Santander 1 2 3 account

[Gettingtherequickly]

Had to nip into the bank this morning and after going through the usual spiel of insurance etc, I was handed a piece of paper indicating how much cash back I could get back each month if I chnaged to a 1 2 3 account.

Now, I haven't got the time at the moment to go through the nitty gritty of it, but I must have missed something if they are looking to give cash back which is far in excess of the monthly fee.

I am hoping some wise soul out there could tell me what it is!

[VC76]

Nope, that's pretty much it You need to pay a minimum of £500 in each month to get the cashback but no other 'catch'. Although some might say that banking with Santander is the catch! I've been with them for a while now though and have worse things to say about other banks I've been with previously!

[innovate]

Super account, I opened one when it first came out in June. I will make at least £90 a year from cashback and interest, may be more if I can get my balance higher for the interest.

[ses6jwg]

It's worth sitting down for half an hour and having a chat about it. You can upgrade or open a new account, you also get the £24 fee waived on the 123 card for a year as well, so 3% off fuel for 12 months.

[raeveth]

it really is great. and i don't know where people get the idea that their customer service is rubbish, because i have always had a very helpful and friendly service. been with them for many years as was A&L previously. to be honest, natwest were the worst i ever dealt with and Lloyds have been very very friendly and helpful

[psychic teabag]

You can currently get £55 from topcashback for opening one of these accounts.
(Offer ends in two days.)

[ses6jwg]

Originally Posted by psychic teabag

You can currently get £55 from topcashback for opening one of these accounts.
(Offer ends in two days.)

but not for upgrading, which retains your existing sort code and account number and means no new cards or having to re-arrange direct debits or salary manually

[SantEmp]

If you go into a branch of Santander now and have an old account, you can upgrade to the 123 AND switch your direct debits in one.

Thought that was a nice implementation.

[LauraWxx]

I have set one of these up as my bills account...very good so far!

[Mary_Hartnell]

I have been given the "why don't you switch" sales advice.

I retired about a year ago and only my ex company pension goes into the present Santander account. So I am no longer funding the account with £1,000 + per month and I expect the Santander computer has realised!

My A&L account used to call itself "Premier" and included some benefits such as free foreign travel insurance.
I now don't know if I qualify for any benefits other than a free bank account.

So what it boils down to "Should I swap to paying £2 a month for an account with a monthly turnover of about £1,000"? The current rate of cash back plus the interest payable on my cash balance suggests that I should; but how long will this deal last?

Will my on-line banking access change in any way - it is a nightmare each time the access system changes.

[Wyndham]

I've set one up and moved my bills direct debits -nothing else. I'm keeping my first direct account as my current account, and when Santander goes wrong, I'll have a few dds to move back, but nothing major. But for the moment, I'm going with it and reaping the rewards

[molerat]

Mary_Hartnell

If you switch via the link in on line banking nothing will change except the name of the account and the statement date, it is that simple. I did mine a few months back with few DD's and similarly small throughput and am about £1.50 per month up (lose about 50p interest but gain £4 bonus - £2 fee). You probably had the "premier direct travel" so will lose the travel insurance and only get interest on balances of £1K+ instead of £0+ so no great loss. You only need to fund with £500 per month.

http://www.santander-products.co.uk/...lications.html

[innovate]

Keep what you already have.
Open a new 123 via Quidco, for the £45 cashback.
Then move your relevant (or all) DDs to the 123
You can move money online between the 2 accounts

I'd also open a current account at another bank, so that if you want to make a quick exit at some stage, you can do so easily.

