Barclays axes Blue Rewards cash bonuses worth £14 per month

Barclays Blue Rewards customers will no longer receive monthly cash rewards worth up to £14 from September 4 onwards. Barclays will remove the £5 monthly cash Loyalty Reward paid out to customers with two or more Direct Debits. Product cash rewards, including the £3 residential mortgage reward, £1.50 life insurance reward, £5 life plus critical illness reward, and £1 Barclayloan reward are all being removed as well.

Product cash rewards are paid to customers who take out products with Barclays. Customers with a residential mortgage, Barclayloan, life insurance and critical illness cover through Barclays.

Customers need to meet various eligibility criteria including depositing at least £800 per month and paying a £5 monthly fee to be eligible for Barclays Blue Rewards.

While Barclays is slashing its cash rewards, it is bringing in free Apple TV+ and MLS Season Pass subscriptions for all its customers.

Barclays Blue Rewards introduces free Apple TV+ and MLS Season Pass subscriptions

Barclays Blue Rewards customers will now have access to a free Apple TV+ subscription (typically worth £8.99 a month) as well as a Major League Soccer Pass subscription (typically worth £14.99 a month).

Apple TV+ is a streaming service that comes with original content and on-demand series and films such as Ted Lasso and Dark Matter. Major League Soccer is a US-based men's professional soccer league and the MLS subscription allows customers in the UK to watch all MLS matches as well as various pre-match interviews, analyses and highlights.

Members who already have an Apple TV+ and MLS Season Pass can still benefit by pausing their existing subscriptions and starting a new one through Barclays. So while the cash rewards are being removed, the added benefit of Apple TV+ and the MLS Season Pass could be enough to sway some customers towards a Barclays Blue Rewards subscription.

Is Barclays Blue Rewards still worth it after the changes?

Whether Barclays Blue Rewards is still worth having after the cash rewards change depends on what you want from the account. For instance, if you're a Barclays customer with multiple Barclays products, you could stand to "lose" up to £14 a month as a result of the changes.

But while the cash rewards are a lucrative benefit of Barclays Blue Rewards, there are other advantages of being a Barclays Blue Rewards customer. These include:

• Access to the Rainy Day Saver with a 5.12% AER on balances up to £5,000
• Access to the Blue Rewards Saver with an interest rate of 3.56% AER in months where you don't access your savings
• Access to cashback worth up to 15% when you shop with selected retailed using the Barclays Visa debit card linked to the Cashback Rewards account
• Free Apple+ TV subscription and Major League Soccer Pass subscription

In order to benefit from these rewards, Barclays customers need to:

• Pay a £5 monthly fee
• Have an eligible Barclays current account
• Have at least £800 in the nominated current account each month
• Be at least 18 and a UK resident
• Be registered for the Barclay app and provide an email address
• Have two or more Direct Debits (to qualify for the £5 Loyalty Reward available until September 4)

All Barclays customers who meet the eligibility criteria can join Blue Rewards via the app or online.

While the new changes mean that customers will, at the very least, lose out on the £5 Loyalty Reward which essentially gave them access to the Blue Rewards scheme for free, other perks like higher interest rates on savings products and free access to streaming services like Apple TV+ could still make Blue Rewards worth it for some.

Switch to the best rewards accounts in the UK and earn bonuses

If you're unsure whether Barclays Blue Rewards is right for you following the changes to the scheme, you may want to explore the wide range of bank account switch offers available right now.

Lloyds Bank, for instance, is offering £175 to customers who switch to a Club Lloyds Bank account with benefits including Disney+ or free cinema tickets, a 6.25% AER regular saver, and the option to waive your £3 monthly fee if you deposit at least £2,000 each month. Santander is also offering up to £175 for customers who switch to a Standander Edge or Edge Up account; perks include cashback, vouchers, offers, and prize draws as well as a savings account with a 7.00% AER interest rate.

These are just some of the accounts offering switching bonuses and various rewards right now. So whether you're happy with the new Barclays changes or not, you have options available to you.