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

We compared 15 of the UK’s top free bank accounts

This page sets out the methodology and data sources we used to compare 15 UK bank accounts – and how we landed on our claim that Biscuit is the best free bank account for everyday value.

To assess ‘everyday value’, we reviewed the main free current account, and any linked 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.

What bank account features did we compare? 

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

• Interest on other linked savings accounts

• 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. 

How the features of each free UK current account compare

The data above was collected on Tuesday 29th July 2025. 

*AER stands for 'annual equivalent rate'. We pay you interest on a monthly basis, but AER shows you the rate you’d get if this monthly interest was compounded and paid once a year instead. We provide an AER to make it easier for you to compare our rates with other providers.  

How much value could each account deliver in a year?

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 yearly household bills paid by Direct Debit: £1,500** 

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

• Monthly amount of round-up savings: £17.50 over 35 transactions****

• Customers maximise their regular saver deposit limit every month

• Any variable rates remain the same for the next 12 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 12 months, excluding any switching bonuses

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

Definitions

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.

**** Average monthly round-up savings: According to UK Finance’s Payment Markets report, UK debit card transactions totalled £70.8 billion across 2.4 billion monthly transactions in 2023. This gives an average transaction value of £29.50, resulting in a typical round-up of £0.50 per purchase. Using the ONS’s mid-2023 population estimate of 68,265,200, this equates to approximately 35 transactions per person per month, and an average monthly round-up savings total of £17.50.