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Virgin Money review

Updated September 28, 2026 · SumCue Editorial Team · Facts checked September 26, 2026

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Our verdict

Virgin Money suits UK households wanting everyday spending, travel money and card clearing under a single roof. It wins on running costs: the current account charges £0 a month and converts currency for 0%, while the credit card side is the weak point at 27.9% representative APR.

Key facts

Best for
UK households that want a fee free current account and card for everyday spending and travel money.
Monthly fee
£0↗
Currency conversion fee
0%↗
Card type
Debit↗
Legal entity
Nationwide Building Society (trading as Virgin Money)↗
Headquarters
United Kingdom↗
Support channels
Phone, Email, Help-centre↗
Features
Travel
Official website
virginmoney.com

Credit cards

APR
27.9%↗
Rewards type
Cashback↗
Balance transfer intro period
21 months↗
Balance transfer fee
2.95%↗
Perks
Up to 21 months 0% interest on balance transfers, Up to 21 months 0% interest on purchases, Money transfer option, Virgin Money Cashback offers in the credit card app, 24/7 in-app chat support with Redi, Virgin Money Rewards and Virgin Red offers↗
Card kind
Credit↗

Facts checked September 26, 2026, 4 sources

Apps and profiles

Get the app
App Store
Elsewhere
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Pros and cons

Pros

  • Keeping the current account costs £0 a month, so there is no standing charge to offset against the balance.
  • The account's card converts currency for 0%, against a conversion fee of 0.1% at Wise.
  • Help is reachable on phone, email and help centre, which includes a phone line as well as email and a help centre.
  • The brand sits on a building society licence: Nationwide Building Society (trading as Virgin Money) holds a Prudential Regulation Authority licence in the United Kingdom, 106078.
  • The credit card offers 21 months of interest free on balance transfers and pays rewards of the cashback type.

Cons

  • Anything carried or bought on the credit card outside an interest free period costs 27.9% representative APR, well above the 15.5% APR most cards in this comparison sit at.
  • A fee of 2.95% applies to a balance transfer, so the interest free offer is not a straight move between lenders.
  • Account queries run on phone, email and help centre, while the round the clock in-app chat with Redi listed under Up to 21 months 0% interest on balance transfers, Up to 21 months 0% interest on purchases and Money transfer option belongs to the credit card, not the current account.
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Who it suits

  • Households that spend or travel abroad: the account's card converts currency for 0% where Wise lists 0.1%.
  • Readers clearing old card balances, who can move them onto 21 months of interest free balance transfers for a fee of 2.95% instead of a secured card such as Varo Believe Secured Credit Card.
  • Customers who want a building society behind the brand: Nationwide Building Society (trading as Virgin Money) holds a Prudential Regulation Authority licence in the United Kingdom, 106078, and help runs on phone, email and help centre.

Who should look elsewhere

  • Anyone after a euro account rather than a UK one: bunq's monthly fee is €0, and Virgin Money's operation sits in the United Kingdom.
  • Readers who will not carry a balance at 27.9% representative APR or pay 2.95% to move one, who would do better on a secured card such as Varo Believe Secured Credit Card.

Fees and currency costs

Keeping the current account costs £0 a month, and the card that comes with it converts currency for 0%. Those two lines do most of the work in this review. A standing monthly charge of nothing removes the first thing readers check on a current account, and a conversion charge of nothing matters more to anyone whose spending regularly leaves the UK. Read together, they mean ordinary use of the account and its card adds nothing to the household's regular outgoings, while a card that converts at a percentage would quietly add to the cost of every trip abroad. There is no hidden running cost here for anyone keeping money in sterling and spending it in sterling.

Where it sits among rivals

On this site's rankings Virgin Money places 1 of 258 brands for currency conversion fee and 1 of 422 brands for monthly fee. A high placing on each of those measures is unusual, because the fee free end of the debit card market is crowded and these two are often won by different brands. The conversion ranking is the one that matters to readers who travel or shop in another currency, and the monthly fee ranking is the one that matters to everyone else. Readers weighing a different measure, such as the rate charged on a credit card balance, should treat this as a strong result on cost alone.

Rates and terms

The credit card runs at 27.9% representative APR and offers 21 months of interest free on balance transfers, so the two figures pull in opposite directions. The interest free window is the reason to move a balance, and it only pays if that balance is cleared inside it. The APR governs everything outside the window, including spending on the card that is not covered by an interest free period, and it decides whether a cleared balance is cheap to hold. Read the window as a deadline rather than as a rate: the longer it is, the more room a reader has to bring the balance down before the rate takes over.

