santander 123 current account

cowshill

What I'm wondering is how long that 3% variable rate will hold. I'm tempted by the account, but the cash back I would earn would just barely cover the £2 monthly fee, so I would be switching for the interest. But then the £20k I would put in for interest would come out of an account currently paying 2.2%. That figures to £160 annual gain on the interest. Which is barely enough to be worth the hassle of opening and holding another acccount. But then I suspect that, after Santander has pulled in all the new customers, that variable interest rate will start to drop, rendering the account pointless for me.

Gizmo247

cowshill wrote: »

What I'm wondering is how long that 3% variable rate will hold. I'm tempted by the account, but the cash back I would earn would just barely cover the £2 monthly fee, so I would be switching for the interest. But then the £20k I would put in for interest would come out of an account currently paying 2.2%. That figures to £160 annual gain on the interest. Which is barely enough to be worth the hassle of opening and holding another acccount. But then I suspect that, after Santander has pulled in all the new customers, that variable interest rate will start to drop, rendering the account pointless for me.

Plenty of people on this forum will make an effort for far less than £160.

A 123 account will also give you access to their preferential rates on things like ISAs. So one long term view for opening a 123 account is as a door opener. I tend to "make the effort" if there is no publicised change on the horizon and it does not close doors elsewhere. Like in motor racing, you only put the right tyres on for the current conditions but have a strategy ready for changing track conditions.

I suspect that given the whole 1-2-3 theme that a downgrade of interest would be to 2%

innovate

Will moving £20K out of your 2.2% account mean you can't move it back at that rate? How long's the 2.2% going to last, in any case?

Cocobay71

Does anyone know how long it takes for cashback to be credited to your account. I have a direct debit taken for edf energy which is an eligible provider for cashback in the 123 account but the ddd was taken on the 2nd and still no cashback credited into my account. Other dd taken on the 1st were credited on the 4th.

bengal-stripe

Cash-back will be credited to your account on the last day of your statement period. All the cash back due this particular month will be credited the same day. (The cut-off point might be slightly earlier.)

If you haven't received the cash-back this month, it will be credited next month.

grumbler

I have a Premier Direct current account with Santander, but as 3% interest on my eSaver was going to expire, I recently applied for a second current account, 123 one.

The card arrived today and, unlike all my other cards, including the Premier Direct one, it's not an embossed one. What difference does this make? Is it a so called 'online' card?

Chjaka

Has anyone had any experience running more than two 123 accounts?

I opened a third 123 account before the announcement that the maximum would be limited to two accounts per person.

The account has been sitting dormant with the bare minimum of funds in it, no direct debits and no monthly payments running through it but I was still expecting Santander to take the monthly £2 fee as they state they will in the terms and conditions.

They haven't charged a single monthly fee since opening the account which makes me wonder whether they'll pay any interest on this account when I decide to start using it.

Vortigern

grumbler wrote: »

The card arrived today and, unlike all my other cards, it's not an embossed one. What difference does this make?

It means you can fit more of them in your wallet

innovate

Chjaka wrote: »

They haven't charged a single monthly fee since opening the account which makes me wonder whether they'll pay any interest on this account when I decide to start using it.

Strange they haven't charged you. I get charged, and paid interest ok, on #3.

Chjaka

innovate wrote: »

Strange they haven't charged you. I get charged, and paid interest ok, on #3.

That helpfully confirms two things; a/. The account isn't behaving as it should and b/. If precedent is anything to go by I should be able to get interest on #3. Thanks Innovate.

But as they're not charging me in the meantime I think I'll worry about it further next month.