Santander Fees: Overdraft, Card Abroad and Payment Charges

Santander’s Everyday Current Account has no monthly fee, Santander Edge costs £3 a month and Edge Up £5 a month. On all three, the arranged overdraft is 39.94% APR/EAR representative (variable) and an unarranged overdraft costs nothing. Abroad, the accounts differ: the Everyday debit card has a 2.95% foreign currency conversion fee, and the Edge cards have none.

This page is part of our Santander UK guide. Each figure on this page is from the Fee Information Document for that account (all three effective from 28 April 2026) or from Santander’s own account pages, read on 28 September 2026.

Santander’s fees by account

Santander’s fee documents also note that fees may apply to services they don’t list, and point to its General Terms and Conditions for the full picture.

Monthly fees and what they buy

The Everyday Current Account has no monthly fee and no minimum amount to pay in. Santander Edge costs £3 a month and Edge Up £5, and to earn their 1% cashback on selected household bills (capped at £10 and £15 a month respectively) you pay in at least £500 or £1,500 a month and keep 2 active Direct Debits. The accounts themselves, including Edge Up’s credit interest, are compared on our Santander UK overview.

Worked example: when Edge cashback covers the fee. At 1% cashback, you need £300 a month of qualifying bills (council tax, phone, broadband and paid-for TV, gas and electricity, water) paid by Direct Debit to earn back the £3 Edge fee. The £10 cap is reached at £1,000 of bills, which leaves you £7 a month ahead after the fee. TV licences, LPG or Calor gas and maintenance contracts such as boiler cover don’t earn cashback. Santander also warns that holding more than one of its cashback accounts can cost you more in fees than you earn.

Edge customers can also open the Santander Edge Saver; its rate and conditions are on our Santander savings accounts page, along with the Regular Saver, which any Santander current account holder can open.

Overdraft charges

An arranged overdraft is a limit you agree with Santander in advance; an unarranged overdraft is when a payment takes you overdrawn without one, or past your limit. On the Everyday, Edge and Edge Up accounts:

• Arranged overdraft: 39.94% APR/EAR representative (variable). Santander’s representative example is an arranged overdraft of £1,200 at that rate. Overdrafts are subject to status, and Santander may offer a smaller limit than you ask for. Santander can ask you to repay all or part of an overdraft at any time (it says it will try to tell you in advance), and how you manage an overdraft can affect your credit file.
• Unarranged overdraft: 0%. Santander doesn’t charge for allowing a payment you don’t have the money for, or for refusing one. It decides whether to let such a payment through based on your circumstances.
• Switching from another bank: you won’t be charged arranged overdraft interest for the first 4 months. After that, the normal arranged overdraft interest applies.
• Alerts: Santander sends free alerts by text, push notification or email when a payment may take you into an arranged or unarranged overdraft, or when it intends to refuse or has refused a payment, so you have time to pay money in.

EAR (effective annual rate) is the yearly cost of the overdraft, allowing for how often interest is charged, and it doesn’t include other fees.

Worked example. Working from the 39.94% EAR, borrowing £500 on an arranged overdraft for 30 days costs roughly £14.00 in interest. Your own rate and the way Santander charges interest decide the exact amount; Santander’s overdraft cost calculator, linked from each current account page, works it out for your own figures. Santander says its overdrafts are intended mainly for short-term costs or emergencies and aren’t generally suitable for longer-term borrowing.

Using your debit card abroad

• Everyday Current Account: a 2.95% foreign currency conversion fee on every card payment and cash withdrawal in a foreign currency.
• Santander Edge and Edge Up: a 0% conversion fee on card payments and cash withdrawals in the local currency. For up to the first 3 working days after you open or transfer to the account, the 2.95% fee applies, and Santander says it won’t refund it. Santander Edge Explorer, a £17-a-month account with travel insurance and other cover, also has a 0% conversion fee.
• Santander cash machines abroad: withdrawals with a Santander debit card are free at Santander machines in Spain, Germany, Poland, Portugal, Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Mexico, Puerto Rico, Uruguay and the USA, on every account.

Worked example. On an Everyday card, a £200 cash withdrawal abroad costs £5.90 in conversion fees, and £1,500 of holiday spending (card payments and cash together) costs £44.25. On an Edge card, the same spending has no Santander conversion fee once the first 3 working days have passed, though the account costs £36 a year in fees whether or not you travel.

Local banks may charge their own fees at their cash machines. Santander applies the Mastercard exchange rate to payments and withdrawals in the local currency, so choose the local currency when a shop or machine offers to charge you in pounds. How much cash you can take out each day, at home or abroad, is on our Santander ATM limit page.

Sending money abroad

International payments from Santander are made in Online Banking (not the app), by phone or in a branch. What you pay:

• Santander’s fee: £25 per international payment from the Everyday Current Account; not charged from Edge or Edge Up. Euro payments by SEPA are free from every account.
• The currency conversion mark-up, built into Santander’s exchange rate rather than shown separately on your statement: 3% on payments up to £10,000, 2% from £10,001 to £50,000 and 1% from £50,001.
• Other banks’ charges. The receiving bank may take a fee. Santander notes that banks in the EEA can deduct fees from SWIFT payments but not from SEPA payments. For payments outside the EEA, you pay only Santander’s charges by default and the recipient bears their bank’s; you can choose to pay the recipient’s charges too (“Expenses paid by” in Online Banking, or ask the phone or branch team), which makes it more likely, though not certain, that the full amount arrives. To receive money from abroad you give the sender your IBAN and Santander’s BIC, both explained in our Santander sort code, IBAN and BIC guide.

Worked example. Sending £1,000 in US dollars to a bank in the USA, the 3% mark-up costs about £30 in the exchange rate. From an Everyday account you also pay the £25 fee, £55 in total; from an Edge account the cost is the mark-up alone. The same £1,000 sent in euros by SEPA has no Santander fee from any account, but the mark-up still applies. Receiving an electronic payment from abroad in a foreign currency has no Santander fee. Other ways to send money overseas, and how to compare their exchange rates, are covered in how to send money abroad cheaply.

CHAPS and other payment charges

Faster Payments, standing orders and Direct Debits are free on all three accounts, and so is receiving a CHAPS payment. Sending a CHAPS payment costs £25 from the Everyday Current Account and nothing from Edge or Edge Up. How much you can send each day, and when you need CHAPS, is on our Santander transfer limit page; neither a standing order nor a Direct Debit costs anything to set up at Santander, and Direct Debit vs standing order explains when to use each. For the timing of CHAPS payments across UK banks, see how long a CHAPS payment takes.

To discuss your overdraft or a charge you think is wrong, or to complain, the numbers are on our Santander customer service page.

Related Santander guides

• Santander UK overview and current accounts
• Santander ATM limit
• Santander transfer limits
• Santander savings accounts