Make your money go further
Find the best deals, avoid scams, and grow your savings with our expert guidance. From only £4.99 a month.
Join Which? MoneyCancel anytime.
Yonder launches free reward credit card – is it any good?
Spending points might be tricky if you don't visit London frequently
A new free reward credit card aimed at Londoners has been launched by challenger brand Yonder.
The Yonder Credit Card enables you to earn reward points for every £1 spent, which can then be redeemed with experience partners around London. It also offers fee-free spending abroad.
Yonder previously only offered a premium credit card that comes with a hefty £15 monthly fee. Here, Which? takes a closer look at what the new free deal offers, and how it compares to other reward credit cards.
What does the Yonder card offer?
Yonder launched in 2022 with a focus on Londoners, although it does have plans to expand to other cities.
The challenger brand said the card was aimed at 'city adventurers' who want to discover more of the best things to eat, drink and do in their city.
The new free version of the card offers two main perks:
Reward points
You get one Yonder point for every £1 spent and ‘up to five’ per £1 with experience partners.
Points can only be redeemed at Yonder’s experience partners based around London, and these change each month. These include entertainment venues, restaurants and bars and wellness and fitness hotspots.
Some partners include restaurant Bao, Speedboat Bar, fitness brand F45 and meal prep firms Lions Prep and Dishpatch.
Yonder points don't have an expiry date, so you can save them up to spend when it suits you.
Fee-free spending abroad
There are no fees for spending abroad, and you can earn Yonder points on these purchases.
Yonder uses the Mastercard exchange rate.
- Find out more: best credit cards to use abroad
What’s in the small print?
The card has no monthly fee and comes with a purchase rate of 32.9% and a representative APR of 32.9% (variable).
You’ll get a digital card, but if you want a plastic card this will cost £5.
Those looking to apply should first carry out an eligibility check on the Yonder website, which will perform a soft search on your credit file.
It also offers weekly and fortnightly bill payment options to encourage members to pay back their statements in full.
Free vs premium membership
The premium Yonder card has all the same features as the free one, but you’ll earn more points per £1 spent, as well as some additional perks.
With the premium version of the card you get five points per £1 spent, and up to 25 points at Yonder partners.
You’ll also get 10,000 bonus points when you sign up – worth up to £50 to spend on experiences.
The premium version also includes worldwide travel insurance provided by Qover.
It's also worth noting that the premium card has a lower purchase rate of 29.94%, but its representative APR (which takes into account the £15 monthly fee) is 66.7% (variable).
- Find out more: best travel insurance providers
How many Yonder points can you earn?
Yonder said members using its new free card could earn up to £120 a year in rewards value, by spending £2,000 a month on the card.
For every £2,000 spent, you earn 2,000 Yonder points. This would be worth £10 towards experiences. This roughly equates to 2 Yonder points being worth 1p.
With the premium card, you'd earn 5 points per £1 spent so, using the same spending scenario of £2,000 per month, you would earn 10,000 points per month or 120,000 per year. This would be worth £600 a year. However, you'd have to spend £180 in membership fees (£160 if paid annually, rather than monthly).
- Find out more: credit card interest calculator
How does the Yonder card compare?
It’s hard to directly compare the Yonder card with other reward credit cards, as it's an unusual deal, mainly suited to those who live in London.
But for reference, we’ve compared it with other fee-free credit cards that offer points for some of the biggest loyalty rewards schemes in the UK. We've ordered the cards alphabetically.
| Credit card | Points earnt with partners | Points earnt elsewhere | What one point is worth | What you can spend points on | Representative APR |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| American Express Nectar Credit Card | 3 per £1 spent | 2 per £1 spent | 0.5p | Nectar partners, including British Airways, retailers and coffee shops | 37.8% |
| American Express Rewards Credit Card | 1 per £1 spent | 1 per £1 spent | 0.6p* | Amex partners including hotels, flights, retailers and diners | 31% |
| Tesco Low APR Credit Card | 5 per £4 spent | 1 per £8 spent | 1p | Tesco Clubcard partners including Virgin Atlantic, restaurants and days out | 10.9% |
| Yonder Credit Card | Up to 5 per £1 spent | 1 per £1 spent | 0.5p | Yonder partners including restaurants, bars and fitness and entertainment | 32.9% |
Amex points can be worth more depending on where they are redeemed.
All the providers in our comparison roughly offer the same value per point (0.5p) except Tesco where 1 point is worth 1p. However, it’s much harder to earn Tesco Clubcard points with external retailers (1 point per £8 spent).
If you want the flexibility of earning points on all your spending, both Yonder and American Express have competitive options.
However, it’s worth remembering that Yonder curates the experiences you can spend on, so your favourite restaurant or fitness spot might not be available all the time. Currently, most of the partners are based in London, so you would need to visit the city at least once a month to make the most of your card.
Whichever reward card you use, remember to put as much everyday spending on the card each month to maximise your points, and pay it back in full to avoid paying interest.
- Find out more: best cashback and reward credit cards
