Yonder, the very popular rewards credit card, has now launched a debit card!
Note: we’ll run through all the rewards and benefits of Yonder credit card and debit card below.
So what's the difference? Well, instead of borrowing money from Yonder, like you would with a credit card, you can spend your own money straight away, and still benefit from all the great rewards Yonder offers (such as money off meals out and flights).
The debit card is a great alternative, as you might not want to have a credit card for a variety of reasons, such as not wanting to borrow money, or you might have a low credit rating (your credit score), so can’t get a credit card, not meet the eligibility criteria, or might only receive a low spending limit based on your financial situation.
With a Yonder debit card, you can benefit from earning points and rewards, without any of the credit card restrictions or drawbacks (such as too much debt), or simply, if you don’t want a credit card. Sounds pretty good right?
The only difference is, with the debit card, instead of spending first like the credit card, you’ll need to pre-load your card with money, which you can do easily as you’ll be given a bank account and sort code for your Yonder account, simply add money to this account.
That's it, spend away with your Yonder debit card to your heart's content, money simply comes out of your balance. There’s a handy highly rated app to track everything too.
Nuts About Money tip: Yonder is a great option for travelling and spending money abroad. More info on that below.
If that already sounds interesting, you can get started on the Yonder website¹. You’ll get your first month free, 10,000 welcome points (if you spend £1,000 in the first 30 days) and £10 back on your first spend. There’s also a free plan too.
Let’s dive into the rewards you get with both the credit card and debit card.
When you spend on your Yonder card (either one), you’ll accumulate points, and you can spend these points on rewards. You can use your card pretty much anywhere, such as online, pubs, restaurants, shops and anywhere else. It’s a Mastercard, so generally accepted everywhere.
The rewards are great, and change each month, so there’s normally always something worthwhile to spend your points on (or you can save them up for a future bigger purchase such as money off flights).
Typical rewards are things like hotel stays abroad, live events such as gigs and shows (e.g. the Lion King), outdoor cinemas and even art exhibitions. And there’s much more, suited to all types of people, for instance there’s even things like renting a car (and holidays and travel are usually very good with Yonder), fresh flowers from top florists and even things for the home.
Eating out in major cities (London, Manchester, Birmingham, Edinburgh, Bristol and Bath) is a very popular option as a reward with Yonder. The restaurants change each month, so there’s always new places to try. You can also get things at pubs like snacks and drinks.
It’s all down to the venue if they want to promote through Yonder, but what’s really great with Yonder is that they aren’t allowed to give you a crappy deal, such as only certain dishes or during certain times. The venue must open up their normal regular menu, and everything on the menu is on the table for Yonder members.
Note: there is a fair use policy, which means there might be a limit of what you can actually get free (for instance and just an example, £100 per meal). You can still spend above this, but you’ll have to pay the difference.
You might be thinking there’s a lot of rewards, and there are! But Yonder helps you navigate all the rewards within their great mobile app, and there’s a ‘for you’ page so you can find ones more suitable to you.
For a full run through of the rewards, check out the Yonder website¹ and here’s our full Yonder review to learn even more.
This is really easy with Yonder. You don’t need to pre-select anything before you spend, or register for a deal or anything like that. All you have to do is simply spend on your Yonder card at the place you want to use your reward, just like normal, and then in the Yonder app when the transaction shows after you pay, simply select redeem reward and pay with points, and that’s it.
Yonder is ideal for travel, and for more than just one reason. With the full membership you can use your Yonder points for flights with any airline (whoop!). There’s a limit of £200 per booking to be aware of, but that’s a big chunk of most flights (if not all of it).
Flights work the same as any reward, and simply pay on your Yonder debit card and then within the app select use your points.
Yonder is also great for travel money. It’s a Mastercard, so it can be used pretty much worldwide (except places like Iran and North Korea). That also means it’s very cheap to spend abroad on your card, as you get the Mastercard exchange rate, which is one of the best out there.
Nuts About Money tip: select pay in the local currency if asked, such as in a shop, rather than paying in pounds, otherwise you’ll face conversion fees from the shop itself (their payment provider).
And there’s more, if you get the full membership, you’ll also get travel insurance included. And it’s pretty comprehensive. It covers the whole family (in the same house) and any children under 25 if they are travelling with you. Here’s a run through of the coverage:
There’s a few other things too, such as your baggage not turning up after landing, and costs while your flight is delayed (such as an overnight stay).
