The 2026 Cashback Strategy: How to Earn £100+ Back on Your Everyday Spending
one of my favorite ways to make a little bit of extra money, which is also incredibly easy, is to use a cashback or reward debit or credit card.
And if you haven't used one of these before and you're not sure what they are, it is incredibly simple.
You apply for one of these cards. And then when you spend, you use this card instead of the card that you would normally use. And each transaction you make, you'll earn a little bit back. It could be actual cash, that's a cashback card, or it could be some points, and that's a reward card.
And those points can be converted sometimes specific to certain brands and loyalty schemes or sometimes they can be moved over into actual cash or into gift cards or even points to use in the supermarket.
And although on the whole they're small amounts, if you do this for all of your spending throughout the year, they really, really, really will add up
. If you're a big spender, that could be a lot more. And if you take advantage of welcome offers, it could be a lot more again.
What’s New for 2026
there are some new cards to be considering for 2026. So, I'll take you through first of all the top debit cards to use and then the top credit cards.
Cashback Debit Cards
a cashback debit card is probably the best one to use in most instances if the rate is better than you'll get on a credit card.
The good news is for this year, they are higher. The highest rates you're going to get on the whole are going to be via a debit card.
Now, the reason I think they're better than credit cards on the whole, there are reasons when credit cards can be good. So, it's worth having both, I think, in your wallet because you are spending from a balance that will deplete as you go down.
Obviously, one of the risks with using a cashback credit card is because you don't have to pay it off until the end of the month to a statement comes through, there is a risk that you might not balance up between the two. So, a debit card, I think, is a great way to do this.
How They Work
You transfer the money over to them from your current account and then you spend. Now, you could do that in one lump sum for the month or if you want a bit of help with budgeting and you know struggle with overspending, you could even do it on a sort of semi-regular basis. But you transfer the money across and you just spend with that debit card online via your phone or via an actual card.
Top Debit Cards for 2026
So, the two I'm going to tell you about here, I think both of them will work well. It depends what you're after.
Trading 212 Debit Card
the first one is the Trading 212 debit card.
this one has a standard rate of 0.5% which can be beaten quite easily, but most of the time, this is increased to 1.5% back. Now, I can't guarantee that, so you need to keep an eye on this.
At the moment, at the top of the year, this has been going until the end of February. if you auto invest the cash back that you earn.
So if you haven't invested before, you want to do a bit of research, maybe understand what's going on with that money you earn, but obviously as soon as it's paid out into this investments, you can just sell those investments if you want to and get it back as cash and transfer it back to that card for more spending, or you can leave it invested and see what happens.
Obviously, the value of investing can go up as well as down, but over time, if you leave those small amounts invested, you'll probably make much more from them there than you would do if you put them into a savings account.
so that 1.5% rate is uh almost impossible to beat on any other card right now.
Throughout last year, it was at that higher rate for let's say 49 out of 52 weeks. So I'm expecting then when it gets the end of February, they'll extend that again.
there is a cap on this which is really worth knowing about though.
You could only earn £15 worth of cash back every single month. Now at that 1.5% rate, that means you're only going to earn it on £1,000 of spending in a calendar month. So, if you are transferring a money over, transfer over a grand once you've spent that, it's also a good signal to not spend any more on that debit card because you won't earn anything else on there and maybe move to a different card.
if it's at the 0.5% rate, then obviously that increases to three grand of spending every single month, but I wouldn't necessarily be using it at 0.5% because there are other options you want to be considering first. So, that's trading 212, the highest paying one.
PayPal Plus Debit Card
The other card, the new one that launched just a few months ago, and I did cover it in detail when this happened, is from PayPal. Now, PayPal has launched this debit card under PayPal Plus. It's free. There's no charge for this. And this one will give you 1% back on spending with the debit card.
if you spend via PayPal Plus in other ways, you get a much lower rate. This is just about using the debit card itself. And don't use the debit card via a PayPal um what checkout option. always just use the card because then you'll get the lower rate as well.
But you're getting that 1% and there is no monthly cap. So you will continue to earn. So maybe you'll do training 212 for that first grand every single month and then move over to PayPal. But there are ways to increase the payout through PayPal.
if you spend a certain amount over the calendar year, you'll move up a tier from the standard black one into one of their higher level ones.
