Questions regarding the SANTANDER preffered account?

evosy1978

Hello all,

Basically, Im interested in the santander preffered account. Im struck by the £100 give away, provided you put a £1000 a month in. Also the 5% on in credit upto £2500 is nice aswell..

1) Is the process a smooth one to transfer from a Lloyds TSB to this one.

2) Will I have to change all my Direct Debits and standing orders myself manually? Will I have to phone every company up?

3) Can I not just open the account and then transfer £1000 every month into it manully to meet the terms?

4) Would this account affectg a credit rating?

5) It says a £1000p/m but then in another sentence says £14700 a year. Why the two figures?

Thanks for any of the other answers.

dazza.mk

Firstly note the poor customer service reputation of Santander, if still happy to go ahead then......

evosy1978 wrote: »

Hello all,

Basically, Im interested in the santander preffered account. Im struck by the £100 give away, provided you put a £1000 a month in. Also the 5% on in credit upto £2500 is nice aswell..

1) Is the process a smooth one to transfer from a Lloyds TSB to this one.
If you do it manually you should be in control, if you rely on the switching service 'potentially' you run the risk of late payment charges on Credit cards etc.

2) Will I have to change all my Direct Debits and standing orders myself manually? Will I have to phone every company up?
You can, but you need to use the switching service and transfer 2 Direct Debits to get the £100

3) Can I not just open the account and then transfer £1000 every month into it manully to meet the terms?
Correct

4) Would this account affectg a credit rating?
Only if you have an Overdraft

5) It says a £1000p/m but then in another sentence says £14700 a year. Why the two figures?
Probably £14,700 is the approx Gross Salary related to a £1000 a month deposit (haven't worked out the figures)

Thanks for any of the other answers.

If you do go ahead I wouldn't rely on the Switching Service to setup any Direct Debits that would generate late payment charges if not paid.

slush

The OH and I are currently running a bunch of these. For the 5% you will have to put up with their atrocious service.. and their incredible knack for messing up things that weren't previously broken... but 5% has been hard to find in the last year.

ses6jwg

I process switchers day in, day out. My top tips for avoiding problems:

1) Don't assume everything will go smoothly so make sure to prepare for problems so if they arise, they don't actually manifest as a problem.

2) Delay the actual switching of any payments for 10-14 days. This gives you enough time to recieve your debit cards and PINs enabling you to transact on the account efficiently.

3) Re-arrange any payments coming IN to the account yourself as many employers/ government departments ignore re-direction letters sent by banks. Do this as soon as you have got your account number.

4) Do not ask your old bank to close your old account. Leave this in your own hands.

5) As soon as you get the new account number, deposit a few hundred pounds into the account, ready for when the direct debits start to come out.

6) Leave your old account open for at least a month after switching to ensure EVERYTHING is running smoothly.