About Referral Plug

Referral Plug is an independent UK editorial site that publishes verified refer-a-friend referral codes (across energy, banking, fintech, mobile and more). I test every one personally.

Hands-on customer credentials

Most reviews on Referral Plug are written from years of direct, paying-customer use of the products themselves, not from a one-off test account. The brands I cover most often:

Monzo customer since May 2017 (9 years): primary current account, joint account, savings pots, overdraft, Flex, Business, pension, Double Payday and Billsback.
Octopus Energy customer since September 2019 (6+ years): Flexible and Fixed tariffs across two house moves, plus nearly four years running Octopus electricity alongside E.ON Next gas before consolidating. Gas only since July 2026, still on Fixed, after the electricity moved to EDF.
EDF customer since July 2026 (weeks, not years): electricity on Simply Tracker, a low-standing-charge tariff that costs me £70 a year more than the Octopus Fixed it replaced. Said here rather than buried, because a fortnight is not a track record.
giffgaff customer since 2011 (15 years): same SIM, same network, no contract.
Surfshark VPN customer since May 2022 (4 years): switched over from ExpressVPN and stayed.

For brands I have not personally used (for example Octopus Business, or EV-specific tariffs like Go, Tracker, Agile, Flux and Cosy), the relevant guide opens with an explicit note so you know which parts are first-hand and which are sourced from published data.

What this site is for

Referral schemes pay real money: energy bill credits from Octopus Energy and E.ON Next, cash bonuses and gift cards from banks, investing apps and digital services. The catch is that the conditions attached to them sit in terms documents nobody reads, so every guide here states how the referral works, what you get, and the conditions that decide whether you get it in plain English.

How I choose and review offers

I cover established brands operating in the UK across energy, finance, fintech, mobile networks and online services. Before a referral goes on the site, I:

Check that the referral scheme is currently active.
Confirm the reward amount and how it’s paid (bill credit, cash bonus, points or gift card).
Read the official terms to highlight important conditions like minimum spend, contract length or switching requirements.
Add a short review and summary so you can quickly decide if the product or service is a good fit.

Every brand is re-checked on a weekly cycle, so rewards, bonuses and worked examples stay accurate rather than quietly ageing. Read the full testing methodology for the exact process behind every published referral.

How Referral Plug makes money

Some links here are affiliate or referral links, and I earn a commission or a referral reward when you sign up through one. It never costs you more, and it never decides the order brands appear in. See the full affiliate disclosure.

Editorial standards

Four rules, and the last one is the one that costs me money:

Short reviews that name the drawbacks, because a review with no drawbacks in it is an advert.
How and when the reward is paid, stated explicitly. Most schemes fail readers at the payment condition, not the headline number.
No hype. If a scheme is thin, the page says so.
Guides get updated, paused or removed when a scheme changes or stops being competitive, whether or not it still pays me.

Who Referral Plug is for

People in the UK who want the reward without reading the terms document. You might be:

Switching energy suppliers and comparing Octopus Energy or E.ON Next referral rewards.
Opening a new bank account or fintech card with a sign-up bonus.
Trying a new investing app, mobile network or digital service that offers a refer-a-friend scheme.

If that sounds like you, start with the latest referral codes and guides.

Who writes Referral Plug

Seb Place

Referral Plug founder · Personal finance writer

I specialise in finding people the best deals to cope with the ever-increasing cost of living. I like to review companies from everyday industries like banking and energy and try to provide a fresh mix of facts and unbiased opinions.

Every guide on Referral Plug is written from first-hand experience wherever possible. I use the products I review, from Monzo and Octopus Energy to Tide and giffgaff , so the advice reflects how these services actually work day-to-day, not just what the marketing says.

Get in touch

Spotted an out-of-date reward, want to suggest a brand, or have a question about how a scheme works? An out-of-date reward is the most useful thing you can send me, because it means a page is wrong.

I’m at [email protected].