Asda, Tesco, Iceland and Co-op all offer Christmas schemes, and there’s a trick to get the bonus without risking your cash
The idea behind these supermarket savings schemes is to help people gradually save up some money that can be used at Christmas when food bills are usually higher.
As an incentive, some supermarkets offer a small bonus, normally between 2% and 6%. But you can take advantage of a loophole where you can get the full bonus paid out, yet you’d only need to “save” your cash for a day or two.
Here’s how they work, and how to get the best return possible.
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Why we’re not a fan of Christmas saving stamps
First, these are marketed as alternatives to saving at a bank. But any money held in a bank is protected if the bank goes bust. If these supermarkets were to go under, or if you lost the gift card or voucher once it’s been paid out, you’d lose all your money.
You’ve also got less flexibility in how, when and where you spend your savings via these schemes. They tend to require you to spend your stamps in December, and obviously you can only spend them at one retailer.
Not only does that restrict the supermarket you use, but if you have an emergency, you can’t use the money you put into stamps for any other reason. You might also not get change from your vouchers, pushing you to buy things you don’t need to reach the voucher value.
There are other options for people who want to save regularly in the build-up to Christmas, with banks and building societies currently paying rates of up to 6%. You can find the best rates in our summary.
So generally, we tend to stay clear. But there is a trick where you can avoid most of the pitfalls but gain the free bonus.
Getting the most out of Christmas bonus schemes
Here’s the hack. The bonus on these cards isn’t paid until a set bonus day. So it’s only the amount saved on that date that counts. Plus, there’s often no requirement to save each week or month to use these schemes.
This means you can instead pay in as much as you can (up to the set limits) just before the scheme closes. Literally on the final day if you want.
Say you put in £120. You’ll then be entitled to the same bonus as someone who’s saved £10 a month since last Christmas.
Until you do this, you should be paying your money into a high-paying current account. So you’ll have earned money in those accounts too. Double win!
But just make sure you’re aware of the risks and limitations with each card, such as deadlines to spend the money on your supermarket Christmas card.
The Christmas saver schemes
We’ve explained each of the main schemes and their deadlines below. But before you try this trick out yourself, do make sure you can spend the amount you save at that supermarket in the time given.
We are talking about small amounts of money unless you buy multiple cards. So it’s only worth the effort if you are shopping at those retailers anyway.
And if you’re wondering where a couple of the big supermarkets are, both Sainsbury’s and Morrisons have opted to axe their Christmas savings schemes this year.
Asda Christmas Savings Card 2026
You can collect your card in-store, and then register it online.
The deadline to add funds onto an Asda Christmas Savings Card is 5pm 15 November 2026. The bonus will be applied by 9am on 16 November.
The bonus increases the more you save
- £1 bonus when you save between £30 and £79
- £3 bonus when you save between £80 and £129
- £6 bonus when you save between £130 and £179
- £9 bonus when you save between £180 and £229
- £12 bonus when you save between £230 and £279
- £15 bonus when you save £280 or more (max amount per card)
With this and all the other schemes, those savings are not cumulative. So, put £80 on the card and you’ll only get £3, not £1 for the first £70 and another £3 for getting over the £80 threshold.
However, you don’t need to put the money down gradually – you can do it in lump sums. We’ve found that you can put up to £140 in at a time, so you can make two payments to get the full amount available.
The most effective way to do this is to keep your cash in a savings account, and then pay whatever you can afford by 15 November to earn the bonus.
With the highest level (£280) it’s the equivalent of 5.3% extra free. If you only save £79 it’s 1.25% extra.
There’s no limit to how many cards you can have. This could be useful if you’re short of hitting the bottom of a new level. For example, it’s better to have two £30 cards than one with £60.
Also you can use them all year round, not just in December.
BEST VALUE: £280 earns £15 = 5.3% bonus
Asda Rewards Cashpot 2026
Asda has an additional Christmas savings scheme for Asda Rewards members.
The Christmas Saver Cashpot is a feature in the Rewards app that works by allowing you to transfer money earned from your regular Asda Cashpot to the Christmas Saver Cashpot.
