Club Rewards gives M&S Credit Card Customers 3% in reward points, £65 in quarterly vouchers, £12 birthday treat, 32 hot drinks vouchers and unlimited free next day delivery.

M&S Bank is today launching Club Rewards, an optional bolt on product for M&S credit card customers, offering enhanced rewards and a range of shopping vouchers and benefits for just £10 per month.

For regular M&S shoppers, whether online or in-store, Club Rewards delivers a unique set of benefits and excellent value for the monthly fee.

Before we look at the value of the reward points (based on a range of spend scenarios), here’s a full list of the benefits on offer:

• Unlimited next day delivery for M&S online purchases – free standard delivery 3-5 working days is usually only available for purchases over £50 – the usual charge for next day delivery is £4.99.

 

• Birthday Treat Voucher worth £12 – for the cardholder to spend on food/drink treats – The food voucher can be used in food halls and in M&S cafes. The voucher is valid for approximately 5 weeks and is not transferable.

 

• Three £15 Clothing and Home Vouchers – issued quarterly, not transferable.

 

• Christmas £20 Clothing and Home Voucher – There is no minimum spend on this voucher. However, the voucher can only be used once and partial refunds for any unused amount are not permitted. When using the voucher, for any part payment transactions, the balance should be paid using the M&S card on the account. The voucher is not transferable.

 

• 32 Hot drink vouchers – these vouchers have a three-month expiry, when using the voucher, for any part payment transactions, the balance should be paid using the M&S card on the account. There is no cap on the vouchers and coffee prices in M&S Café ranges from £1.75 to £3 however customers have the option to add unlimited extra shots of coffee for 50p each, syrups for 50p each and also switch to a Colombian blend of coffee for an extra 20p.

 

• Reward Points – On top of any M&S Bank Credit Card rewards, Club Rewards gives you an additional 2 points per £1 spent with M&S (making 3 points per £1 with the credit card), as well as three points for every £1 spent abroad (equivalent to the FX fee of 2.99%)

 

 

Club Rewards core benefits requiring no spend:

• £15 Quarterly Home/Clothes Voucher – Spring
• £15 Quarterly Home/Clothes Voucher – Summer
• £15 Quarterly Home/Clothes Voucher – Autumn
• £20 Christmas Quarterly Home/Clothes Voucher
• £12 Birthday Treat Voucher
• £88 – 32 free drinks vouchers @ £2.75 (the average cost of a hot drink at M&S, however there is no upper limit on these vouchers)

Total £165 = (net £45 benefit after allowing for 12 x £10 monthly fees)

In addition, there is unlimited FREE next day delivery (no minimum spend) on M&S purchases – saving a further £4.99 a time.

On top of the benefits of Club Rewards – How much could you earn in reward points each year with an M&S credit card when shopping at M&S online or in store?

 

			Total Return for spend (in M&S Gift Vouchers) option 1		Total Return for spend (in M&S Gift Vouchers) option 2
Monthly spend with M&S	M&S Club Rewards Points 2 per £1 – total per year	M&S Credit Card* Points 1 per £1 – total per year	Total annual return when spending on the M&S Credit Card with Club Rewards membership	M&S Credit Card Rewards offer including introductory offer – 2 Points per £1 (in first 12 months)	Total annual return when spending on the M&S Credit Card Rewards offer including introductory offer and with Club Rewards membership – equivalent 4 points per £1 first 12 months only
£150	3600 (£36)	1800 (£18)	£54	3600 (£36)	£72
£200	4800 (£48)	2400 (£24)	£72	4800 (£48)	£96
£250	6000 (£60)	£3000 (£30)	£90	6000 (£60)	£120
£300	7200 (£72)	3600 (£36)	£108	7200 (£72)	£144
£350	8400 (£84)	4200 (£42)	£126	8400 (£84)	£168
£400	9600 (£96)	£4800 (£48)	£144	9600 (£96)	£192
£600	14400 (£144)	£7200 (£72)	£216	14400 (£144)	£288

* M&S Credit Card Rewards, Shopping Plus and Transfer Plus offers (not including introductory offers)

Like most store brand reward credit cards, the reward for spend elsewhere is much reduced, in the case of M&S it is 1 point per £5 spent.

M&S Credit Card spend elsewhere (Non-M&S spending = 1 point per £5)
Monthly spend	Annual reward
£150	£3.60
£200	£4.80
£250	£6.00
£300	£7.20
£350	£8.40
£400	£9.60
£600	£14.40

 

However, when spending abroad, customers receive three points for every £1 spent.

