Chip Review – Get £50 FREE Using Chip Promo Code: CHIP-BGK748

Chip is one of the UK's best-known savings and investing apps, and it has grown into a genuine one-stop home for cash savings, tax-free ISAs, funds and pensions — all managed from your phone. If you have a lump sum sitting in a current account earning close to nothing, the Chip referral offer is one of the most rewarding ways to move it somewhere it earns properly: a £50 cash bonus on top of competitive tracker interest rates, monthly tax-free prize draws and FSCS-protected savings accounts.

This review explains exactly what the current Chip referral offer pays, how to unlock it step by step, and what Chip is genuinely good at once the bonus has landed — the accounts, the rates, the fees, the prize draw mechanics and who the app suits best.

Current verified offer
What you get: a £50 cash bonus from Chip as a new customer.
Referral code: CHIP-BGK748
Referral link: Open the Chip referral page
How to activate: enter your email on the referral page and download the Chip app within 30 calendar days using that same email address — Chip applies the code for you. Alternatively, download the app first and enter the code CHIP-BGK748 manually within 14 calendar days.
Qualifying action: deposit at least £1,000 into any eligible Chip account (this can be split across several Chip savings and/or investment accounts) and keep the balance at £1,000 or more for 90 consecutive calendar days.
Who qualifies: new Chip customers only — someone who has never previously held a Chip account — aged 18+, UK resident, using app version 4.56.0 or later.
Timing: you have 120 calendar days from being referred to complete the criteria, including the 90-day holding period. The bonus is paid into your Chip Instant Access Account, or your Prize Savings Account if you do not have an Instant Access Account open.

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Chip referral offer at a glance

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How to activate the Chip referral offer

The mechanics matter here, because the bonus is tied to how the code reaches your account and how long your balance stays put. Follow these steps in order.

1. Open the referral page and enter your email address. Use the Chip referral page carrying the code CHIP-BGK748, then tap to get your download link. Chip stores that email address so it can redeem the referral for you.
2. Download Chip and sign up with the same email address. Do this within 30 calendar days of entering your email. The email must match exactly — this is the single most common reason a referral fails to attach.
3. Or enter the code manually instead. If you have already downloaded the app, you have 14 calendar days from download to type CHIP-BGK748 into the referral field. Enter it exactly, with no extra spaces.
4. Complete onboarding as a new customer. You need to be 18 or over, a UK resident, and pass Chip's standard identity checks. The offer is for people who have never held a Chip account before, and you need app version 4.56.0 or later.
5. Open an Instant Access Account or Prize Savings Account. One of these two must be open for Chip to pay the bonus. If both are open, the £50 goes into the Instant Access Account automatically.
6. Deposit at least £1,000 into eligible accounts. You can split it across the Smart Cash ISA, Instant Access Account, Prize Savings Account, General Investment Account and Stocks & Shares ISA. Only the Chip Pension is excluded from the qualifying total.
7. Hold £1,000 or more for 90 consecutive calendar days. If your balance dips below £1,000 at any point, the 90-day countdown restarts from zero once you top back up — so leave a small buffer above the threshold.
8. Complete everything within 120 days. That window includes the 90-day holding period, so fund the account promptly rather than leaving it until week five. Once the criteria are met, the £50 is credited to your Instant Access Account or Prize Savings Account.

Read the current conditions on Chip's own referral terms page before you deposit — Chip can amend or end the promotion at any time.

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In-depth review: what Chip actually offers

Chip started life as an autosaving app and has become a broad personal-finance platform used by more than 500,000 people. Everything lives in one app: cash savings on tracker rates, a flexible Cash ISA, a prize-draw savings account, fund investing, and a self-invested pension. It is app-only — there is no branch network and no desktop dashboard — but the trade-off is a genuinely fast setup, typically a few minutes from download to a funded account.

Chip Instant Access Account

This is the workhorse account and, for most people claiming the referral offer, the natural home for the qualifying £1,000.

• Rate: 3.00% AER (variable tracker), which tracks 0.79% below the Bank of England base rate.
• New-customer boost: Chip is adding a 0.51% AER boost for 12 months for new joiners, giving 3.51% AER (variable tracker) for the first year before reverting to the standard rate.
• Access: no withdrawal restrictions and no notice period.
• Interest mechanics: accrues daily and is paid monthly, on the fourth working day of the following month.
• Cost: no fees or charges for holding the account.
• Protection: provided by UK-authorised ClearBank, with eligible deposits FSCS-protected up to £120,000 per bank.

Chip Smart Cash ISA

Chip's own flexible Cash ISA is the strongest option if you want the interest to be tax-free.

• Rate: a standard 3.75% AER (variable tracker, 3.69% gross), tracking 0.06% below the Bank of England base rate.
• New-customer boost: a 0.85% AER boost for 12 months takes the headline rate to 4.60% AER. Only one promotional rate can apply to the account at a time, and the boost is for new Chip customers.
• Allowance: up to £50,000 per tax year, with interest earned free of income tax under ISA rules.
• Flexibility: fully flexible — withdraw and redeposit within the same tax year without using up more of your allowance.
• Withdrawals: unlimited, with funds reaching you the next working day. Transferring out or closing the ISA forfeits unpaid interest.
• Where the money sits: spread across established UK licensed banks such as Barclays, Lloyds and HSBC, with FSCS eligibility up to £120,000 per institution.

