Is Santander Boosts Worth It? Honest Review & Cashback Rates

If you’re a Santander customer, you may have noticed something called Santander Boosts inside your banking app.

It promises cashback at popular retailers just for shopping as normal. Sounds good in theory… but is Santander Boosts actually worth using, or is it just another cashback scheme that isn’t really worth your time?

Santander launched Boosts in November 2022, replacing its old Retailer Offers programme. While the new system looks more modern, many customers feel it isn’t quite as generous as what came before.

Here’s how Santander Boosts works, what kind of cashback you can expect and whether it’s actually worth bothering with.

What is Santander Boosts?

Santander Boosts is a cashback rewards platform available to Santander debit and credit card holders.

It allows you to earn cashback when shopping at selected retailers after clicking through the Boosts platform.

Typical cashback rates are usually between 1% and 10%, depending on the retailer and the promotion running at the time.

It’s available to customers with most Santander accounts, including:

• Santander current accounts
• Santander debit cards
• Santander credit cards

It’s also worth noting that Santander Boosts is separate from account cashback offered on accounts such as Santander Edge or Edge Up. Boosts is an additional rewards platform rather than part of your account benefits.

How Does Santander Boosts Work?

If you’re wondering how Santander Boosts works, the process is fairly straightforward.

1. Sign up for Santander Boosts

Most customers can register directly through the Santander mobile banking app.

Just go to:

Menu → Santander Boosts

You’ll then create login details and activate your account.

2. Link your Santander card

Next, you’ll link your Santander debit or credit card.

Santander verifies the card by sending a £0.00 authorisation transaction, which you confirm through your banking app.

Usually only the primary cardholder on a credit card account can access Boosts.

3. Browse available offers

Once you’re signed in, you’ll see a list of retailers offering cashback.

These offers are personalised, so the stores you see may differ from other Santander customers.

4. Click through to the retailer

To activate the cashback, you must click the retailer link inside Santander Boosts before making your purchase.

This is important because the system uses tracking cookies, similar to cashback sites like TopCashback.

5. Receive your cashback

Once your purchase is confirmed, the cashback is paid directly back to your Santander debit or credit card.

Unlike cashback sites, you don’t need to manually withdraw the money.

Santander Boosts Retailers List

The Santander Boosts retailers list changes regularly, but these are some of the brands that frequently appear.

Examples include:

• Adidas
• Lego
• Argos
• Boots
• eBay
• The Entertainer
• Dorothy Perkins

Cashback rates change frequently, so the percentages you see inside Boosts may vary week to week.

Santander Boosts vs TopCashback and Quidco

To see how competitive Santander Boosts actually is, here’s an example comparison of cashback rates.

These figures are examples at the time of writing, as cashback rates change regularly.

As you can see, TopCashback usually offers higher rates, although it’s always worth checking all platforms before making a purchase.

If you’re not already using cashback sites, take a look at some of the 👉 best cashback sites in the UK.

Why Santander Boosts Isn’t As Good As Retailer Offers

Before Boosts existed, Santander ran a scheme called Retailer Offers.

This worked differently — and in my opinion it was much better.

With Retailer Offers, you simply activated an offer inside the banking app. After that, the cashback would automatically trigger whenever you used your Santander card at that retailer.

The big advantage was that you could combine the cashback with other cashback sites like:

👉 TopCashback
👉 Quidco

That meant you could sometimes get double cashback on the same purchase.

Unfortunately, Santander Boosts uses a click-through tracking system, which means you can’t stack cashback in the same way.

Occasional “Spend Boost” Offers

Every now and then Santander sends out targeted spend offers.

For example, I’ve previously had offers like:

• £5 back when you spend £50 at Argos
• £3 back on a £20 Costa Coffee spend
• Free Greggs or Costa drinks

These don’t appear very often — I probably see one every year or two — but when they do they can actually be better than normal cashback sites.

For example:

£5 back on £50 works out at 10% cashback, which is higher than most cashback platforms.

So while Boosts isn’t something I check regularly, it can occasionally be worth using when these offers appear. And whenever I’ve had one of these offers, I’ve been sent an email beforehand, so I would say it’s best to keep notifications on.

Is Santander Boosts Free?

Yes — Santander Boosts is completely free to use.

The only requirement is that you have a Santander debit or credit card linked to your account.

Santander Boosts Login

You can access Santander Boosts through the Santander mobile banking app.

Simply log in and navigate to:

Menu → Santander Boosts

Once registered, you can browse offers and activate cashback deals directly from there.

Is Santander Boosts Worth It?

So, is Santander Boosts worth it?

Honestly, it’s not as good as Santander’s old Retailer Offers scheme.

The biggest drawback is that you can’t stack the cashback with other cashback sites anymore.

But that doesn’t mean it’s completely useless.

Boosts can still be worth checking because:

✔ It’s completely free
✔ Cashback goes straight back to your card
✔ Occasionally the rates beat other cashback sites
✔ Some targeted spend offers can be very good

Personally, I tend to check TopCashback first, then Santander Boosts just in case Santander happens to be offering a better deal.

If you’re already a Santander customer, it only takes a minute to sign up — so there’s really no downside.

Or take a look at the 👉 best cashback sites in the UK if you want to earn cashback on almost every online purchase.

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