Home Finance Tesco Clubcard U-turn after Christmas saving rule left shoppers 'disappointed'

Tesco Clubcard U-turn after Christmas saving rule left shoppers 'disappointed'


Tesco has verified that its well-liked Clubcard Christmas Savers bonus scheme will be accessible to customers this festive season.

The scheme permits you to accumulate your Clubcard points throughout the year to utilise at Christmas. However, if you also supplement your account with cash, you can earn bonuses on top of your savings in the form of Tesco vouchers.

You typically receive your bonus in your November statement and it is then valid for two months. The smallest bonus is worth £1.50 when you save between £25 and £49.50, and the largest is £12, which you get when you save between £200 and £360.

Earlier this year, Tesco announced that the saver scheme was set to alter. In January, it emailed customers to inform them that top-ups would cease from April 2.

This meant shoppers did not have as long to top up their accounts for Christmas, and many could miss out on the full £12 bonus payment, reports the Mirror.

However, the supermarket chain has confirmed today that the bonus scheme was not abolished and will be operating as usual this Christmas and the top-ups were merely paused. The difference now is customers will not be able to top up their accounts in-store, it will have to be done online or through the Tesco app instead.

A Tesco spokesperson has highlighted the benefits of their festive savings initiative: “Our Clubcard Christmas Savers scheme helps customers to save their Clubcard vouchers throughout the year so they can use them for their big Christmas shop. Customers can now top-up their Christmas Savers account online, and manage their account through our website or app, making it easier than ever to earn bonus vouchers to spend at Tesco.”

Tesco has revamped its website with detailed instructions on how shoppers can bolster their savings accounts. The deadline for opting in and topping up this year is October 17, with vouchers being issued in November.

These can be spent on Tesco’s online platform, in stores, or even on fuel, although they cannot be enhanced with Clubcard partner offers.

The validity of the bonus vouchers has been extended to three months, a month longer than before, but they will expire if not used within that timeframe. Meanwhile, the larger top-up vouchers the funds you’ve personally added remain valid for two years, offering flexibility beyond the Christmas period.

When the news first broke, there was an uproar among consumers. One disgruntled customer vented on X previously known as Twitter expressing their disappointment with Tesco’s changes to the Christmas Clubcard Saver, stating: “Very disappointed that @Tesco appears to be doing away with their Christmas Clubcard Saver.”

One disgruntled shopper expressed their dismay on social media, saying: “I shop there and usually like to top up throughout the year ready for our Christmas and New Year food and drink shops but next year you can only top up with them up until 1st April. There’s no way I can save with them the amount I usually do between now and April 1st. I guess I’m going to be switching my loyalty to Sainsbury for our grocery shopping from January. I understand they have a Christmas savings card that isn’t going to be scrapped. @Tesco truly I’m disappointed.”

Another customer voiced their concerns: “That’s poor of @tesco stopping all year for input to the Christmas saver, instead only to Dec to April! It will affect people who struggle at Christmas and can put a little away throughout the year!”

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