And if you do that, it goes up to 1.2% the equivalent or potentially 1.5%. And if you move them over into uh supermarket spending, again, you can get that higher rate as well. That's how you redeem your points. So, this could be worth as much as trading 212. I think it's difficult to achieve.
You have to spend a huge amount to get that 1.5% on all your points, but there will be other benefits that come with you moving up those tiers as well, which could be more lucrative. We haven't had all the details on that yet.
So, if we do get more information and it might work out that spending as much as you can of your normal everyday spending on the PayPal plus debit card, even at that lower 1% rate, might actually be worth more if you can get to that next level for the following calendar year. Right? So, there your debit cards. ,
all really good options for you to consider. They're also fee free to use overseas, which is great. they're free to use. should say the trading 212 card does require you to pay5 pounds to get a physical card. But if you're not worried about that, you want it on the Apple wallet or just use the details you can get from the app itself to enter online, then you'll be fine and they'll be absolutely perfect for most of your spending.
But there will be occasions when having a cashback or reward credit card will be to your advantage.
Welcome Offers
Now, the big reason why you might want to look at some of these cards, this is particularly with American Express, but it's true with others as well, is that there can be some really, really lucrative welcome offers.
So, for American Express, the general rule here is if you haven't had an MX in your name in the last two years, then you're eligible for any of the welcome offers. And in fact, with a couple of the cards, even if you've had an MX in your name in the last two years, or even still have one, you can still get another welcome offer on top of that.
That's the platinum card I'm thinking of in particular there. and they can be worth as low as 100 pounds, as much as £500. so they are definitely worth looking at
You're going to get more from those in a short space of time, three months, say,
than you would do getting 1% back in that time. So you get those cards, use them, trigger that offer, and then maybe stop using it and use one of those other ones instead.
But definitely one of the things you should be really looking at your cash back and reward cards for are those welcome bonuses.
Overseas Spending & Deposits
Another big benefit you might find is spending overseas. Now mention those debit cards. They're fee free to use overseas as well, which is great. So they're good for your general everyday spending on holiday. But there will be times when, in fact, this is true for the UK as well, not just abroad. But things like car hire or
checking in a hotel and they want to lock down a deposit just in case you, you know, damage the room or something or use the mini bar. When they use that on, if they do that on your debit card, that's if they allow you to use a debit card.
Sometimes we'll require a credit card for this. they will lock out an amount of money and you can't touch it until you've returned that car or you've checked out of the hotel room or whatever it might be. And that obviously can really restrict your spending. But with a credit card, it will just come off your credit limit.
And assuming your credit limit is large enough, there's still going to be the ability to spend on those cards or indeed use those cashback debit cards that we mentioned before where the money comes straight out of your funds you put in there or from your current account.
Section 75 Protection
And finally, when you use a credit card, if something costs more than £100 or less than £30,000, then you will get something called section 75 protection.
And this is a legal right that if something goes wrong with your purchase, the credit card company is equally liable as the retailer.
So, let's say you can't get through to the the retailer when something's gone wrong, maybe the retailer's gone out of business and you haven't received your goods, the credit card company will have to refund you that cash with a credit card.
There is something called charge back on debit cards which has some protection but it's not a legal right and doesn't work in quite the same way. So again a credit card and particularly one that will earn you points or money back on your spending can be really really important for those big expensive purchases in order for you to have that cover.
Credit Card Rules to Follow
really important to make sure you don't get caught out and have these cards actually costing you money rather than saving and making you money.
Eligibility Checks
The first one is when you apply for them, make sure you do an eligibility search first of all.
This is something which most comparison sites will do and in fact many of the credit card company's own websites will do as well. And this performs what's called a soft check on your credit report.
So that means that if you choose not to progress with the application and make a proper application, no one will know about it. It will not appear on your credit report.
And that's a good thing because if you do this eligibility search, it says we think there's no chance you're going to get this or a very, very low chance of getting it. you might decide, okay, I'm not going to bother with that. And instead find one where there is a higher chance of acceptance because the risk is if you do get rejected for a credit card, that will hurt your credit report and your credit file and hurt future applications you make.
So always check out the odds essentially before applying.
