Moving savings from Santander to a new account

katies_mum

We have recently transferred our Santander accounts to 123 and have maximum invested to get 3%, have Coventry savings accounts paying 2% but need to move the remained or our savings from a poorly paying Santander e`saver

The accounts I am looka at are the West Bromich Direct Bonus account 6 at 2.05% - 4 free withdrawals per year

Skipton 2% easy access

Aldermore - 60 day notice account 2.10% but need to keep £1,000 in this account.

Just wondering please if anyone has any opinions on amy of them as we have not had any dealings with them, have only heard about the Skipton as think they used to have a local branch once upon a time, not heard of the Aldermore before.
I appreciate we could put the money into the Coventry but think I`d like another alternative.

Many thanks

innovate

You don't say how much you need to find a home for. There are the Lloyds and BoS Vantage accounts, 3 x 5 £K in each, 3% AER = £30K. Or Nationwide Flexdirect, 5% for a year on max £2.5K.

Or, if your £85K max per bank still allows, just open another one or two 123 accounts. You still need to fund them and have 2 DDs on each, and pay the £2/mth, but it's one of the best interest rates in town these days

ANGLICANPAT

Ive had accounts with both Aldermore and Skipton and found no problems. Ive got the instant account with Skipton right now and the website is simple enough to navigate .

ColdIron

I can vouch for Aldermore, easy to deal with and good customer service, no problems at all

badger09

ANGLICANPAT wrote: »

Ive had accounts with both Aldermore and Skipton and found no problems. Ive got the instant account with Skipton right now and the website is simple enough to navigate .

I've also had accounts with both Aldermore and Skipton in the past.
Aldermore were very efficient and helpful on the one occasion I phoned. Skipton are still sending me their E Newsletter (or whatever they call it) despite me 'unsubscribing' after every issue

katies_mum

Thank you all for taking the time to reply. Glad to hear Aldermore and Skipton offer good customer service and you have been pleased..

innovate, looking to home £11,000 and £22,000. Just want somewhere nice and easy to put the money but to be abe to get at it when we start knocking the house about. Whilst the 123 accounts are brilliant at 3% not sure if we want 2 more bank accounts as it would be funding them etc! Don`t know much about Vantage so will have to read up on that, is it another bank account that needs funding and DD`s?

Am swayed towards the Skipton and then its easy enough to get at the money should something better come along!! one can hope!

innovate

katies_mum wrote: »

......more bank accounts as it would be funding them etc!

Dead easy - you use the same £500 or £1K to go round all your accounts. You can set up Standing Orders to do this, or do it manually once a month. Some people I know shift their £1K through 20-odd accounts each month.

katies_mum wrote: »

Don`t know much about Vantage so will have to read up on that, is it another bank account that needs funding and DD`s?

Yes, it's current accounts at Lloyds/BoS.

katies_mum wrote: »

Am swayed towards the Skipton and then its easy enough to get at the money should something better come along!! one can hope!

I got a Skipton too, and you can get your money out within a day or two. But never as fast as out of a current account, where Faster Payment makes it instant.

£33K @ 3% AER pays £792 net after tax.
£33K @ 2% AER pays £528 net after tax.
I know which interest rate I would go for. It might take an extra hour over the year to ascertain the £792, but I like to get paid £264 net for an hour's work.

katies_mum

Thank you, now its broken down I didn`t realise the differece in the interest would be so much...just sounds a bit complicated for my brain.

Is this opening a Vantage account or are another Santander 123? (our problem is we don`t have any more DD`s to set up and doesn`t £500 in have to be salary, pension etc) I could be trying to make this too complicated for myself..but need to get it straight in my mind as to how it works.

Just got back from work so not had chance to find out about Vantage yet. Will have a good read up in a bit.

innovate

For "bespoke" Direct Debits, look at post 1 of https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/4168667

The £500 or £1,000 or whatever the monthly deposit requirement is does not have to come from a salary or a pension - - - it just needs to come from an external bank for Santander. For Lloyds/BoS, you can even do it internally.

You could e.g. use a Nationwide Flexaccount and drop £1K into it from Santander each month. That would "buy" you a nice European Travel Insurance cover after 3 months (only useful if you do travel to Europe, obviously). Or do a FlexDirect instead - - put £2.5K into it, you will get 5% interest on it for 12 months provided £1K gets paid into the account each month.

Then send the same £1K to Lloyds Vantage A, from there to Vantage B, from there to Vantage C, and then back to Santander where it can sit and earn interest until the £1K is needed again.

You can spin this idea further but hope you got the gist. A 2nd 123 can easily be built into this virtuous circle.....

You might even be able to build a Halifax Reward account into it, for a fiver a month, £60 a year. Though you will need 2 different DDs for that one, and they must pay once a month. Not sure whether the DDs scare you off - - they shouldn't, it's worth your while. If there's two of you, you can each have your own Halifax Reward, and a joint one. Potential for an additional £180 a year ( 12 x £5 x 3).

If you need 2 DDs on a given bank account, and you have, say, 6 such bank accounts, you won't need 12 DDs. Just 2 ("bespoke" ones, see above list) is perfectly enough.

katies_mum

Wow, need a strong coffee after reading that..am going to have to make notes to work it all out.

Whilst being able to keep track of numerous accounts seems fairly easy to some of you, I think I might be out of my depth. I`ve always been a put it in an account and leave it there until rate drops or I need some cash type of person....but I appreciate as rates are so rubbish you need to make every penny work for you.

Definitely going to think about this.

innovate

katies_mum wrote: »

Is this opening a Vantage account or are another Santander 123?

Both, probably, to accommodate your money

How about:

• £2,500 into a new Nationwide FlexDirect (5%)
• £20,000 into a new 123 (via Quidco? £55 potential cashback) - approx 2.8% after the £2/mth charges
• 3 x £3,500 (£10.5K) into 3 Lloyds Vantage (3%). You can use one of them for any interest skimmed off your FlexDirect and your 123s

I would personally add as many Halifax Reward accounts as poss (absolute max is 3 for a couple). As mentioned before, if there is two of you, you have other options - e.g. 2 FlexDirects



Write it all down on a piece of paper, incl how you would send your £1K round them each month. I wouldn't bother with just £500 or £750 even if that would be enough for some accounts. Go for the largest common denominator, which is £1K.


Anyway, don't think I can add much more now - - hope you will find it worth implementing in some way since it can be a few hundred more in your pocket compared with just dumping the lot into the best savings account.