Frequently Asked Questions
Welcome to the FAQ homepage. Here we have compiled a list of answers to the questions you most frequently ask us.
- What is RetailBANK all about?
- How it works
- How much can I save?
- How do I join RetailBANK?
- How do I get the Gift Cards?
- How do I activate my Gift Cards?
- How do I load money to the cards?
- How long does it take for the credit to appear on my gift cards?
- How do I know how much cashback I have earned?
- How can I check the balance on my card?
- Are there any terms and conditions?
- When do I get my cashback?
- How can I spend (redeem) my cashback?
- How do I load my cashback to a card?
- How much will this service cost me?
- What happens if I lose a card?
- How do I change my password?
- What happens if I leave Northgate?
- What about Tax and National Insurance?
What is RetailBANK all about?
RetailBANK is an exciting new way of making the most of your money! Made available as part of Northgate's Flexible Benefits programme it provides a unique way to save money when shopping in the high street and on-line.
By shopping using Gift Cards from a wide range of retailers, you can earn a cashback of between 5% and 15% on everyday purchases from major retailers including ASDA, Sainsbury's, M & S, Boots, Comet, Debenhams, Top Shop, B & Q, Amazon and many more. Click here for a full list of participating retailers.
How it works
You sign-up by following these simple steps:
Step 1.
You can sign up to RetailBank at any time during the flex year (Jan - Dec). You elect to pay a fixed amount from your salary each month. This sum is paid into your RetailBANK Shopping Account. Due to banking legislation the money is held in your Shopping Account as points. Each point is worth one penny so, for example, if you elect to pay £200 into RetailBANK each month this will be shown as 20,000 points. When you load credit onto your gift cards it's converted back to pounds and pence.
You are required to commit to a minimum spend of £100 per month. You can change the value of the amount you pay into RetailBank subject to the £100 minimum at anytime during the flex year by contacting the FlexAdmin Team by emailing Flexadmin@northgatearinso.com or telephoning 0844 3912416.
Prior to the start of the new benefits year you will be emailed with your username and password. If you decide to join during the flex year these will be sent as soon as you register. The amount you have elected will be paid from your salary into your RetailBANK Shopping Account on the same day that you get paid.
Step 2.
Log-in to RetailBANK and order Gift Cards for your favourite retailers. These will be posted to you with zero value and once you received them you need to go back to RetailBANK and activate your selected cards by typing in the serial number on the back. You are now ready to load your Gift Cards with credit.
Step 3.
Each month you can decide how much you want to load onto an individual Gift Card from your Shopping Account up to the balance held. You can now go shopping using your Gift Cards for payment in the normal way.
Your cards can be loaded again and again to pay for your monthly shopping and one-off purchases and if you don't have enough funds in your Shopping Account you can top it up using a debit or credit card.
Please note that it can sometimes take the retailers 48 hours to load credit. If you want to use your gift cards at the weekend you need to load credit by 5pm on Wednesday.
Step 4.
Every time a Gift Card is loaded with credit you earn cashback which is paid into your Cashback Account. The amount we pay you depends on the percentage offered by each retailer.
You can see the Cashback you have earned in your account and once it reaches £10 you can decide what you would like to do with it; use it for more shopping by transferring it onto a gift card or allow it to accumulate to pay for special occasions such as a holiday or Christmas.
We run regular promotions where it is possible to earn extra Cashback of up to 20% and we will keep you informed of these by email.
How much can I save?
RetailBANK saves you money every time you shop and pay using your gift cards at your favourite stores including, Asda and Sainsbury's and a range of fashion, home improvements and jewellery retailers.
By reloading your gift cards with your monthly budget you can save hundreds of pounds each year on everyday purchases; from groceries to cosmetics and petrol to fashion. To find out how much you could save click here.
As an example:
You have £600 deducted from your salary each month. If you spend £400 on groceries and petrol, £100 on home improvements and £100 on a new TV you will earn £36 cashback. We will then take a £1.50 membership fee from your Cashback Account leaving a balance of £34.50. The more money you spend using your gift cards the more cashback you earn.
How do I join RetailBANK?
You can sign up to RetailBank at any time during the flex year (Jan - Dec). You elect to pay a fixed amount from your salary each month. This sum is paid into your RetailBANK Shopping Account. You are required to commit to a minimum spend of £100 per month. You can change the value of the amount you pay into RetailBank subject to the £100 minimum at anytime during the flex year by contacting the FlexAdmin Team by emailing Flexadmin@northgatearinso.com or telephoning 0844 3912416.
Prior to the start of the new benefits year you will be emailed with your username and password. If you decide to join during the flex year these will be sent as soon as you register. The amount you have elected will be paid from your salary into your RetailBANK Shopping Account on the same day that you get paid.
How do I get the Gift Cards?
Click on the 'Order Gift Cards' button. Choose the gift cards you want and place them in your basket. You can have as many as you want, however we will post a maximum of five in one envelope. If you want more than 5 cards we will create two orders. For security purposes the cards are posted to you with no credit loaded. You should receive them within three working days of placing the order.
