Santander 123 Accounts Only Two Per Person

ilikepoints

I plan on opening 2 Santander accounts, both with about 20K in them.

A few questions:

Is transfering in 2 direct debits compulsary to get the 3%? Not really bothered about the cashback, I just want interest.

Can i just transfer in £500 from lloyds current account and then send it back say 5 days later? I know internal Santanders transfers don't count so presumably this is the type of thing everyone does?

thanks

AndyPK

Yes you need to setup 2 DD.
may as well get cash back to cover the monthly fee.

Ifts

ilikepoints wrote: »

A few questions:

Yes, yes and yes:


What you need to do:

Be aged over 18 and live permanently in the UK
Read and understand the terms & conditions of the account
Pay a monthly account fee of £2, fund the account with £500 a month (a minimum balance of £1,000 is required to receive interest); and set up a minimum of two Direct Debits. For cashback household bills must be paid by Direct Debit.

ilikepoints

Ok many thanks, is it 2 direct debits per account?

I.e. 4 in total in my case?

Ifts

ilikepoints wrote: »

is it 2 direct debits per account?
I.e. 4 in total in my case?

Yes thats correct.

I also have two 123 accounts and used the same 2 DD's on both accounts.

I setup 2 direct debits from Tesco's, £1 from 123/#1 to Tesco Savings account and £1 from 123/#1 to Tesco Internet account. Repeated the same for 123/#2.

(Being able to meet the 2 DD's requirement of the 123 account turned out to be yet another bonus of keeping my Tesco's accounts open with a few pence balance when the rate dropped)

ilikepoints

ok thanks everyone, the reason I doubted that was all these people having 5 accounts etc - i.e. 10 direct debits - I only have about 5.

innovate

You just set up some more DDs if you need more, e.g. like Ifts described.

Gaffy

Are the two outgoing £1 DD's necessary as a requirement or can you just have the two DD's sitting there doing nothing.

Gromitt

Gaffy wrote: »

Are the two outgoing £1 DD's necessary as a requirement or can you just have the two DD's setting there doing nothing.

I believe they only have to be active, they don't need to pay out.

Eg. a Paypal or CC DD may never actually be used, but it could be claimed against so its 'active'. Do note however that such DDs can be cancelled by the bank if left unused, normally takes longer than 12 months though.

alph

Does anyone know if the S123 current account is now limited to 2 accounts per person?