There’s also a zero or low excess (£50) depending on the claim you are making.
Did we mention there’s airport lounge access too? Partnering with No.1 Lounges & Lounge Pass.
Lets just recap that, with Yonder full membership, you’ll be able to use the points to reduce the cost of your flights (or even be free), get one of the cheapest cards to actually spend abroad, and get travel insurance too. And now, you can sign up for a debit card and get all these perks too (instead of previously just the credit card).
Applying for a credit card can have fairly strict eligibility criteria as you are technically borrowing money, however with the debit card, these can be reduced as you can’t borrow any money, you are just spending your own money.
So, with the Yonder debit card, all you really need to do is prove who you are, and have a bank account. So, there’s no minimum income required or anything like that, like there is with the credit card.
There would normally be a soft credit check which is to verify your personal details, and won’t affect your credit rating. This is typical with most financial services.
With Yonder, you have two membership options, the first is a free plan (where you get basic perks), and the second is a paid membership, called a full membership (where you get more perks and earn loads more points). Let’s take a look.
Cost: £15 per month (£160 per year)
You don’t need to sign up for a year or anything like that either, it’s all monthly, and you can cancel at any time.
With the debit card it’s easy to add and withdraw money, and super quick. All you do is link your bank account with your Yonder account within the app and you can add and withdraw money as and when you like, with a few clicks. You don’t need to type in bank details each time. You can also set auto top-ups such as adding money monthly.
Ok, so with both, there’s no actual difference between the rewards or what you get, they’re exactly the same. The only difference is the card itself, and how you spend money on the card.
Well, except for one thing. With the full membership, with the credit card you’ll earn 5x more rewards than the free plan. With the debit card you’ll earn 4x more rewards than the free plan. So you get more points overall with the credit card.
This could add up to quite a lot over time, depending on how much you use the card and how you use your points, but it probably won’t sway our decision to opt for a credit card over a debit card by that alone – it’s more about whether you prefer to spend on a credit card, borrowing money, or if you prefer to spend your own money straightaway.
With the debit card, you’ll pre-load it with money from your bank account, and then spend away earning points and rewards, topping up as and when you need to.
With the credit card, you’ll spend away first, and then repay what you spent later on (normally at the end of the month). You’ll be using ‘credit’ meaning you’ll be borrowing money from Yonder, and will be given a credit limit based on your financial circumstances, which is how much you can spend in total before repaying. The benefits are that you can spend money without actually having it, and it can build your credit rating.
Nuts About Money tip: always try and repay your credit card balance in full or you'll have to pay interest.
And with the credit card, you’ll also get something called ‘section 75 protection’ which gives you a bit more protection if you buy something and things go wrong, such as if an item wasn’t delivered. It means you can claim back your money directly from the card provider rather than the retailer. Terms do apply. It's nice to have, but you likely wouldn’t get a credit card just for this.
So, it’s totally up to you which option you go for, but we think the debit card is a very good option to get those rewards without any restrictions, credit limits or worry about overspending either.
If you’re looking to sign up, you’ll be able to try the full membership completely free for the first month (saves £15), and as a new member you’ll get 10,000 points as a welcome bonus on the full membership (as long as you spend £1,000 in the first 30 days) and you’ll also get £10 off your first purchase (eligibility applies). On the free plan, you’ll get a welcome bonus of 1,000 points.
We think the launch of the debit card is very clever, and a really great idea. It means everyone can now make use of the Yonder rewards (which are great, such as meals covered by points when eating out and reducing your flight costs) without having to sign up for a full credit card. If you’re going to be spending on your bank card anyway, you might as well get some rewards from it right?
It also means you can use it as a travel money card, and things like travel insurance, without the credit card application too, so you’ll save money spending abroad with no foreign exchange fees and a great exchange rate, while also earning points.
The cost is reasonable, at £15 per month, and you’ll very likely earn that back in rewards if you use the card. And there’s a free plan too (although you'll get less points to spend).
The customer service is also excellent, and the app itself is great and easy to use.
We haven’t run through everything here (just the debit card and main features) but if you're interested, check out our full Yonder review to learn more. Overall we think Yonder is awesome, and definitely worth checking out (you’ll get the first month free to try properly too). To get started, sign up on the Yonder website¹.
18+ and UK only. £15 a month. T&Cs apply. Travel insurance cover subject to booking with your Yonder card, eligibility and exclusions. Visit yonder.com¹ for more information.