Using it day to day

The account issues a debit card, so spending comes straight out of the balance in the account and there is no borrowing decision to make at the till. Help runs on phone, email and help centre, covering a phone line, email and a help centre, which are the routes most UK bank customers expect to use. A debit card also means the balance cannot be spent past what sits in the account, so the cost of a mistake is capped at the money held there. People who want to spread spending beyond the balance are looking at the credit card side, where the card kind is credit and an APR applies.

Who runs it

Virgin Money is not a standalone bank. The account is run by Nationwide Building Society (trading as Virgin Money), so the contract sits with a building society, and the operation is based in the United Kingdom. That structure matters for readers who weigh the safety of the money, because the business behind the brand is supervised in the UK by the Prudential Regulation Authority, with the licence recorded as 106078. Support contacts belong to the same operation, so phone, email and help centre reach the entity that actually holds the account. Anyone weighing an unfamiliar name should weigh the licence holder, not the brand printed on the card.

How Virgin Money compares

Where Virgin Money is available

Available
United Kingdom
Licence in United Kingdom
Prudential Regulation Authority (106078), checked September 26, 2026

Countries from the brand (Source, checked September 26, 2026)

Frequently asked questions

What does the Virgin Money current account cost each month?+

The monthly fee is £0, so holding the account and using its card adds nothing to regular outgoings. That sits alongside 0% to convert currency on the account's card, the second figure most readers check. The account ranks 1 of 422 brands on the monthly fee measure on this site.

Does the card cost anything when I spend in another currency?+

The currency conversion charge on the account's card is 0%, and that is the figure that decides whether spending abroad is cheap to run. Wise lists a conversion fee of 0.1%, and most cards here convert at a percentage, so the gap matters for regular travellers. Virgin Money ranks 1 of 258 brands on this measure.

Who runs Virgin Money and who regulates it?+

The brand is run by Nationwide Building Society (trading as Virgin Money), so the account is held with a building society operating in the United Kingdom. It is supervised in the UK by the Prudential Regulation Authority, with the licence recorded as 106078. Readers checking the safety of the money should look at the licence holder rather than the name on the card.

What rate do I pay if I borrow on the credit card?+

The representative APR on the credit card is 27.9%, and that rate is what applies once an interest free period ends, or to spending not covered by one. This is a credit card, separate from the debit card on the current account, so readers spending the account balance never pay it. A fee of 2.95% applies when a balance is transferred in.

How long is the interest free period on a balance transfer?+

Balance transfers get 21 months of interest free, and the card also offers the same window on purchases, with a money transfer option. The fee for using the offer is 2.95%. Treat the window as a deadline: the balance has to come down inside it, and 27.9% applies to whatever is left afterwards.

How do I get help if something goes wrong?+

Help runs on phone, email and help centre, covering a phone line, email and a help centre. The round the clock in-app chat with Redi listed under Up to 21 months 0% interest on balance transfers, Up to 21 months 0% interest on purchases and Money transfer option sits with the credit card, along with cashback offers in the same app. For a current account query, the phone line, email and help centre are the routes listed for the account.

Does the card pay anything back?+

The card's reward type is cashback, and the account listing shows a travel focus under travel. Virgin Money cashback offers sit in the credit card app, alongside Virgin Money Rewards and Virgin Red offers. Readers wanting spending money back are looking at the credit card, which is where those offers are listed.

What kind of card comes with the account?+

The current account issues a debit card, so money leaves the balance in the account rather than a credit line, and the listed account feature is travel. The same brand also runs a credit card, where the card kind is credit and the representative APR is 27.9%. Anyone wanting to spend beyond the balance is looking at that card instead.

Sources

  • uk.virginmoney.com/cards/products/all-round-cards checked September 26, 2026

    Backs: APR, Balance transfer fee, Balance transfer intro period, Card kind, Perks, Rewards type

    “All round credit cards. Representative example: If you borrow £1,200 at a purchase rate of 27.9% (variable) a year, your representative APR is 27.9% APR (variable).”

  • uk.virginmoney.com/current-accounts/compare-accounts checked September 26, 2026

    Backs: Features, Monthly fee

    “A debit card which works worldwide”

  • uk.virginmoney.com/current-accounts/pca checked September 26, 2026

    Backs: Card type, Currency conversion fee

    “a contactless debit card that works worldwide”

  • uk.virginmoney.com/legals checked September 26, 2026

    Backs: Headquarters, Legal entity, Support channels, Licences

    “Head Office: Nationwide House, Pipers Way, Swindon, Wiltshire, SN38 1NW”

Compiled from 4 source pages, checked September 26, 2026. We did not open an account.

Not confirmed yet: Free ATM withdrawals, Protection.

Virgin Money

Virgin Money

UK households that want a fee free current account and card for everyday spending and travel money.

9.4/10See alternatives