March 2023: This offer is no longer active

Ad – this is a paid collaboration with Chip about ensuring that people stash cash away. 

We finally completed on our house last month, and nothing says ‘happy new home' than unexpected expenses cropping up. We know it is important to have an emergency fund but we weren't quite expecting to be hit with extra costs straight away. There were planned costs like stamp duty and solicitor's fees, plus a few purchases we made (there's even a rose gold bin in the mix) but there have been some unexpected costs cropping up. The oven didn't work which was very crucial in the run up to Christmas, and the fireplace didn't work either – something we had been really looking forward to using. Thankfully we have been ensuring we stash away some cash to pay for these unexpected costs. 

You might be looking to stash cash away for a particular event or item – like Christmas 2020, a holiday or something you have been keeping your eye on. Or you might just want to build up a safety net of money for unexpected costs (like getting our broken oven sorted). 

The problem with putting money aside is that we're not very good at it, are we? With day to day expenses it can feel difficult to know how much money to put aside and it puts us off putting any money aside.

That's where Chip comes in to help you to stash money away effortlessly.

How does Chip work?

Once you have signed up to Chip you need to connect your bank account using your online banking credentials. These are not accessed by Chip – your bank will use Open Banking to share your transaction data. 

Chip uses AI magic to help you to stash away money automatically. They have used data from over 180 million transactions cross referenced with information about you (like your age, where you live and more) to work out how much money to stash away. They move your money into a Chip account every few days, which is called an automatic save.

You can even cancel the automatic save before the money leaves your bank account. The Chip app will notify you that an automatic save is due to be made, and if you need to cancel it you can. 

Chip's auto-save magic is very smart and will only auto-save the right amount of money – enough to be useful (more than pennies) but not enough that you notice your bank balance dropping too much – and it will never put you into your overdraft. 

What's more, you can also change the settings within the Chip app depending on how aggressively you want to save. I lowered mine for the Christmas period as you can see here. 

You can also add money manually when you want, at any time!

Chip works with NatWest, Halifax, Lloyds, Nationwide, Barclays, HSBC, First Direct, Santander, TSB, RBS, Metro Bank, Co-operative Bank, Monzo, Starling and Revolut to name a few. After you fully connect your bank, Chip can use your transaction data to calculate exactly how much you can afford to put aside, based on how much you’re spending.

Chip goals

One of my favourite Chip features is the Chip goals. 

You can use these to set up goals or different money pots for different things. 

You can customise these, including how much of the money that is auto-saved gets allocated to each Chip goal pot. 

How to get money out of Chip

If you need to dip into your stashed cash for anything 

Withdrawing is really simple. You will need your bank account details (sort code and account number).

Withdraw before 5pm on a working day and the money will be in your bank account on the same day; withdraw at the weekend of after 5pm then it will be in your bank account the next working day.

Is Chip safe?

Chip relies on Open Banking technology which was introduced by the Government) and your data is protected by 128-bit encryption. 

It is important to note that Chip is not a savings account and doesn't have FSCS protection. With Chip your money is stored as e-money. Chip are a registered agent of Prepaid Financial Services Ltd., which is authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority under the Electronic Money Regulations 2011 (firm ref. no. 900036) for the issuing of electronic money.

Stash cash and get a £10 bonus

New Chip users who click through my link, enter code ‘CHIP-KCP269‘ and register can get a £10 bonus once you have topped up your account with a minimum of £1. Leave the £1 in your account for 30 days and you will receive a £10 free bonus.