and four in 2027⁵, and it has committed to no further Santander UK or TSB branch closures before 2028 following its takeover of TSB. Its main customer support line is 0800 313 4321⁶, and in the first half of 2026 it opened 57,274 banking and credit card complaints⁷.

Santander accounts and products: current accounts, savings, mortgages and more

Santander's current account range is built around the Edge family: Santander Edge, Santander Edge Up and Santander Edge Explorer, each with cashback on everyday spending, plus the fee-free Santander Edge Student account for students⁸. The Edge account is marketed on earning cashback on spending and saving for tomorrow¹. Alongside these sit the 1|2|3 Mini account for children and the Basic Current Account, which has no monthly fee and is aimed at people who may not qualify for a standard account⁸. The largest banks, including Santander, are required to offer fee-free basic bank accounts⁹.

For children, the 1|2|3 Mini Current Account has no monthly fee and comes with a £50 opening offer for eligible accounts, with only one payment made per eligible account and the offer subject to withdrawal at any time¹⁰. The Basic Current Account is open to applicants aged 16 or older, with no monthly account fee, though fees may apply for cash withdrawals outside the UK or purchases in currencies other than pounds¹¹.

In savings, Santander offers a Regular Saver, which requires you to hold a Santander current account (but not a 1|2|3 Mini account held in trust). You can open and manage it on the website, in Mobile or Online Banking, in branch or over the phone, and you can take money out at any time, but only by moving it to your Santander current account¹². Its named savings products include the Santander First Home Saver, aimed at people building a deposit. For children's long-term saving there is the Santander Junior ISA. General guidance on how savings accounts work is in our savings guide, and on ISAs.

Santander is also a significant mortgage lender², covered in the next section, and it issues credit cards, including the Santander All in One, the Santander Everyday Long Term Balance Transfer and the Santander World Elite Mastercard. See our credit cards guide for how these products work. It also offers personal loans, insurance, and pensions including the Santander Personal Pension, alongside our guides to loans, insurance, pensions and investing. Where it sells insurance it does not underwrite itself, the policy documents name the insurer providing the cover.

Santander mortgages: deposits, fees and what happens when a deal ends

Santander's mortgages come with two main fees to understand. The account fee covers managing your mortgage account and closing it when the mortgage ends. It is payable on completion, but you can defer it until the end of the mortgage, and you pay the same amount either way¹³. The product fee can also be deferred, but if it is added to your mortgage you pay interest on it unless it is repaid within 21 days of completing¹⁴.

On most of its mortgage deals, Santander will pay your standard legal fees, though you have to pay them back if you pay off your mortgage early¹⁵. When remortgaging to Santander, it says the process could still take around 6 to 8 weeks depending on the conveyancer and lender you choose, and the best time to start thinking about remortgaging is usually 3 to 6 months before your current fixed or tracker rate ends¹⁵. Existing borrowers can make regular or one-off overpayments, including online using a debit card in their own name or a Santander current or savings account¹⁶.

For changes outside the Mortgage Charter, Santander states there is currently no fee, and you can change your method of repayment and mortgage term. But it warns that if you make a change you may not be able to go back to your original terms in the future, and any change is subject to an affordability check and its lending policy at the time¹⁷. Applicants for its mortgages must be 18 or over¹⁵. Our mortgages guide and home buying guide explain deposits, loan-to-value and the whole process.

Santander overdrafts: how charges and repeat-use support work

Santander's current accounts charge no unarranged overdraft interest and charges⁸. An overdraft must be paid back when Santander asks you to, in line with its General Terms and Conditions¹⁸. Going over your arranged overdraft limit is called an unarranged overdraft, which Santander warns can impact your credit file and make it harder to get credit in future¹⁹.

Santander's documents disagree on the cost of arranged overdrafts on its main accounts: one support article gives £14.01 and another gives £28.12 for the same accounts, so check the current figure with Santander directly before relying on either. What is clear is how the charges work: arranged overdrafts are charged as interest on the balance, and there are no separate fees for dipping into an unarranged overdraft⁸.