Chip Prize Savings Account

The Prize Savings Account swaps interest for entries into a monthly tax-free prize draw — the closest mainstream alternative to Premium Bonds, and Chip's most distinctive product.

• Every £10 of your average monthly balance equals one entry, calculated by adding up your daily balance and dividing by the days in the month.
• You need an average balance of at least £10 to be entered, and can hold between £10 and £85,000.
• Depositing earlier in the month buys more entries for that month's draw.
• Prizes are tax-free, and eligible deposits are FSCS-protected up to £120,000.
• Chip states it has paid out more than £2.46 million across over 166,000 prizes.

The September draw prize table gives a clear picture of the shape of the odds:

Chip's own comparison puts the odds of winning any prize per £10 held at 3.5 times better than Premium Bonds for the September draw. As with any prize account, the trade-off is that you earn no interest, so it suits savers who would rather have upside than a guaranteed return.

Investing: ISA, GIA and pension

Chip also covers investing, which matters for the referral offer because the General Investment Account and Stocks & Shares ISA both count towards the qualifying £1,000.

• Stocks & Shares ISA — invest up to £50,000 per tax year with returns sheltered from UK tax. Seccl Custody Limited is the ISA manager.
• General Investment Account — an unwrapped account for investing beyond your ISA allowance.
• Fund range — mainstream funds and ETFs from major managers, including Vanguard's S&P 500 and FTSE 100 trackers, iShares Core MSCI World and NASDAQ 100, HSBC FTSE All-World and MSCI China, plus thematic options such as physical gold, AI and space innovators.
• SIPP — a self-invested personal pension using BlackRock LifePath funds that adjust as your target retirement date approaches. Note the pension does not count towards the referral deposit requirement.

Investing carries risk: your capital is at risk and the value of funds can fall as well as rise, so the qualifying £1,000 is better placed in a savings account if you want the referral bonus without market exposure.

Autosaving, goals and everyday tools

Chip's original hook remains one of its best features. Savings Plans move money into savings automatically in the background, so a habit builds without any manual transfers, and saves count towards in-app goals you set in the Goals tab. You can also deposit manually at any time from the savings tab. Autosaving features can carry charges, so it is worth checking the current plan details in-app before switching them on.

Membership plans and fees

Crucially for anyone here for the referral bonus: the savings accounts themselves are free to open and hold. Fund management charges apply to the funds you choose when investing.

Security, regulation and service

• Chip is a trading name of Chip Financial Ltd, authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority under the Payment Services Regulations 2017 (firm reference number 911255).
• Chip Financial (Investments) Ltd is authorised and regulated by the FCA under firm reference number 1005114, with investments held by Seccl Custody Limited.
• Savings deposits in the Chip savings accounts are powered by ClearBank and eligible for FSCS protection up to £120,000, subject to eligibility.
• Because eligible deposits across the Cash ISA, Instant Access, Easy Access Saver and Prize Savings Account sit with the same bank, the £120,000 limit applies across those balances collectively.
• Chip publishes anti-fraud guidance, open banking explanations and support for customers needing reasonable adjustments, and rates 4.7 on Trustpilot from more than 38,000 reviews.

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Practical scenarios

These are illustrative examples of how the £1,000 requirement fits real situations.

• The emergency fund mover. You keep £3,000 in a current account paying nothing. Move £1,500 into the Instant Access Account, leave it untouched for 90 days, and you collect the £50 bonus plus boosted 3.51% AER interest — while keeping instant access if the boiler dies.
• The ISA saver. You have not used this year's ISA allowance. Deposit £1,000 or more into the Smart Cash ISA at the boosted 4.60% AER, earn tax-free interest, and open an Instant Access Account alongside it so the £50 bonus has somewhere to land.
• The prize-draw player. You would rather chase tax-free prizes than a fixed rate. Put £1,000 into the Prize Savings Account early in the month for maximum entries, hold it for the 90 days, and treat the £50 as a guaranteed return on top of three months of draws.
• The splitter. You put £600 in the Instant Access Account and £400 into the Stocks & Shares ISA. Because the qualifying balance can be spread across eligible accounts, the combined £1,000 still counts — just remember the invested portion can fall in value below the threshold.
• The habit builder. You fund the qualifying £1,000, then switch on Savings Plans so small automatic saves keep topping up the balance. That buffer above £1,000 protects the 90-day countdown from an accidental dip.

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Which Chip account should hold your qualifying £1,000?

