Chase Bank Review - Accounts, Cards, Fees and More

Chase UK® offers current accounts and savings accounts for personal customers, with a UK based support team and some great reward and interest earning opportunities. However, Chase accounts don’t have the same features or functionality as some UK bank accounts do, so you’ll want to read this Chase review (UK) before you sign up. We’ll look at the Chase features you can access, and the fees you’ll pay, as well as interest and cashback earning options for both account types.

One important thing to note about Chase is that you can’t pay in or out of an account from outside of the UK. If you need to send an international transfer you’ll need another solution - like non-bank alternative, Wise With Wise you can send to 160 countries, with low fees and the mid-market exchange rate. More on that later. For now, on with the Chase bank account review.

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What is Chase Bank UK - An overview

Before we get into our Chase current account review and Chase savings account review in detail, let’s look at Chase UK¹ overall. Chase is a US based bank which already serves over 56 million digital customers, which recently expanded its services to the UK. Chase has 2 account products at present in the UK - a current account and a savings account.

Chase UK is London based, and operates service support from Edinburgh. All services are offered on a self-serve model through an intuitive app and desktop site. Chase has a focus on rewards and interest earning opportunities, which you’ll see as a feature across both account types. Chase also has a social mission, through the Chase Rewarding Futures programme, which offers funds to support childhood literacy and library provisions in the UK.

Chase Bank accounts, cards and fees

At present Chase UK has only 2 account products - a current account with a linked Chase card, and a savings account. Let’s walk through them one by one looking at the features and benefits of each.

Chase Bank UK current account

You can open a Chase current account² online or in the Chase app, free of charge and get a Chase debit card for convenient spending.

You can earn 1% cashback on eligible card spend for the first year you have your account, capped at 15 GBP/month. Once you have earned cashback you can transfer it to your account for spending.

You’ll also be able to earn 1% interest on the balance you hold in your Chase account, which means you can earn when you spend and also when you don't! Interest is calculated daily and paid monthly, on all Chase current accounts you hold.

There are pretty much no fees to pay with a Chase current account - but as we mentioned earlier, there are some features commonly found with bank accounts which are not available with this Chase account type. These include sending or receiving international transfers, or getting an overdraft for example. The good news is that there’s no Chase ATM fee at home or abroad, no Chase foreign transaction fee, no monthly charges and no fee to get a debit card in the first place. This can make the Chase current account a handy option if you only need relatively limited banking services and you prefer to transact online.

Chase Bank UK savings account

If you’d rather access a higher interest rate with Chase you can move your money to a Chase savings account³.

This is also a digital only account which you’ll view and manage from the Chase app, but you can get a higher interest rate, which at the time of writing is set at 3.8%. You can open multiple different Chase savings pots to put aside money (up to the account limit of 500,000 GBP) for different purposes, making this a convenient way to save for a trip or a special event. You can pay in or out of your Chase savings account from other UK based accounts only.

Chase also offers a Roundup account⁴. This allows you to round up the purchases you make with your card to the nearest pound, and have the remaining money set aside into an interest earning account. So, if you buy something for 1.60 GBP, it’ll be rounded up to 2 GBP, and 0.40 GBP will be placed into your Roundup account. You can earn 5% interest on this account - but it is a bit limited in that only rounded up funds are added - there’s no other way to deposit funds to this account. Plus the account will only hold a balance for a year. At the end of the year your money is moved to your regular Chase account and you can start saving again in a new pot.

Chase Bank UK credit card

Chase UK does not offer any credit cards at the time of writing. For credit card services you’ll need to shop around.

You can, however, get a Chase debit card which is linked to your Chase current account, which comes with no fees for ATM withdrawals or overseas spending. Your card is also compatible with Apple Pay and Google Pay for mobile transactions. Chase cards don’t show the card numbers on them which can increase security, as thieves can’t copy the details from your physical card.

It’s worth noting that while Chase doesn’t charge ATM fees, the operator of certain ATMs - particularly abroad - may add their own costs when you make a withdrawal.