If your account is mostly or always overdrawn, Santander classes this as repeat overdraft use. It monitors how customers use their overdrafts and may contact you with options and tips. In some cases it might take steps to help you pay back the balance in full, or reduce the limit or remove the overdraft¹⁹. The support options it describes are:

• Repayment plan: an agreement to make regular payments to repay an unarranged overdraft balance, with interest and fees suspended during the agreement¹⁸.
• Monthly Reducing Overdraft: a plan to gradually pay off the overdraft balance while still using the account, with interest charges possibly put on hold for a while¹⁹.
• Paydown: a monthly repayment amount which clears the overdraft, with the account blocked so it cannot be used¹⁹.
• Breathing space: time to contact a third party to develop a repayment plan, with interest suspended during this time¹⁹.

Support options are tailored to individual circumstances once an affordability assessment has been done¹⁹. Free, independent debt help is available from charities listed in our debt guide, and our credit scores guide explains how arrangements appear to lenders.

Who can open a Santander account

Each account has its own eligibility rules. The Basic Current Account is open from age 16, with no monthly fee, but you cannot already have a Basic Current Account or more than one other current account with Santander¹¹. The Edge Student account has no monthly fee⁸. Mortgage applicants must be 18 or over¹⁵.

For children, the 1|2|3 Mini Current Account has specific rules. Accounts cannot be opened in trust for children aged 13 or over. For children under 13, the account must be opened in trust and managed by an adult trustee who is aged 18 or over, has parental responsibility for the child and holds a Santander personal current account¹⁰. The Regular Saver requires a Santander current account, but not a 1|2|3 Mini account held in trust¹².

If you move abroad, the position depends on the account. Santander states that fees may apply on the Basic Current Account if you withdraw cash from outside the UK or make purchases in any currency other than pounds¹¹. Our international money guide covers banking abroad in more detail. Santander may also close a current account if the balance is zero and it has not been used for 12 months, and it may make a long-inactive account dormant to reduce the risk of fraud, contacting the customer first²⁰.

Banking with Santander: app, online, phone and branches

Santander's mobile app is called Santander Mobile Banking and is available from the iOS App Store or the Google Play Store²¹. If you already have Online Banking, you can download the app and log on using the same details, and if the app is unavailable you can use Online Banking with the same login details²². You can also link most Santander debit and credit cards to a smartphone or device to make cashless payments²³. To use the app you need to register for Online Banking, which you can do with a debit or credit card number, a sort code and account number, or a mortgage account number²⁴.

Online Banking can be accessed on a computer, tablet or smartphone²¹. Through Mobile and Online Banking you can make payments and transfers, see statements, update personal details and more. The app includes Sandi, Santander's digital assistant, which provides chat help, and you can cancel the Online and Mobile Banking service at any time by calling or writing to Santander's Digital Banking Department²⁴. Complaints about the operation of the app should be directed to Santander rather than the relevant app store²⁴.

By phone, the main customer support team is on 0800 313 4321, open Monday to Sunday, 8am to 6pm²⁵. Santander's documents give different Saturday opening hours for its complaints team, one saying 9am to 4pm and another 9am to 2pm, so check its website for current hours. In branches, you can use cash machines to take out cash, pay in cash or cheques and check your balance, open an account (for which you need to book a branch appointment) and get help with Mobile and Online Banking²⁶. Many branches also have accessibility features such as automatic doors, low-level counters and talking cash machines²⁶.

All Santander personal customers with a current account, or a savings account with a cash card, can use Post Office branches for cash withdrawals, cash deposits, balance enquiries and cheque deposits²⁷. This matters most where a local branch has closed, and it is the main everyday alternative to branch banking.

Santander branch closures and access to cash

Santander has 40 branch closures scheduled for 2026 and four for 2027, according to Which?'s tracking of announced closures⁵. In Northern Ireland, the Consumer Council reports four more Santander branches due to close in 2026²⁸. Closures are not unique to Santander: banks across the UK are shrinking their branch networks as customers move to app and online banking.

The commitment that matters for customers is Santander's statement that it will not make any further Santander UK or TSB branch closures before 2028²⁶. That means the closures already announced are expected to go ahead, but no new ones should be announced before 2028.

When a branch closes, options include the Mobile Banking app, Online Banking, phone banking and the Post Office network. Our consumer protection guide explains the rules on branch closures and access to cash, including what banks must consider before closing the last branch in a town.

What Santander's takeover of TSB means for customers

Santander has agreed to take over TSB, and the practical effect for customers so far is a promise about branches: Santander states it will not make any further Santander UK or TSB branch closures before 2028²⁶. TSB had already closed eight branches in 2025 before the takeover⁵. For now, both brands continue to operate, and TSB customers' accounts, cards and login details are unchanged.

