How we calculated that Biscuit offers the best everyday value of any free UK bank account

We compared 15 of the UK’s most popular free bank accounts to see which offers the best everyday value. Here’s how we did it — and why the Biscuit bank account came out on top.

To assess ‘everyday value’, we reviewed the main free current account, and any regular savings products, of 15 major UK banks and building societies – both traditional and digital. This allowed us to make a fair, like-for-like comparison of the features that matter most to everyday banking customers. The result? Biscuit not only tops our comparison, it’s also recognised by MoneySavingExpert as a top performer for regular savings accounts.

Data verified: 15 January 2026 | Calculated annual value rounded to nearest pound

How we calculated annual value

To bring these differences to life, we calculated the potential annual financial value a customer could get from each account, using the following assumptions:  

• Current account balance: £4,460* 

• Minimum monthly household bills paid by Direct Debit: £125**  

• Monthly spend on groceries, transportation and fuel: £416***

• Customers maximise their regular saver deposit limit every month

• Any variable rates remain the same for the next 24 months 

• No tax needs to be paid on interest earned (although we note that tax treatment depends on a customer’s individual circumstances)

• Each account is compared over a full 2-year period (excluding any switching bonuses). The value shown is the annualised amount.

Based on these assumptions, here’s how these banks compare (rounded to the nearest pound):

The bank accounts we included

Here are the main free current accounts we compared — along with any regular saver products offered by each bank. Together, they give a true picture of how everyday value stacks up across the UK’s biggest banks. 

The bank account features we compared

We focused on the everyday features that directly impact how much value a customer can get from their bank:  

• Cost to open and maintain

• Interest on current account balance

• Interest on linked regular saver

• Cashback on bills paid by Direct Debits

• Cashback on card spend

• Cashback at certain retailers

Our analysis doesn’t include switching bonuses, as those are one-off incentives rather than ongoing value. Even when switching bonuses are factored in, Biscuit still offers more value than all of the accounts we compared, except one. While switching bonuses might look appealing in the short-term, Biscuit is built to deliver long-term, repeatable value. For transparency, we’ve included switching bonuses in the comparison table below.

We’ve also excluded arranged overdrafts from our comparison. While they’re an important feature for some customers, they’re a borrowing tool that usually come at a cost – so they don’t explicitly add value like interest and cashback do. 

Regular saver accounts have been included as they are standard savings products offered with a current account by many providers and have consistent structures that allow for fair comparison. Enhanced savings features such as boosted easy-access rates or roundup savings have been excluded because they vary significantly between providers, are not considered core current account features, and may be time-limited or promotional. Including these would lead to inconsistent or misleading comparisons of ongoing value. 

How we calculated up to £192 a year with Biscuit

To make our value comparison fair, we broke down how much a typical customer could earn with a Biscuit bank account in a single year. The total comes to £192, made up of three parts: 

• £30 from cashback — 2% cashback on up to £125 of monthly household bills paid by Direct Debit. 

• £89.20 from interest on your account balance — 2% AER (1.98% gross†) variable on the average UK current account balance of £4,460. 

• £72.92 from Regular Saver — 7.10% AER (6.87% gross†) variable, assuming you save the maximum £300 per month and immediately renew your regular saver after 6 months. 

These figures use official ONS and Bank of England data on typical balances, Direct Debit usage and savings behaviour. 

†We pay gross interest, which means nothing is deducted for tax.

Definitions and data sources

What do we mean by ‘everyday value’? Everyday value comes from the ongoing financial benefits that customers can earn just by using their account as they normally would – no extra effort required. That includes cashback on bills, interest on current account balances and high returns on regular savings. It’s value that adds up day after day, not just in the first month or as a one-time bonus. 

What do we mean by ‘free’ bank account? A current account that is free to open and has no monthly fees or charges. For a fair comparison, we only included accounts that are genuinely free to open and maintain.

* Average current account balance: Bank of England data shows that, as of March 2025, UK households are leaving a total of £305 billion in current accounts that pay no interest. Using ONS's latest population estimate of 68,265,200 in mid-2023, that’s an average balance of £4,460 per person.  

** Minimum yearly Direct Debits: Pay.UK data shows that Direct Debits pulled roughly £1.5 trillion out of UK bank accounts in 2024. Spread across the population, that’s £21,600 per person each year. This amount exceeds the £1,500 yearly limit used in our research calculations.

*** Average monthly spend on groceries, transportation and fuel: ONS data shows that, as of March 2023, the average UK household spends approximately £275 per month on groceries, £78 on transportation and £63 on fuel and power source. Combined, this results in a typical monthly spend of £416 across these three categories.