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Who the Chip referral offer suits best

• Savers with a spare £1,000. If the money is genuinely not needed for three months, the £50 is an effective boost on top of interest — and it is instant-access money, not a locked fixed-term bond.
• Cash ISA shoppers. The boosted 4.60% AER flexible ISA is a strong reason to be here anyway, and the referral bonus is an extra on top of a competitive tax-free rate.
• Premium Bonds holders. If you already like the prize-draw model, the Prize Savings Account offers the same idea with FSCS protection and, on Chip's own September comparison, better odds per £10.
• Anyone who struggles to save manually. Automatic Savings Plans and goals do the work for you, which is where Chip built its reputation.
• Beginner investors. Mainstream tracker funds, a Stocks & Shares ISA and a LifePath pension in the same app make it easy to progress from cash to investing once the bonus has landed.
• First-time ISA transferrers. Chip supports Cash ISA transfers, so existing ISA money can move over — though remember the referral bonus needs new deposits held for the qualifying period.

It suits you less well if you need branch or desktop access, if the £1,000 is money you might dip into within three months, or if you want a guaranteed fixed rate — Chip's cash rates are variable trackers linked to the Bank of England base rate.

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Referral FAQs

What is the current Chip referral offer?

New customers get a £50 cash bonus after signing up with a referral code, depositing at least £1,000 into eligible Chip accounts and holding that minimum balance for 90 consecutive calendar days.

What code or link should a new customer use?

Use the code CHIP-BGK748, or start from the referral page that carries the code, which lets Chip apply it for you automatically.

Is a code required, or is the offer link-only?

Both routes work. If you enter your email on the referral page and download Chip within 30 calendar days using the same address, Chip redeems the code for you. Otherwise, enter CHIP-BGK748 manually within 14 calendar days of downloading the app.

Who counts as a new customer?

Someone who has never previously held a Chip account. You must also be 18 or over, a UK resident, pass Chip's onboarding checks and be on app version 4.56.0 or later.

What action activates the reward?

Depositing at least £1,000 into any eligible Chip account and keeping the balance at £1,000 or above for 90 consecutive calendar days.

Is there a minimum deposit or holding period?

Yes — £1,000 minimum, held for 90 consecutive calendar days. The £1,000 can be split across several eligible Chip savings and investment accounts rather than sitting in one.

Which accounts count towards the £1,000?

The Smart Cash ISA, Instant Access Account, Prize Savings Account, General Investment Account and Stocks & Shares ISA. The Chip Pension does not count.

What happens if my balance drops below £1,000?

The 90-day countdown restarts from zero once you bring the balance back up to £1,000, so keep a buffer above the threshold.

When is the reward delivered?

After the qualifying criteria are met. You have 120 calendar days from being referred to complete everything, including the 90-day holding period, before the referral offer expires.

Where is the £50 paid?

Into your Chip Instant Access Account, or your Prize Savings Account if you do not have an Instant Access Account open. One of those two accounts must be open for the bonus to be applied.

Does the bonus earn interest or prize entries?

No. Bonus payments do not count towards your balance when interest is calculated, and do not count towards your cash balance for Prize Savings Account draw entries. When you withdraw, bonus payments can take up to five working days to reach your linked bank account.

What happens if the code is not recognised?

The usual cause is a mismatched email address — you must onboard using the same address you entered on the referral page. If more than 30 days have passed, re-enter your email before downloading, or add the code manually after sign-up. Where one email is used for multiple referrals, Chip only redeems the most recent one.

Can the referral offer be combined with other promotions?

The boosted Smart Cash ISA rate cannot be combined with another boosted-rate promotion, as only one promotional rate can apply to that account at a time. Chip also reserves the right to modify or end the referral promotion at any time.

Which Chip features are most useful after joining?

Automatic Savings Plans and goals for building the habit, the boosted Instant Access or Smart Cash ISA rates for your cash, the Prize Savings Account for tax-free draw entries, and the Stocks & Shares ISA or SIPP when you are ready to invest.

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Verdict

The Chip referral offer is one of the more straightforward UK savings bonuses available: £50 in cash for depositing £1,000 and leaving it alone for 90 days, in an account you can still access at any time. It works especially well because you are not being paid to park money somewhere uncompetitive — new customers get a boosted 3.51% AER on the Instant Access Account or 4.60% AER on the flexible Smart Cash ISA, with FSCS protection up to £120,000 on eligible deposits, so the bonus stacks on top of a genuinely good home for cash.

Beyond the bonus, Chip earns its place as a long-term app: automatic saving that builds a habit without effort, a monthly tax-free prize draw for savers who like upside, mainstream tracker funds in a Stocks & Shares ISA, and a BlackRock LifePath pension — all in one place, for free on the Basic plan. The main things to plan around are the 90-day holding period, the fact that a dip below £1,000 restarts the clock, and Chip being app-only. If you have £1,000 you will not need for three months, entering CHIP-BGK748 at sign-up is an easy £50 on top of a competitive rate.

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References

1. Chip — Refer a friend
2. Chip — Referral terms and conditions
3. Chip — Instant Access Account
4. Chip — Smart Cash ISA
5. Chip — Prize Savings Account
6. Chip — Membership plans and pricing
7. Chip — How we protect your money