Santander 123 Current Account DD Query

Milarky

ColdIron wrote: »

I've got a related Santander/DD query
I've recently opened a second 123 and am waiting for my 2 HL DDs to become setup before transferring the £20K

Does anyone know when HL notify the bank? I'm guessing the 17th when you can no longer change the amount

I have sent HL a direct message but it won't be answered until tomorrow and I'm feeling impatient today

With online banking you can click on 'Direct Debits' to see those already 'set up'.

There is nothing in the terms and conditions which requires more than the 'set up' on any 2 DDs (plus £500 per month funding) to receive credit interest. As is common however, there is 'condition creep' appearing:

(taken from actual terms and conditions)

A4 Earning cashback and credit interest using your 123 Current Account
To earn cashback and credit interest on your 123 Current Account, you must:
a) pay the monthly account fee; and
b) pay in a minimum amount into your account each month; and
c) have at least two Direct Debits set up on your account; and
d) for earning credit interest only, you also need a minimum current account balance

The login screen banner promoting the 123 account, however, now says:

"to qualify for cashback and interest, you just need to:

Have at least two DDs set to eligible companies"

Not true for credit interest as DDs can be with any two DD originators (see above)

For cashback, well, you obviously need at least one of the minimum of 2 DDs to be with eligible companies, but where does it state in the account specific conditions that you need more than one to be eligible?

innovate

Milarky wrote: »

...but where does it state in the account specific conditions that you need more than one to be eligible?

in the condition A4 that you just quoted?

jakesuk

innovate wrote: »

in the condition A4 that you just quoted?

Condition A4(c) quoted by malarky states that the DDs can be with any entity eg. a Tescos savings account.

However the login screen quoted by malarky suggests two eligible DDs are required to receive cashback and interest ie. 2 DDs with companies that qualify for cashback.

Therefore it could perhaps be worded slightly better at the login screen because to qualify for interest you do not need the DDs to be with eligible entities..

ColdIron

Just a follow-up on this

I phoned Santander and their position is that interest will only be calculated daily from the date that the 2nd DD is setup. Any balance held prior to this date (assuming all other conditions are met) will not accrue interest

The girl I was speaking to could not point out in the T&Cs where this is explicitly stated other than A4 c and apologised for the ambiguity

Now I am a big fan of Santander's products but have little experience of the accuracy of their CS information so she could be incorrect but I imagine it's a case of the monthly batch update software does what it does and her reply reflected her experience

For those that may be interested in my HL query; HL notify the bank on the 26th of the month

So being a prudent sort of chap I shall keep £20K languishing at 2.4% and monitor my DD status with Santander with the expectation of transferring it at or about 26/07

Hope this helps

jem16

ColdIron wrote: »

I phoned Santander and their position is that interest will only be calculated daily from the date that the 2nd DD is setup. Any balance held prior to this date (assuming all other conditions are met) will not accrue interest

That doesn't appear to be what has happened in my case. I opened my 1st account on 13th June so by the time I had online banking details it was around the 26th before I started depositing cash into the account.

My first DD was set up about the 28th as it was quickly done. However the 2nd DD didn't get set up till around the 8th/9th July. My first interest payment was made today and the interest given is certainly more than just 5 days worth. It's difficult to work out the interest due exactly as it took me a few days to transfer over money and then I moved some to a 2nd and 3rd 123 account but I'm confident it's more than 5 days worth.

I would guess that the software just checks that 2 DDs are set up and pays out interest for the whole period.

ColdIron

Hmm

Well I couldn't let this rest so I phoned up the new accounts team and, long story short, it works exactly as reported by jem16 and innovate

At the end of your monthly cycle the software calculates the interest due and if all the pre-requisites are in place it passes, if not it doesn't

I don't hold this against Santander too much, I've had much worse elsewhere

My dilemma now is, do I trust the chap whose advice matches my desire or should I exercise prudence? Heck, I might just throw caution to the wind and go 50:50

Archi_Bald

ColdIron wrote: »

My dilemma now is, do I trust the chap whose advice matches my desire or should I exercise prudence?

How much money do you actually stand to lose if you go by the reported experience of two credible MSE board members?

onzey

If it helps anyone

I have a 123 account (opened 6/5/13) which paid full interest for the period 6/5/13 - 5/6/13

During that period 2 DDs were setup, 1 for telephone and 1 for a charity. Only the charity one actually became due during that period.

Full interest was paid on 7/6/13 (after tax deducted) and monthly fee debited. No cashback, as expected.

During the next monthly period the first telephone DD was paid on 10/6/13 and the charity again in due course.

Full interest was paid on 8/7/13 as before and fee debited. Cashback for the telephone payment was credited on the same day.