M&S Credit Card spend abroad (3 points per £1)
Monthly spend	Annual reward
£150	£54
£200	£72
£250	£90
£300	£108
£350	£126
£400	£144
£600	£216

 

How does the M&S Bank Credit Card rewards/cashback compare?

Provider/ Card	Fee	Reward	£150 pm	£200 pm	£300 pm	£350 pm	£400 pm	£600 pm
M&S Credit Card Rewards Offer (including introductory offer) with Club Rewards Membership	£10 p/m	4 points per £1 at M&S   Net annual benefit (without spending) less £120 fee   Net benefit p.a.	£72     £45       £117	£96     £45       £141	£144     £45       £189	£168     £45       £213	£192     £45       £237	£288     £45       £333
Tesco Clubcard Plus	£7.99 p/m	5 points per £4 spent in Tesco Store. Plus 10% off 2 shops pm TOTAL   Fee per annum   Net benefit p.a.	£22.50   £90.00   £112.50   £95.88   £16.62	£30   £120   £150   £95.88   £54.12	£45   £180   £225.00   £95.88   £129.12	£52.50   £210   £262.50   £95.88   £166.62	£60   £240   £300.00   £95.88   £204.12	£90   £360   £450   £95.88   £354.12
M&S Credit Card** with Club Rewards membership	£10 p/m	3 points per £1 at M&S   Net annual benefit (without spending) less £120 fee   Net benefit p.a.	£54     £45       £99	£72     £45       £117	£108     £45       £153	£126     £45       £171	£144     £45       £189	£216     £45       £261
Sainsbury’s Bank Credit Card + Nectar	n/a	3 Nectar Points Per £1 At Sainsburys/Argos/Tu Clothing	£29.25	£39	£58.50	£68.25	£78	£117
John Lewis & Waitrose’s Partnership Card	n/a	5 points per £4 spent at John Lewis or Waitrose	£22.50	£30	£45	£52.50	£60	£90
American Express Everyday Platinum Cashback Card	n/a	Based on standard cashback offer – 5% first 3 months – max £100 No fee 0.5% on first £10k from 4th August Min £3k annual spend to qualify	£0.00	£0.00	£58.50	£68.25	£78.00	£117
American Express Platinum Cashback	£25 annual fee	Based on standard cashback offer – cashback offer – 5% first 3 months – max £125 0.75% on first £10k from 4th August	£0.00	£0.00	£40.25 net of fee	£51.13 net of fee	£62.00 net of fee	£105.50 net of fee

** M&S Credit Card Rewards, Shopping Plus and Transfer Plus offers (not including introductory offers)

 

M&S Bank – current credit card offers (as at 16.06.2021)

• M&S Credit Card Rewards Offer – highly competitive reward rate of 2 points per £1 for first 12 months, then 1 point per £1 thereafter – Representative APR 19.9% variable. In addition, 0% on shopping for 12 months and 0% on balance transfers for 12 months with a fee of 2.9%
• M&S Credit Card Transfer Plus Offer – the market leading balance transfer deal at 29 months with BT Fee of 2.75% – Representative APR 21.9% variable. – Rank equal third out of 51 balance transfer deals
• M&S Credit Card Shopping Plus Offer – highly competitive 0% purchases deal at 20 months – Representative APR 21.9% variable. – Rank equal third place out of 48 introductory purchase deals

 

Summary

My number crunching shows that this is a unique and financially worthwhile product for M&S shoppers, with larger spenders being rewarded with increased reward vouchers on top of the core benefits.

Its components are different from other store brand offerings and the inclusion of unlimited free next day delivery will no doubt prove popular – it’s a key element of Amazon Prime and during the last 12 months, home delivery has been big business and is likely to remain at pre-Covid levels.

For M&S spending of up to £350 per month with any of the M&S Credit Cards – or up to £400 in the first 12 months if customers take out the M&S Credit Card Rewards Offer – it’s the most rewarding offer on the market, for higher monthly spend then Tesco Clubcard Plus comes out on top due to the 10% rebate on your two biggest food shop bills each month.

The Tesco offering costs £7.99 per month and like M&S offers several but different ‘same brand’ benefits such as double data on mobile phones and 10% in store Tesco ranges of clothes and cookware.

The days of an over-arching rewards/cashback programme that rewards you handsomely wherever you shop are a thing of the past, but as far as store branded reward offers go, this is an added value package that delivers and for M&S shoppers is worth a closer look.

 

ENDS

 

Note – This report was commissioned by M&S Bank – I was asked to evaluate the Club Rewards product and look at the value and benefits offered compared with similar products on the market.