Pay Off Balance in Full
Then when you have that card, make sure that you completely clear that balance every single month. You do not want to get charged interest on these because that will wipe out any cash back you're getting even on those really big welcome deals. So you want to make sure you do clear this completely.
Best Cashback & Reward Credit Cards (2026)
American Express Cashback Cards
the cashback card will give you 0.75% on the first 10 grand of spending in a year and anything after that for that 12 months that from when you first apply be at 1.25% to 5% and then for the second year that drops back down to 0.75 until you spend 10 grand and so on.
So that's not too bad and that wouldn't be far off the 1% you can get with PayPal.
Now this has a fee. this is £25 a year. So you want to be if you can getting a referral link from a friend first of all when you apply. In fact this is true for any of the MX offers. You'll get a better welcome offer if you go via refer friend link because that will effectively take that out for the first year.
American Express Nectar Card
Now the AMX Nectar will actually pay more than that. You earn two nectar points for every pound you spend and a nectar point is worth the equivalent of 0.5p.
So roughly this is 1% so a higher paying one. This is free in the first year. and after that is 30 a year. So, , they are the two that I'd be thinking about first of all, and there's a reason I would go for these two over the others is because if you get one of these cards, and remember these will have welcome offers as well the first time you apply, you'll still be eligible within two years to get a welcome offer from the MX Platinum or the British Airways American Express AIOS Plus.
So, they are kind of good starter ones to have, good ongoing ones to have, but equally give you the potential to get another really big welcome offer later on.
American Express Platinum
I think it is a good one to go for, particularly because the size of the welcome offer and the perks and benefits you get with it, such as free travel insurance worldwide. You get up to uh 200 restaurant credit in the UK each year, all sorts of extras that come with three times digital subscription.
They all great, but it cost you £650 a year. So, you really want to be doing that and applying for that card at the time when those welcome offers are boosted to really make it worth your while.
But again, a combination of those, the MX cash back or MX NAT first of all for the initial welcome offer and an ongoing cash back. And then at some point in the year, maybe have a look at the MX Platinum card as well, but not everywhere takes American Express. And also, those MX cards are not fee free to use overseas.
Visa & Mastercard Options
Lloyds Ultra Credit Card
Now, the best one here in my view is the Lloyd's Ultra credit card. I have a new one for 20 well it came out last year but it wouldn't have been in my update at the start of 2025.
So, a good one for This will give you 1% for the first year.
So again, comparable up there with a PayPal debit card. After that, it drops down to 0.25% which isn't great, but it is a really good backup to have when you are spending overseas and require to to use a credit card for that spending. it is also completely fee free to use this card.
Barclaycard Rewards Card
the lower option here if you can't or don't want to get the Lloyd's card is the Barclay card rewards card. That is just 0.25% but again it's a good backup for overseas spending.
Santander Edge Credit Card
There is another card you could look at which I normally wouldn't be going for because of the four pound monthly fee.
This is the Santander Edge credit card. that will give you 1% back.
again a decent rate comparable with the other top cards out there. but again as I say 4 pound monthly fee.
However start of this year and again it does tend to happen maybe a couple of times a year a promo is running where that fee gets wiped out. So, if you can get it for free for one year, it's certainly worth considering for a decent cash back rate and the other benefits that you get with a cashback card.
Retail-Specific Cashback Cards
Now, there are a couple of cards I want to talk about as well here where you can get a better rate than pretty much everything other than that 1.5% from Trading 212, but that's only if you spend at specific retailers.
Amazon Barclaycard Rewards
You get 1% back at Amazon, which is decent, but again, you can get that 1% from other cards.
However, on big sale days like Prime Day or Black Friday, that is increased to 2%. So, if you spend a lot of money on Amazon, particularly around those sale days, this is a better rate you're going to get.
John Lewis Partnership Card
This one for spending at John Lewis or Waitros will give you the equivalent of 1.25%.
Again, you can beat that with the Trading 212 card, but nowhere else really will get you as good a rate at that.
One word of warning with both of these cards though is you can't cash out until you reach five pounds worth of points. So, unless you spend don't as long as you're spending at those regularly, then you're fine. But if you don't, then you might end up with these points that never get redeemed.
