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Santander: Basic current account reviews

Name: Basic current account
Rating: 4.1 (323 reviews)

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4.10

Based on 323 reviews, last reviewed 6th Apr 2026

1300% increase in 5 star reviews

in the past 90 days

No new 1 star reviews

in the past 90 days

53%

20%

13%

11%

Latest highest rating:

5

Simple banking without frills, fluff or fees I have been with Santander for many years, a legacy from Alliance & Leicester. My current account offers straightforward simple banking without unnece... Read more Reviewed on: 6th April 2026

Latest lowest rating:

1

They are so rude, they mess up and don't hold themse... They are so rude, they mess up and don't hold themselves accountable for the issues that they have caused. Putting there customers into debt and not a... Read more Reviewed on: 4th March 2025

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About this product

The Santander Basic current account is for people who’ve been turned down for another current account, have a poor credit history, or are new to the UK for work or study.

The Basic current account has a contactless debit card, basic banking facilities, mobile banking as well as no fees for using Santander cash machines abroad.

Santander Basic account reviews help you find out what it’s really like to be a customer. If you’ve used Santander before, you can also leave a review and share your experience.

Santander Basic current account reviews (323)

Review of the Santander, Basic current account:

Great Bank

I have been with them for years, always find them great, even the call centres :) Reviewed on: 22nd November 2019

Good Basic Bank Account

Good Basic Bank account with no frills Reviewed on: 21st November 2015

Good enough to stay

Customer service always been good but took ages to get a contactless debit card Reviewed on: 20th November 2015

unpleasant experience didn't continue with opening account.

I applied to open an account with santander .. unfortunatley the staff where unpleasant ... I only wanted a basic account no over draft and the lady that I was dealing with seemed to be unfocused and unhelpful Reviewed on: 9th November 2015

bank for poor credit rated people

my wife is new in this country and she had an account with another bank. Suddenly that bank closed her account without giving any reason but I think that could be the reason for a lady previously used to live in the same address and with the same surname of my wife. we were desperate to get an account for her but every bank wanted to see a current bank statement for opening an account. Only Santander helped us to open a basic account for us. we are really thankful to Santander. Reviewed on: 7th November 2015

Amazing

Santander are amazing at contacting you if there is any suspicious activity on your account. Easy to contact and very helpful. I would reccomend this bank to anybody. Reviewed on: 4th November 2015

Straightforward banking with the basic account.

I switched to Santander a couple of years ago because they had a great deal on at the time. I was paid a one off fee to switch my direct debits over and then I earned interest on balances over a certain amount for a year. They made the whole switching process really easy, I didn't have to do anything at all other than wait for it to happen. Once the deal ended though, the account became the basic current account which has no rewards to speak of. I have stuck with it for a while just because I haven't had time to do much research but I'm now planning to switch to the 123 account. Even with the price hike from £2 per month to £5 per month, I think the amount of cashback I'll get on household bills plus interest paid on my balance will make it worthwhile for me. From a customer service point of view, I've found Santander helpful and the online banking is very easy to use. Reviewed on: 26th October 2015

Terrible.

Stupidly high overdraft charges, terrible customer service. Rude staff, and terrible security. Left for Barclay's bank. Reviewed on: 26th August 2015

Patchy customer support, but mainly okay.

I've been an account holder with Santander since before they were Santander. And mostly it's been fine. General transactions work, though I don't use it as my main bank since setting up new payees requires mobile phone contact (no signal) or landline phone (expensive and annoying). The real area it falls down is customer support. I was opted into paperless statements quite some time ago and never noticed until I suddenly needed a paper statement for proof of account ownership (long story). This at first didn't seem to be a problem, there is a button on the site to turn paper back on. Sadly, the button isn't connected to anything and takes you to a blank page. I reported this via webform and asked to be manually re-papered. This was responded to shortly by someone who didn't understand the technical problem and claimed they couldn't help me with the paper. I tried again. The second one also didn't believe the technical problem, but did turn the statements back on. While I'm happy to get what I needed, frankly it leaves me feeling like they don't have a clue which isn't reassuring at all. Reviewed on: 9th August 2015

So easy to access and make payments.

I have to often check my balance as a university student and I also often have to make payments to various people, both of these tasks are incredibly easy and I feel so secure when doing so thanks to the One Time Passcode (OTP) feature. Reviewed on: 7th May 2015

Excellent Banking experience

I have a customer of Santander and I have enjoyed all the financial products offered by the bank form the current, savings, loans and investments like the Cash ISA. The only product I have used is the Mortgage which I hope I will be able to use whenever I am able to raise a minimum deposit and would be a better position to review the mortgage product. Overall it is financially stable and easy to bank with. Reviewed on: 7th May 2015

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