Chase Bank international transfers

One significant limitation with a Chase UK current account is that you can not send or receive international payments from your account⁶. Similarly, if you have a Chase UK savings account you’re limited to paying in and out from UK based banks, in GBP⁷.

If you need to send a payment overseas, you can still do so by using a third party digital service like Wise. With Wise you can send money to 160+ countries, in 40+ supported currencies, with payments often arriving instantly, or at least within 24 hours⁸. If you need to convert funds to send to an account abroad, you’ll get the mid-market exchange rate with low fees from 0.43%⁹. That can work out cheaper compared to using a bank - and because Wise values transparency, you’ll always be shown the costs of your payment split out clearly, upfront before you commit.

Chase Bank app features and ease of use

Chase UK offers its services primarily through its app. Although the app doesn’t have a huge number of reviews listed online, it scores fairly highly with those who have already offered a rating:

• Google Play - 4.2 out of 5 stars from just over 50,000 reviews (over 500k downloads recorded)¹⁰
• Apple App store - 4.7 out of 5 stars from just over 200 reviews¹¹

While the Chase UK app is still pretty new, it’s good to know that the Chase US app is extremely highly rated, with an impressive 4.8 star rating from 5 million reviews on the App store¹². It’s viewed as an intuitive and easy to use service which customers are clearly happy with overall.

Is Chase Bank safe in the UK?

Chase UK holds a full banking licence, and is safe to use. As with most other banks, Chase offers FSCS protections which mean that your money up to the legal cap of 85,000 GBP per depositor, is protected in the unlikely event that Chase gets into financial difficulties itself.

Chase also uses industry standard security measures to keep its app and digital services, and runs automatic and manual anti-fraud protections in the background.

Requirements to open an account with Chase Bank UK

To open a Chase UK bank account you need to:

• be 18+
• be a resident of the UK only
• have a smartphone and a UK mobile number
• be a tax resident of the UK

Setting up an account is pretty straightforward if you fulfil these eligibility requirements.

How to easily transfer money with Wise

Looking for ways to send money overseas? Chase UK accounts can’t send or receive foreign currency payments - try Wise instead.

You can send a payment with Wise to 160+ countries, in 40+ currencies. 50% of Wise payments arrive instantly, and 90% are received within a day. Plus you get the mid-market exchange rate every time with no markup and no hidden charges. All the costs are transparently split out, and start from just 0.43% depending on the currencies involved.

Here’s a step by step guide to sending money with Wise:

1. Download the Wise app for free
2. Register an account by entering your personal and contact information
3. Get verified by uploading a photo of your ID documents
4. Model the payment you want to make to get a fee and rate quote
5. Choose how you want to pay (bank transfer or card for example)
6. Check everything over and confirm - you’ll be prompted to pay using your chosen payment method

Get started with Wise

Chase UK has a couple of great digital account products which can appeal to anyone who prefers to manage their money online and needs only to hold, send and receive GBP. There are some good initial cashback opportunities using your Chase debit card, and you can also add in a savings account and a Roundup account to access even higher interest on select funds. However, the Chase UK accounts do have the drawback that you can’t send foreign currency payments, or receive funds from overseas, which can be a problem if you have to pay a foreign bill or if you’re planning a move abroad.

If you need access to a multi-currency account you can open and operate from your phone - Wise is a great low cost alternative to send payments abroad, check out Wise. You can hold 40+ currencies, spend with your linked card in 150+ countries.

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Sources:

1. Chase UK
2. Chase current account
3. Chase savings account
4. Chase Roundups
5. Chase Bank fees
6. Chase savings account terms
7. Speed: The speed of transaction claim depends on funds availability, approval by Wise's proprietary verification system and systems availability of our partners' banking system, and may not be available for all transactions
8. Pricing/fees: Please see Terms of Use for your region or visit Wise Fees & Pricing for the most up to date pricing and fee information
9. Chase UK - App store
10. Chase UK - Google Pay
11. Chase US - App store