We will make a charge of £1.50 to cover post and packaging and this will be taken from your Cashback Account once there are funds in it.
Top Tip… You can order as many cards as you wish (maximum 5 per order) and give them as gifts… and still earn cashback!
How do I activate my Gift Cards?
To reduce the risk of loss we send you your cards with no funds loaded. When you receive your cards you need to activate them by entering the number on the back of the card. This links you and that particular card. You can then load the card as many times as you want to.
So you can have more than one card from each retailer you can also give each card a name to remind you which card is which e.g. My ASDA Card, Mums ASDA Card, Fred's ASDA Card.
Top Tip… Remember once a card is live it is subject to the retailer's terms and conditions. It is important to look at the retailer's terms and conditions to understand their policy on card loss and replacement.
How do I load money to the cards?
Once you have received your cards you need to go to 'My Gift Cards' and activated your cards. Once the card is registered to you, you can load funds using your RetailBANK Shopping Account. You can load as much as you wish onto each card subject to having enough funds in your account.
What happens if I don't have enough money in my RetailBANK account?
You can top up your RetailBANK Shopping Account using a debit or credit card.
Visit My RetailBANK Shopping Account and select top-up my account. You can then enter the amount you want to put into your account.
The charge the bank makes for the top-up will be added to your transaction.
These charges are:
| Debit Card | 50p |
| Credit Card | 1.5% of the value of the transaction plus 10p |
How long does it take for the credit to appear on my gift cards?
This can vary with different retailers; some take one working day to load credit and some two. It's therefore best to assume that funds will take two working days to appear on your cards. So if you are planning some weekend shopping you need to load credit by 5pm on Wednesday. If an order is placed on a Friday the funds will not available until Monday or Tuesday the following week.
How do I know how much cashback I have earned?
Every time you load money onto your gift cards you will receive a cashback credit the value of which is shown on the top-up page. The amount of cashback earned depends on the percentage offered by the retailer.
You can then look at your Cashback Statement which keeps a record of every time you earn or spend cashback. You will also see when postage and packing and your membership fee has been taken from the cashback earned.
Every time you redeem your cashback a deduction will be made from your cashback account.
How can I check the balance on my card?
RetailBANK doesn't hold a record of the cash balance held on the card as this information isn't provided to us by the retailers.
However you can check your balance in several ways:
- Click on the 'View Balance' button on the 'My Gift Card' page. This will take you through to the retailer's online balance checker where you can enter your card number and see your balance. Not all retailers have this facility.
- Go to retailer's own website and follow the same process as above.
- Check it in the retailers store at any till point.
- Look at your receipt. The retailer normally shows the balance left on your card after a purchase.
Top Tip… We recommend that you always check your balance before using a gift card but if you don't have enough funds on your card to complete a purchase you can make up the difference with cash or another debit/credit card.
Are there any terms and conditions?
Yes. The Terms and Conditions can be found at www.RetailBANK.IMT and you need to agree to them when you first log-in to RetailBANK.
We also recommend that you read the 'T's and C's for each retailer's gift card before loading funds as you are bound by their terms once your funds are loaded onto the retailers gift cards. If these are available online you will see a click through to them on 'My Gift Cards'.
When do I get my cashback?
Your cashback will be loaded into your Cashback Account at the same time as you top-up your gift cards.
How can I spend (redeem) my cashback?
Once you have earned more than £10 cashback you can 'redeem' it by loading credit onto one or more of your gift cards for more shopping, or save it up for special occasions such as Christmas or a holiday.
How do I load my cashback to a card?
If you have a cashback balance of more than £10 a 'Transfer cashback' button will appear at the bottom of the Cashback Statement page. If you click on this button you will see a list of your gift cards. You may enter the amount of cashback that you want to add onto each card.
How much will this service cost me?
There is a £1.50 membership fee charged every month. However as this is taken from the cashback you earn membership is effectively free.
If you want to load more funds into your RetailBANK account (for a one-off purchase for example) you can do so using a Credit or Debit Card. In this case a charge to cover bank costs will be made at the time of the transaction. These are:
| Debit Card | 50p |
| Credit Card | 1.5% of the value of the transaction plus 10p |
What happens if I lose a card?
If you lose a card please let us know as soon as possible and we will inform the retailer who will de-activate it. Any transfer of credit to a new card is dependent on the individual retailer policy but typically we can get the balance of the funds, at the time you let us know of the loss, transferred to a new card.
If you want to report at loss during the weekend when our call customer service department is shut you can normally contact the retailer directly via their website or call centre. You will need to let them know the serial number on the card which can be found by looking on the My Gift Cards tab.
Please note that until you inform us of the loss you are responsible for the funds held on your card.
How do I change my password?
You can change your password by clicking on the 'My Account' tab and we recommend that you do this the first time you log-in to RetailBANK.
What happens if I leave Northgate?
If you leave a full month's RetailBANK deduction will be made in the month in which you leave and your account will remain active for a further 60 days so you can redeem your cashback. You can continue to use your gift cards until all the credit is spent.