[richardmk]

Santander 123!.. It might look good right now, but look at the the turnover of banking products. The Current 5%, and Current Zero seemed good and they are no longer marketed. Once they have you hooked the charge will be increased from £2, or a cap on cashback introduced!
If you open a Santander account everything is fine until the day something goes wrong, their reputation for being bad is second to none! Is it really worth the risk that could result in denial of access to your money, or incorrect information flowing to the credit rating agencies which will risk access to competitive credit cards and loans etc from other banking providers. Santander are truly terrible!! :-) (santander truly terrible fills the page on google)

[JimmyTheWig]

Originally Posted by Mary_Hartnell

So what it boils down to "Should I swap to paying £2 a month for an account with a monthly turnover of about £1,000"? The current rate of cash back plus the interest payable on my cash balance suggests that I should; but how long will this deal last?

Who knows. But it's not an introductory offer so no reason that it won't stick around for some time. Yes they might increase the fee or decrease the cashback but they'd be doing that for existing and new customers and so be less likely to have people switching to them. The last change they made was to (significantly) increase the cashback for people who have a mortgage with them. (For me that was the carrot needed to switch.)

Will my on-line banking access change in any way - it is a nightmare each time the access system changes.

Mine didn't at all.

Originally Posted by innovate

Keep what you already have.
Open a new 123 via Quidco, for the £45 cashback.

Do existing customers get cashback, though?

Originally Posted by Gettingtherequickly

I must have missed something if they are looking to give cash back which is far in excess of the monthly fee.

I've heard the train of thought that the plan is to get people used to the idea of paying a monthly fee for a current account. Once people are used to it it will become more widespread and they can then reduce the perks, increase the fees and we'll all be paying them more than they pay us.
Whether that's true or not, I don't know. Whether it is true or not doesn't stop you from signing up and benefitting from it.

[POPPYOSCAR]

We have both opened an account each and think it is great.

We originally opened for the savings rate of 3% instant access and the cashback is a bonus!

[drillmoney]

be careful of the overdraft facility. even if you're within your arranged overdraft there's a £1 per day fee (capped at 20 days) if you use it. it gets tricker if you go into unarranged overdraft (think its £5 per day uncapped!

[JimmyTheWig]

Originally Posted by POPPYOSCAR

We have both opened an account each and think it is great.

Is it worth paying two sets of fees?

[hansi]

Originally Posted by raeveth

it really is great. and i don't know where people get the idea that their customer service is rubbish, because i have always had a very helpful and friendly service. been with them for many years as was A&L previously. to be honest, natwest were the worst i ever dealt with and Lloyds have been very very friendly and helpful

You obviously haven't seen or heard of the problems that people are having with this bank. They have more complaints about customer service than any other bank.

[innovate]

Originally Posted by richardmk

Santander 123!.. It might look good right now, but look at the the turnover of banking products. The Current 5%, and Current Zero seemed good and they are no longer marketed. Once they have you hooked the charge will be increased from £2, or a cap on cashback introduced!
If you open a Santander account everything is fine until the day something goes wrong, their reputation for being bad is second to none! Is it really worth the risk that could result in denial of access to your money, or incorrect information flowing to the credit rating agencies which will risk access to competitive credit cards and loans etc from other banking providers. Santander are truly terrible!! :-)

It wouldn't be a Santander thread if not one from the Santander-bashing brigade turns up with pretty ridiculous arguments as to why anything to do with Santander is bad.

I am delighted they introduce new products all the while and aren't stuck in a timewarp. It's usually called 'progress' when a firm introduces new products.

And so what if they increased the charge, or introduced a cashback cap? If it still works in my favour, I stay. If it doesn't, I go. Moving a current account is a doddle.

I have had accounts with Santander for over 3 years now, and I have accounts at basically every other UK bank too. The 123 account is a brilliant little earner for me. The 123 credit card is also brilliant for anyone who uses a lot of petrol. I don't, so I haven't got one of these.

In my experience, the banks are all much of a muchness when it comes to making mistakes and correcting them. None of them can be described as "truly terrible" by any well-informed person.

Originally Posted by JimmyTheWig

Do existing customers get cashback, though?

Apparently - - there is nothing in the cashback T&Cs (on this Quidco page ) that excludes existing customers, and there have been quite a few reports from people who did get the cashback.