Barclays is scrapping £5 per month loyalty payments for Blue Rewards members

Barclays is scrapping monthly loyalty bonuses for Blue Rewards program members in a bid to shake up its rewards.

Blue Rewards members currently get a cash bonus of £5 per month when they deposit at least £800 per month into their linked current account and make two direct debits.

But starting September 4, Blue Rewards members will no longer receive this cash bonus.

Barclays is instead replacing its cash rewards with free Apple TV+ (usually £8.99 per month) and a US Major League Soccer streaming service (usually £15 per month).

Other monthly cash rewards for Barclays mortgage, loan and life insurance customers are also being scrapped.

These are £3 for members with a mortgage with Barclays, £5 for life insurance with critical illness cover, £1.50 for members with life insurance without critical illness cover and £1 for members with a loan with Barclays.

Is it worth keeping Blue Rewards now?

Blue Rewards is a program that Barclays current account customers can sign up for. It offers linked savings accounts and cashback benefits in return for a £5 monthly fee.

The £5 loyalty payment offset the cost of the monthly fee. Now that it’s being abolished, Blue Rewards members will effectively pay £60 a year for Blue Rewards ‘benefits’.

The benefits retained by Blue Rewards include the linked, easy-to-access ‘Rainy Day’ saver that pays out 5.12 per cent on balances from £1 to £5,000.

The rate is 1.16 percent on balances over £5,000, which is incredibly low in the current environment.

Outside of Barclays, savers can easily find accounts paying 5 per cent or more and don’t have to pay £5 a month.

Oxbury Bank currently has an easy access account paying 5.02 per cent on balances of £20,000 or more.

Meanwhile, Monument Bank is offering 5.01 and Yorkshire Building Society is paying 5 percent interest.

> See This is Money’s savings tables: the best, easily accessible accounts

Blue Rewards members can earn up to 15 percent cash back at some retailers when they use the debit card linked to their Blue Rewards account.

From September 4 to November 30, Blue Rewards members can get 1 percent cash back on all debit card transactions up to a maximum of £5 per month.

Chase Bank already offers this for free with its checking account and the cashback offer is capped at £15 per month.

To get this loan, you must pay a minimum of £1,500 per month into the account.

Barclays said Blue Rewards account holders will receive benefits worth up to £44 per month, up from £35.50 previously if they use the full benefits of Blue Rewards.

But unless you’re a big American Major League Soccer fan or like Apple TV, the rewards are unlikely to be worth it.