Barclays is offering £750 cashback for Isa transfers and life insurance: Is it worth signing up?

Barclays has launched a new offer that pays up to £750 cashback if you both transfer an Isa and take out a new life insurance policy.

You must have either a regular or Premier current account with the bank and transfer an Isa of at least £10,000 to be eligible for a minimum £50 reward.

The maximum £600 cashback is reserved for Premier account holders who transfer an Isa of £100,000 or more. 

When it comes to life insurance, you can get either £100 or £150 cashback depending on the type of cover you take out and the current account you hold.

As ever, it’s important you don’t transfer an Isa or take out a financial product based on cashback alone. 

Check interest rates, fees and the small print to make sure it’s suitable for you. Both offers run from September 8 to November 25.

The good news is that Barclays’ rates are strong currently, with 4.3 per cent available on its one-year fixed Isa. 

By comparison, the best rate on a similar one-year fix is currently offered by Tandem Bank at 4.76 per cent. 

If you transfer £10,000 to the Barclays account rather than Tandem’s, you’ll be better off by £4 once factoring in the cashback.

How can you get the top £750 reward with Barclays?

Here’s an overview of the rewards on the table:

Taking out a Barclays life insurance policy:

• Normal current account holders must have a premium of at least £10 a month to get a £100 reward.
• Premier account holders who have a minimum £12.50 monthly premium can qualify for a £150 reward – if the premium is lower than £12.50 but above £10 the reward is £100.

Note that there are several major hoops to jump through to be eligible for cashback.

The first is you must have a normal or Premier current account to qualify for either offer.

Secondly, the best rates of cashback are available only to Premier account holders. To be one, you must have an annual income of at least £75,000, or a total balance of at least £100,000 in savings and investments with Barclays.

Thirdly, only transfers to a fixed-rate single access or Premier triple-access Isa qualify – and the bank doesn’t allow transfers from its own Isas, or from lifetime, help to buy or innovative finance Isas held elsewhere.

Finally, the life insurance reward applies to either Barclays’ simple life insurance or life insurance for mortgage protection. You must apply for the cover and then buy the policy within six months.

> Read more: Nationwide doubles annual cashback on FlexDirect current account

How do Barclays’ Isa rates stack up?

It’s a good idea to check the rates available elsewhere before going ahead with cashback.

Have a look at this example of someone with £10,000 to transfer from another Isa:

• Barclays is offering 4.3 per cent on its single-access one-year fixed Isa, so £10,000 earns £430 interest after a year.
• The best one-year fixed Isa available elsewhere is available from Tandem Bank at 4.76 per cent, so £10,000 earns £476 interest after a year.
• Including the £50 cashback you’ll earn just £4 more with Barclays, so you should consider whether it’s worth jumping through Barclays’ hoops for this amount.

If you can transfer more for a better rate of cashback, you should run similar calculations to work out whether you’ll really be better off. 

The slim rewards on offer mean that deals like this may be more worthwhile for existing Barclays customers who are already considering transferring and would like the extra incentive to do so.