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Tesco current account to launch today – what do we know about Avios earning?

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Tesco Bank is due to launch its current account today.

We don’t know everything about the account yet.  In particular, we don’t know what incentives there will be for signing up.

Marks & Spencer is currently offering a £100 voucher for opening a current account with them.  If Tesco offered the equivalent of 10,000 Clubcard points then it would look very interesting.  However, my understanding is that there will be no major offer at launch.

Tesco current account

This is what we know:

The account will be free if you pay in £750 per month ….

…. and will cost £5 per month if you don’t.

You will earn 3% interest on balances up to £3,000 and nothing above that

You will earn Clubcard points on all of your debit card transactions:

1 point per £4 spent in Tesco

1 point per £8 spent elsewhere (VERY interesting)

Is there going to be ‘small print’ attached to the ‘1 point per £8 spent elsewhere’ rule?

How to earn Avios from UK credit cards

How to earn Avios from UK credit cards (April 2024)

As a reminder, there are various ways of earning Avios points from UK credit cards.  Many cards also have generous sign-up bonuses!

In February 2022, Barclaycard launched two exciting new Barclaycard Avios Mastercard cards with a bonus of up to 25,000 Avios. You can apply here.

You qualify for the bonus on these cards even if you have a British Airways American Express card:

Barclaycard Avios Plus card

Barclaycard Avios Plus Mastercard

Get 25,000 Avios for signing up and an upgrade voucher at £10,000 Read our full review

Barclaycard Avios card

Barclaycard Avios Mastercard

5,000 Avios for signing up and an upgrade voucher at £20,000 Read our full review

There are two official British Airways American Express cards with attractive sign-up bonuses:

British Airways American Express Premium Plus

25,000 Avios and the famous annual 2-4-1 voucher Read our full review

British Airways American Express

5,000 Avios for signing up and an Economy 2-4-1 voucher for spending £15,000 Read our full review

You can also get generous sign-up bonuses by applying for American Express cards which earn Membership Rewards points. These points convert at 1:1 into Avios.

American Express Preferred Rewards Gold

Your best beginner’s card – 20,000 points, FREE for a year & four airport lounge passes Read our full review

The Platinum Card from American Express

40,000 bonus points and a huge range of valuable benefits – for a fee Read our full review

Run your own business?

We recommend Capital on Tap for limited companies. You earn 1 Avios per £1 which is impressive for a Visa card, along with a sign-up bonus worth 10,500 Avios.

SPECIAL OFFER: Until 12th May 2024, the Capital on Tap Business Rewards Visa card is offering a bonus of 30,000 points, convertible into 30,000 Avios. You must have a Limited Company to apply. Click here to learn more and click here to apply.

Capital on Tap Business Rewards Visa

Huge 30,000 points bonus until 12th May 2024 Read our full review

You should also consider the British Airways Accelerating Business credit card. This is open to sole traders as well as limited companies and has a 30,000 Avios sign-up bonus.

British Airways Accelerating Business American Express

30,000 Avios sign-up bonus – plus annual bonuses of up to 30,000 Avios Read our full review

There are also generous bonuses on the two American Express Business cards, with the points converting at 1:1 into Avios. These cards are open to sole traders as well as limited companies.

American Express Business Platinum

40,000 points sign-up bonus and an annual £200 Amex Travel credit Read our full review

American Express Business Gold

20,000 points sign-up bonus and FREE for a year Read our full review

Click here to read our detailed summary of all UK credit cards which earn Avios. This includes both personal and small business cards.

Category

Tesco Clubcard

Comments (55)

This article is closed to new comments. Feel free to ask your question in the HfP forums.

  • CV says:
    10 Jun10 June 08:45

    Completely underwhelming, I thought they would at least match the First Direct £100 for new accounts. I expect they will launch new products in the future, will keep waiting till then.

    • nick says:
      10 Jun10 June 08:56

      First direct customer service is excellent and they have excellent products. Tesco customer service is… Well, it’s tesco. Terrible. Unless my mortgage payment qualifies for the clubcard points, there is nothing to look at here. Santander, Halifax and first direct all have significantly better products on the market already.

  • ts77 says:
    10 Jun10 June 08:57

    Looks pointless to me – I’m shocked there is no fanfare and promotions to get people to sign up.

    I’ll stick with the Nationwide Flexplus and the old Tesco / Amex credit cards.

  • mrtibbs1999 says:
    10 Jun10 June 09:09

    So if a person had access to a merchant terminal that charged 25p a time for debit cards and sent £10k at a time what would happen?

    • Colin MacKinnon says:
      10 Jun10 June 10:05

      They’d suspend/close your account !

      Money laundering regulations mean they are obliged to look for any suspicious transactions, and while yours would be perfectly legal, they would raise the flag.

      So even though they were looking for money laundering – which you wouldn’t be doing – they’d thus find you “exploiting” the T&Cs,, which is what we are all seeking to do!

      • Leo says:
        10 Jun10 June 10:13

        Well, is this really illegal? if 10K is suspicious, several 1K transactions should be reasonable, isn’t it?

    • xcalx says:
      10 Jun10 June 10:06

      I would ask that person to be my new best friend 😉

  • mrtibbs1999 says:
    10 Jun10 June 09:11

    Or if you paypaled it to a relative/friend at 0 cost?

    • Nick says:
      10 Jun10 June 10:34

      Is that even possible? I thought all paypal transactions incurred a fee somewhere

    • Brendan says:
      10 Jun10 June 11:32

      Paypal are very strict on transactions like that and will suspend your account if they suspect money laundering

    • DJA says:
      10 Jun10 June 13:26

      As above, a credit/debit card payment will incur a 3.4% + 20p fee (if it hasn’t changed) either sender of recipient needs to pay it.

  • squills says:
    10 Jun10 June 09:54

    There might be a few little holes to exploit 😉

  • JK says:
    10 Jun10 June 09:58

    Just feels a little bit like too much hard work for a minute pay-off… I think the free credit card makes more sense. Unless I’m missing any of the loopholes, at present, it seems not worthwhile!

  • Leo says:
    10 Jun10 June 10:14

    So far the only benefit seems to be the mobile App, given that it will serve Tesco Credit Card holders as well…

  • Tim says:
    10 Jun10 June 11:45

    So I went ahead and signed up and my application is approved. (I had applied at about 1am last night, maybe my account number will be 0000001?)

    I was looking to switch bank accounts anyway due to dissatisfaction with my long term bank account. Happy if I can earn an extra £5-£10 of Clubcard points per quarter (2,400 Avios) – every little helps!!

    (I tend not to use credit cards anyway so most of these offers are not suitable).

    • martin says:
      10 Jun10 June 11:52

      I suspect most HFP readers put all of their spend through a credit card (then pay it off at the end of the month), which is why there’s general dissatisfaction with Tesco’s offer. If you generally spend on a debit card, then I can see why it’s a bit more interesting!

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