Chip Prize Savings Account: prizes, odds and the catch

How does Chip Prize Savings work?

Short answer: you save as normal, earn no interest, and each month your balance gives you entries into a prize draw.

Chip is direct about it: “This account does not offer interest.” Instead of a rate, you get a chance at a share of a monthly prize pool. You can access your money any time, and the money is held with ClearBank, the same bank as Chip’s Instant Access and Easy Access accounts.

It is the same idea as Premium Bonds, run by an app rather than by NS&I. Your money is never at risk from the draw itself: the worst outcome is that you win nothing and earn nothing for that month. The real cost is the interest you could have earned elsewhere.

What are the prizes?

Short answer: Chip advertises a prize pool of £100,000 a month for October 2026, with a Grand Prize of £10,000.

The pool is shared between many winners each month, from the Grand Prize down to smaller amounts. Chip sets the pool and the Grand Prize each month, so they can change; we check them monthly and update this page. To take part you need a £10 minimum average balance. Note the word “average”: dropping a large sum in on the last day of the month is unlikely to give you the same chances as holding it all month.

Most people who hold Prize Savings will win small prizes or nothing in a given month. The Grand Prize is a headline, not an expectation. That is true of every prize draw, including Premium Bonds, and it is worth being clear-eyed about before moving money out of an account that pays interest.

If you do decide to try it, a few habits help. Check the prize pool and Grand Prize in the app each month rather than assuming they stay the same, since Chip sets them month by month. Keep your balance steady through the month, because entry is based on an average. And decide in advance what you will do if you win something you want to spend, given that cashing in means emptying the account.

Are the odds really better than Premium Bonds?

Short answer: that is Chip’s claim, on a specific basis. Chip says 3.5x better odds than Premium Bonds (Chip's own claim).

The small print matters: “Based on odds of winning any prize per £10 held with the Chip Prize Savings Account vs £10 held with NS&I Premium Bonds in September 2025.” So the comparison is about the chance of winning any prize, measured per £10, at one point in time. It does not say you will win more money overall, and it does not say your chance of a large prize is better. Premium Bonds have a top prize far larger than Chip’s Grand Prize, and both providers change their odds and prize funds over time.

A better chance of a small prize can still be worth less than a smaller chance of bigger ones, depending on how the pool is split. The fair way to judge any prize account is to ask what a typical saver ends up with over a year, compared with what they would have earned in interest. Neither provider promises anything there; it is luck.

Prizes are not cash until you withdraw everything

Short answer: Chip adds prizes to your account as a bonus. They only turn into cash when you withdraw your entire Prize Savings balance.

This is the catch, and it is in Chip’s own words: “Prizes are not cash and are applied to your Chip account as a bonus. Prizes become cash once you withdraw your entire Prize Savings Account (“PSA”) balance into your linked bank account. Prizes are not eligible for entry calculation or FSCS protection.”

Here is what that means in practice:

• To spend a prize, you have to empty the account. You cannot just withdraw your winnings and leave your savings in the draw. You take everything out, and the prizes become cash along with it.
• Prizes do not earn you more entries. They are “not eligible for entry calculation”, so a prize sitting in your account does not improve your chances in later draws, the way a cash deposit would.
• Prizes are not FSCS protected while they are a bonus. Your own deposits are covered; unconverted prizes are not.
• Emptying the account is likely to cost you entries. If you want to keep playing after cashing in, you need to pay back in, and because entry depends on an average balance, it may take time to build back up.

None of this makes the account unfair, but it does make it awkward. If you win a prize you want to use, you have to choose between taking everything out or leaving the prize locked up as a bonus. Plan for that before you start, rather than discovering it after a win. Our Chip withdrawals guide covers how withdrawals work across every Chip account.

What do you give up by choosing prizes?

Short answer: the interest. On £5,000, Chip’s Instant Access would pay roughly £176 in year one and roughly £150 a year after that.

Instant Access pays 3.51% AER for 12 months, then 3.00% AER, with unlimited withdrawals. The Smart Cash ISA pays 4.68% AER for 12 months, then 3.50% AER, tax-free. In Prize Savings, the same money earns whatever you happen to win, which for most people in most months is little or nothing. These are rough figures that multiply the balance by the rate and assume the rate stays put.

So the honest test is: would you rather have a predictable amount of interest, or a chance at a larger prize with a likely outcome below that? There is no wrong answer, but it should be a deliberate choice. Every Chip rate is on our Chip interest rates page if you want to compare.

Is Chip Prize Savings protected?

Short answer: your deposits are FSCS protected through ClearBank. Prizes are not, until they become cash.

Chip savings are held with ClearBank and eligible deposits are protected by the FSCS up to £120,000 per person, shared across all your money at ClearBank. That limit is shared, so your Prize Savings, Instant Access and Easy Access balances count together, along with anything else you hold directly with ClearBank. Chip is not a bank: Chip is an app, not a bank: your savings are held with partner banks.

Two things fall outside that protection. Prizes that are still sitting in your account as a bonus are not covered, and Chip’s Group Terms say bonuses are not FSCS protected. Our is Chip safe page goes through Chip’s protection in more detail, and our guide to FSCS protection with savings apps explains how partner-bank cover works.

Does Prize Savings count for the £50 referral bonus?

Short answer: yes. And if you do not have an Instant Access account, Chip pays the bonus into Prize Savings.

Prize Savings is one of Chip’s eligible accounts, alongside Instant Access and the Smart Cash ISA. A new customer who joins through a referral, deposits £1,000 or more into the Smart Cash ISA, the Instant Access Account or the Prize Savings Account, and keeps at least £1,000 there for 90 days in a row can get £50. The bonus is paid into your Chip Instant Access Account (or Prize Savings Account if you do not have one).

Watch the interaction with the prize rules. If you win a prize during the 90 days and want to cash it in, you have to withdraw your whole Prize Savings balance. If that takes your eligible balance below £1,000, if your balance drops below £1,000 at any point, the 90-day countdown starts again from zero. Keeping the qualifying £1,000 in Instant Access, and only extra money in Prize Savings, avoids the problem.

The usual conditions apply. The bonus is only for people who have never held a Chip account. The Easy Access Saver does not count. Everything must be done within 120 days of being referred, and the bonus is paid at Chip's discretion. Our Chip referral code page has the full rules.

How does it compare with Premium Bonds?

Short answer: Chip claims better odds of winning any prize, while Premium Bonds are backed by HM Treasury and have a much bigger top prize.

NS&I quotes 4.35% prize fund rate, variable; odds 21,000 to 1 per £1 Bond on its Premium Bonds page. Protection is the biggest difference: Premium Bonds are 100% backed by HM Treasury, so there is no £120,000 ceiling. Chip’s Prize Savings relies on FSCS cover through ClearBank. Premium Bonds also let you cash in all or part at any time. Chip’s prizes, by contrast, stay as a bonus until you empty your Prize Savings.

Chip’s advantages are a lower minimum, the odds claim on any prize, and having your prize savings in the same app as your other Chip accounts. Our full Chip Prize Savings vs Premium Bonds comparison goes through the prize funds, limits and protection side by side.

Who should use Chip Prize Savings?

Short answer: people who enjoy a prize draw and are putting in money they do not need to earn interest. Anyone saving for a goal or an emergency is better off in an interest-paying account.

A middle path some savers take is to keep their main savings earning interest and put a small, fixed amount in Prize Savings for the fun of the draw. That way a quiet month costs you very little, and a win is a bonus rather than a plan.