There are sometimes ways to get additional bonuses into your cashpot, you’ll find these on the homepage when they come along.
You can transfer money into your Christmas Saver Cashpot until 15 November 2026, and you can convert your Christmas Saver Cashpot into vouchers to spend at Asda, in-store or online, from 20 November until 31 December 2026, after which they will expire.
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Plus, new TopCashback customers get a high paying £18 welcome offer
Co-op Saving Stamps 2026
You buy actual physical stamps with the Co-op scheme. Each stamp costs £1, and you put them in a booklet which you can use at the till whenever you want.
But to get a bonus (£2), you need to have filled a book, which is 48 stamps. Hand this over at the till, and you’ll get £50 knocked off your bill. That’s the equivalent of 4% extra. This bonus is only available in December, though you can use and buy the stamps every month of the year.
There’s no limit to the number of cards you can have, so you can have multiple cards to add stamps to. But make sure you don’t lose your cards as there’s no protection.
So the best option here is to buy 48 stamps just before you want to shop. Stick them all in, then hand it over. You will need to spend the full amount, so that’s a shop of £50 or more.
BEST VALUE: £48 earns £2 = 4% bonus
Iceland Bonus Card Christmas boost 2026
This scheme from Iceland runs all year, so it isn’t technically a Christmas scheme. You get £1 for every £20 you add to your account, worth 5%. The bonus should be added within 48 hours.
However, once again this year, a Christmas bonus is available. If you hit the savings target of £100 by 5 November, you’ll get a £15 Christmas bonus on top of the standard bonus. You should receive your bonus by 22 November.
You can use the app or pick up a temporary card in Iceland stores, and you will be posted a full card once you register online.
It’s a limit of one Bonus Card per customer and there’s a maximum of £1,000 that can be added to your card. Cards expire 24 months after you last use them.
BEST VALUE: £100 earns £15 = 15% bonus
Tesco Christmas Saver 2026
The Tesco Christmas Saver 2026 is live so you can start saving now. Here’s how it works.
You’ll need to opt in to switch your usual Clubcard vouchers for Christmas vouchers before 25 October 2026.
To earn a Christmas bonus, you can top-up your Clubcard with money throughout the year via the Tesco app or Clubcard website, up to £360. Just click on the Christmas Savers banner on the app or website and select ‘Top up now’. Bonuses are calculated as follows:
- £1.50 bonus when you save between £25 and £49
- £3 bonus when you save between £50 and £99
- £6 bonus when you save between £100 and £199
- £12 bonus when you save £200 to £360
You get the top-ups and any bonuses sent as vouchers in your November Clubcard statement, alongside any Clubcard vouchers you’ve earned. You can then spend them in Tesco online, in-store or on petrol. You can’t boost them with Clubcard partners.
Clubcard vouchers and top-up vouchers are valid for 2 years, and the bonus vouchers are valid for 3 months.
BEST VALUE: £100 earns £6 or £200 earns £12 = 6% bonus
Saver scheme deadlines
To make sure you don’t miss out, here are the last dates to add money to the schemes for 2026:
| Supermarket | Last date to add money | Maximum bonus |
| Tesco | 25 October 2026 | 6% |
| Asda | 15 November 2026 | 5.3% |
| Iceland | 5 November 2026 | 15% |
| Co-op | 31 December 2026 | 4% |
Are Christmas Saver Schemes worth it?
Christmas savings schemes can be a pretty good way of earning an extra boost on your money, as well as spreading the cost of Christmas a little. However, with the best earning 6%, except Iceland’s 20% for select people, there are better ways to save for Christmas.
One way could be by getting discounted gift cards using an app like JamDoughnut, HyperJar or Airtime or a cashback site like TopCashback. Right now, some of the above supermarkets let you earn up to 5% with JamDoughnut. Of course, some schemes can get you pretty good returns, but only if you save above a certain amount. You could have additional flexibility using discounted gift cards. Plus, if you haven’t used these before, there are additional welcome bonuses available, including £18 from TopCashback or £4 from JamDoughnut.