For Santander customers, the takeover does not change day-to-day banking. In Which?'s latest survey of banking customers, published in September 2024, Santander received a customer score of 70%, just above HSBC, TSB and Virgin Money²⁹. One gap in its digital service: as of February 2025, Santander and TSB were among the banks not offering push notification alerts on card transactions, which most banks now provide³⁰.

The two banks have crossed paths before. Santander UK's earlier attempt to buy a branch network, the purchase of RBS branches, collapsed in October 2012, attributed to delays in finalising the deal and incompatibility between the two banks' IT systems, a reminder that large bank integrations can be slow and complicated. Customers of either bank do not need to do anything while the takeover completes, but should watch for communications about changes to terms, accounts or branch networks.

Scams and security: how Santander protects your account

Santander's clearest security rule is about one-time passcodes. It states it will never contact you and ask for account details, personal information, bank details or a one-time passcode (OTP), or ask you to click on links or attachments³¹. Its guidance is blunt:

If someone calls claiming to be from Santander, the bank or the police and asks for a passcode, PIN or banking password, it is a scam. Hang up and call Santander on the number on its website or your card.

Santander adds a second layer of authentication to the log-in journey to make it more secure, and lets you turn on multi-factor authentication on the Mobile Banking app and digital wallet using biometrics or passcodes. iPhone users can enable Stolen Device Protection, which can block use of saved passwords, payment details and e-wallets when the device is not at work or home⁶. In the app, you can block or freeze a lost or stolen card and set transaction limits to restrict contactless and digital wallet transactions⁶.

If your card is lost or stolen, you are protected against fraud if you let Santander know as soon as you realise and you have taken proper precautions to keep your card and security details safe. You can freeze and unfreeze debit and credit cards in the Mobile Banking app or Online Banking, or report a card in the app by tapping More options, Manage cards, then Report card. If you need to access money at a branch before a new card arrives, take another Santander card or valid photo ID such as a passport³². Online transactions are covered by Santander's Online and Mobile Banking Commitment, and it offers the free Trusteer Rapport software from IBM to protect your data online³³.

Santander also advises never making bank transactions or sharing personal information on HTTP sites, only on secure HTTPS pages³¹. Our scams and fraud guide covers the main scam types and what to do if you have paid a scammer.

Santander complaints: how to complain and its record

Santander publishes its complaint numbers every six months, covering the previous half year⁷. For the period 1 January to 30 June 2026, it opened 57,274 banking and credit card complaints and closed 56,578, a rate of 2.4 per 1,000 accounts. Of those closed, 54% were closed within three days and 46% within eight weeks, and 47% were upheld in the customer's favour, with the main cause being general admin and customer service issues⁷.

Figures for 1 January to 30 June 2026⁷. Home Finance complaints ran at 4.1 per 1,000 balances outstanding, with 68% closed within three days and the main cause being errors or not following instructions⁷.

To complain, contact Santander by phone, in branch or online. If you are unhappy with its final response, or if eight weeks pass without one, you can take the complaint to the Financial Ombudsman Service for a free, independent review. The ombudsman publishes its own data on firms: in the first half of 2024 it recorded 1,395 new cases about Santander Consumer (UK) plc, the group's motor finance arm³⁴.

FSCS protection: how your Santander savings are covered

Money you hold with Santander is protected by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme up to £120,000 per customer, in total across all accounts³. The limit applies to the bank, not to each account: balances in a current account, savings accounts and Cahoot accounts all count together towards the same £120,000, because deposits taken under the Santander name, as well as cahoot, Santander Business and Santander Corporate and Commercial, are all held with the same bank³.

The £120,000 FSCS limit applies to eligible deposits held in the UK⁴. Santander's history includes takeovers of earlier building societies: its previous names include Abbey National and Bradford and Bingley, whose customers it took over in earlier years⁴.

If Santander failed, the FSCS would repay eligible deposits automatically or through a claims process, usually within seven days under its service standards. Joint accounts count as two customers, so a joint account is covered up to £240,000. Deposits in Santander's international accounts are held with a different entity and may have different protection: check the FSCS website for the current position. Our consumer protection guide explains the scheme in full.