How quick and easy to switch current a/c to Santander 123?

kuepper

now i'm on the verge of state pension i'm worried about money even mor so i want to maximise my income. After being a loyal co-op current a/c member for most of my life their present issues have me worried about my money getting tied up if they need a bail out so I'm thinking of switching to Santander123 a/c as this will also be best home for my savings up to 20k giving me an extra £200pa so it all seems a win win. Never having switched a/c for 40yrs I wondered how quick and easy it is and if there were any particular issues with Santander and its 123 a/c?

anoncol

We switched a few months ago, like you had never moved main account before. We have mortgage and all bills coming out of previous account, which we only had because its what our student accounts turned into after uni.

We were very impressed with the move tbh. Santander did the entire move for us, we didn't have to do anything but move money about to check we had money in both accounts should anything go wrong (ie a bill coming out of wrong account). Santander also say they cover any overdraft fees if something does go wrong. They transfered all our direct debits, and we filled a form in to give our employers to move our salaries.

We did have internet banking on our old account though, so were checking it every day or 2 practically for the month of the transition. Its a month because of bills going out through the month.

Much less stressful than we thought it would be thats for sure.

kuepper

anoncol wrote: »

We switched a few months ago, like you had never moved main account before. We have mortgage and all bills coming out of previous account, which we only had because its what our student accounts turned into after uni.

We were very impressed with the move tbh. Santander did the entire move for us, we didn't have to do anything but move money about to check we had money in both accounts should anything go wrong (ie a bill coming out of wrong account). Santander also say they cover any overdraft fees if something does go wrong. They transfered all our direct debits, and we filled a form in to give our employers to move our salaries.

We did have internet banking on our old account though, so were checking it every day or 2 practically for the month of the transition. Its a month because of bills going out through the month.

Much less stressful than we thought it would be thats for sure.

did you sign up in a branch or online?

anoncol

Online, a joint account.

gezza2k

Sign up for an Halifax reward (needs 2 direct debits) = £60 a year plus £100 switching bonus if you have a old bank account you don't use, just setup a couple standing orders.

Get 2 Nationwide Flex accounts and stick £2500 in each = £200 for 1 year: http://www.nationwide.co.uk/current_account/flexdirect/default.htm

And put the rest in your new Santander which you get another £45 for switching via topcashback.

you just need to transfer £1000 between them each month. easy £300-400 you could make this year not including the amount you would gain from the 123 account via bills cashback & interest.

kuepper

gezza2k wrote: »

Sign up for an Halifax reward (needs 2 direct debits) = £60 a year plus £100 switching bonus if you have a old bank account you don't use, just setup a couple standing orders.

Get 2 Nationwide Flex accounts and stick £2500 in each = £200 for 1 year: http://www.nationwide.co.uk/current_account/flexdirect/default.htm

And put the rest in your new Santander which you get another £45 for switching via topcashback.

you just need to transfer £1000 between them each month. easy £300-400 you could make this year not including the amount you would gain from the 123 account via bills cashback & interest.

Thanks for that good advice but I just want to keep my life simple. I haven't got the energy to keep switching money around every couple of weeks and the idea of doing that plus the idea of having loads of accounts fills my head with blood. I've already got too many. May sound ridiculous to ppl but I know it'd trigger panic attacks for me. I'll look into the topcashback thing tho if theres not too much involved, never heard of it before

Bosie

I opened a Santander 123 it took them less than 7 days to move all my direct debits from the old bank account. So was really impressed they did that. Plus they emailed me with updates. Received my card and pin quickly as we'll.

brewerdave

My partial move from NatWest to Santander using their switching service ,has taken just over a month to complete. I've kept the old account open for the moment.
It's slowed down by the merchants,some of whom ,were very slow to alter payment details and tell Santander that they had done so.
Of the 18 DDs switched,15 have gone smoothly (apparently!), two were not done in time so I had to pay for a month by debit card -and one switch went badly wrong, in that the merchant tried to take the debit from the old account (even tho' they had the new details on their systems), failed as it had been cancelled,then wiped the new account details and reinstated the old DD!!!!
HOWEVER, now sitting back,enjoying both cashback and interest on the 123 account. As kuepper, can't cope with all the money merry go rounds that some people have:rotfl:

kuepper

brewerdave wrote: »

As kuepper, can't cope with all the money merry go rounds that some people have:rotfl:

nice to know there's others feel the same!

dalesrider

kuepper wrote: »

Never having switched a/c for 40yrs I wondered how quick and easy it is and if there were any particular issues with Santander and its 123 a/c?

From 16 Sept

If you are leaving Co-op full stop and do not need to keep the account.
Then this is your option.

Fill in a form/visit branch/do it online and that is ALL you need to do. The rest is done by the banks.

kuepper

I proceeded online on 2/9 using Santander 5 star switching service and a month later - though the a/c was technically opened within a week - I can't earn any interest on the balance as no direct debits have been set up by S. S claimed this was because Smile hadn't replied to their request for dd info and they sent me a form to sign for them to send to Smile. Contacted Smile who said they had received no request from S for my dds. That was about 2 weeks ago. Heard nothing from S and my pension went in the S a/c today so I phoned them (more cost btw as you have to use 0845 no. to get through to the switching service). Was told the dds have only been written to today and given 10 days to claim on my S a/c in future. Also still haven't received a pin no. for debit card.

With a bit of luck a/c may be functioning by xmas though I predict there will be cockups with my dd based on the service to date. Beginning to wonder if the strife is worth it when i'd had a rolls royce service from Smile for 13yrs.