Is the Santander 123 Account Worth it?

IrishGypsy

ses6jwg wrote: »

It's true.

However if you are going to actively do this then you are in breach of the T&Cs so don't be disappointed if you do eventually lose out on interest or have your account downgraded.

There's no IT code in place to physically check this though. It'd cost a fortune to implement for very little actual benefit. But, certainly, it's not a part of the T's and C's, so do it at your own risk. :P

ColdIron

lurch42 wrote: »

I'm tempted by this, but am wondering about the added risk of theft. Imagine someone got your card details (or your card) - keeping all (or a good chunk) of your savings in the directly-linked account gives thieves access to more of your money more easily. Not something Santander seem to mention...

I have a muslim colleague at work who used to keep all his cash in his current account so as not to earn interest. He eventually relented and opened a savings account as he was worried about this security issue and was nearing the FSCS limit. Now I get to listen to him arguing with the bank trying to persuade them NOT to pay him interest. There have been some strange conversations

tabby_cats_mum

Could I fund the 123 with a bank transfer from Nationwide for example and still be within the terms and conditions?

innovate

ColdIron wrote: »

Now I get to listen to him arguing with the bank trying to persuade them NOT to pay him interest. There have been some strange conversations

Surprised to hear that Allah is so mean and doesn't let his followers at least maintain the value of their belongings, by e.g. accepting interest that is not higher than inflation.

But the great news for your colleague is that he has a very wide choice of different financial institutions that will each happily let him have hundreds of thousands in current accounts and not pay him a penny's interest ever. Even if he wants to keep within the FSCS protection limits, he should easily be able to stack away a million or two.

innovate

tabby_cats_mum wrote: »

Could I fund the 123 with a bank transfer from Nationwide for example and still be within the terms and conditions?

Sure, why not. And send it back, to meet the Nationwide funding requirements. I know people who are sending the same £1K round a whole bunch of banks every month.

innovate

IrishGypsy wrote: »

There's no IT code in place to physically check this though. It'd cost a fortune to implement for very little actual benefit. But, certainly, it's not a part of the T's and C's, so do it at your own risk. :P

It's one thing to think a bit outside the box and to exploit T&Cs to your advantage. That is smart.

To do something that is quite obviously not supported by, or even contravening, the T&Cs, and then encouraging others on a public forum to do it too (even with the 'your own risk" disclaimer) is seriously un-smart.

To follow the un-smart suggestion is downright daft.

JimmyTheWig

IrishGypsy wrote: »

Swapping £500+ between Santander accounts will still trigger the interest and cashback on a 123 account. It's how I get mine every month

Just because they SAY doesn't work, doesn't always mean it's true...

I don't see the point in risking this.
Why not just fund it from elsewhere?

They might not have the facility to check this automatically, but what if they change their systems in the future and can check? Or if they do a random manual spot-check?
Would they then be in a position to ask for all the cashback and interest paid to date back?

psychic_teabag

ColdIron wrote: »

I have a muslim colleague at work who used to keep all his cash in his current account so as not to earn interest. He eventually relented and opened a savings account as he was worried about this security issue and was nearing the FSCS limit. Now I get to listen to him arguing with the bank trying to persuade them NOT to pay him interest. There have been some strange conversations

I thought there were several Sharia-compliant savings accounts available. You still get more back than you pay in, but they don't call it interest. Is it described as profit-sharing, or something..?

tabby_cats_mum

innovate wrote: »

Sure, why not. And send it back, to meet the Nationwide funding requirements. I know people who are sending the same £1K round a whole bunch of banks every month.

That's what I was thinking of doing but then I got cold feet about the 123 as I was concerned about funding it this way and decided I didn't want to pursue my application. I'm now thinking I'll stick with it as I've worked out I can make about £200 a year from it.

IrishGypsy

JimmyTheWig wrote: »

I don't see the point in risking this.
Why not just fund it from elsewhere?

They might not have the facility to check this automatically, but what if they change their systems in the future and can check? Or if they do a random manual spot-check?
Would they then be in a position to ask for all the cashback and interest paid to date back?

They may well do. But seeing as they haven't over the last 4+ years, it'd take something major to make that change all of a sudden (the resources needed to implement and test such changes is an awful lot, even getting someone to spot-check accounts takes up time they could be doing something more valuable).

Ultimately I could take £500 cash out over the counter and immediately pay it back in once a month to circumvent the funding requirement (as I don't have an external bank account elsewhere). But if I can do it automatically internally, then I will until that's changed. Saves me time.

I'm not saying people should follow suit, just pointing out that it's not, currently, factually correct that funding has to come from an external source, that's all.