Santander 123 - question re "calendar month" in T&C

dreaming

Have just opened up my 123 account (today) and setting up spread-sheet to show ins/outs and dates etc. to maximise interest and cashback I noticed that in the Ts&Cs it states for the £500 min transfer "This is not a calendar month, it is the month from the date you opened your account". Can anyone clarify this for me please?

Apologies if this is a dumb question but I think I know what it means and want to be sure I have it correct. Thankyou.

eskbanker

It means that if you opened an account on 4 October, you need to pay in £500 between then and 4 November, then the same again for the month from 4 November to 4 December and so on. Or in other words, if you paid money in on 1 November and your next payment was, say, 5 December, you'd miss a month's interest even though you'd made payments in each calendar month....

dreaming

Thank you - that's what I thought it was but then had a mind-blank moment when I started to doubt myself. I have read up so much on this account (and others) in the last week or so that my brain is a bit frazzled and I wanted a bit of reassurance. I can now work it into the spread-sheet so I don't miss out.

Cheers!

brendon

To be on the safe-side, I wait until the interest has been credited, the cashback has been credited and the monthly fee is taken. I then consider that the start of the new month. The duration on my statements tend to depend on the end date falling on weekends/bank-holidays etc.

leeroy2009

I do as above, once fees paid, cashback and interest paid I then whack in the £500 required payment for the next month

DJBenson

eskbanker wrote: »

It means that if you opened an account on 4 October, you need to pay in £500 between then and 4 November, then the same again for the month from 4 November to 4 December and so on. Or in other words, if you paid money in on 1 November and your next payment was, say, 5 December, you'd miss a month's interest even though you'd made payments in each calendar month....

You actually need to pay it in by the day before (so the 3rd in the above example) as the 4th is considered the "statement date".

I am currently disputing this with Santander as they haven't paid the cashback this month on this technicality which I cannot find in the terms and conditions.

billn

DJBenson wrote: »

You actually need to pay it in by the day before (so the 3rd in the above example) as the 4th is considered the "statement date".

I am currently disputing this with Santander as they haven't paid the cashback this month on this technicality which I cannot find in the terms and conditions.

I must be lucky or they just overlooked it when I didn't credit my account with the full £500 one month.

pqrdef

DJBenson wrote: »

You actually need to pay it in by the day before (so the 3rd in the above example) as the 4th is considered the "statement date".

Well if I opened the account with a credit on 4th May and then paid in on 4th June, 4th July etc, I think I'd want the first payment to count for the first month, the 2nd for the 2nd month, and so on.

On the other hand, it's a very bad system, because wages due at weekends are generally paid early, not late. So if you kick off with a transfer on payday and get wages credited directly from then on, it won't be long before you get two pay packets in one month and none the next month.

brewerdave

pqrdef wrote: »

On the other hand, it's a very bad system, because wages due at weekends are generally paid early, not late. So if you kick off with a transfer on payday and get wages credited directly from then on, it won't be long before you get two pay packets in one month and none the next month.

...just reading this thread has showed me another problem....some people get paid ~ 1st of month -but at Xmas pay is brought forward by 7-10days -so in my case I will get two lots of money into my 123 Account within the "calendar month" -I've had to leave a diary note to draw £500 out of Santander after the 2nd credit -then transfer back in early in January. I'll lose about £1 in interest ..but better than losing the lot!!:)

billn

In hind sight (which is a gift I don't have) it would be best to open the account around the middle of the month and this would avoid the confusion at the beginning of the month.

dreaming

Thank you everyone for your postings - it helps to have a variety of responses to get it all straight.
I will be manually transferring cash on about 22nd of the month so that should be ok, and I have had confirmation of 3 direct debits being set up. I am having to print off and manually fill in a DD form for my council tax but that comes out on the first of the month so I shall send that off in time. Thanks to the information on this forum (and others on the MSE site) I also realised that I could upgrade my Nationwide Flex a/c to a FlexDirect even though I don't have the £1000 income per month. My pension of £850 will be going into Nationwide each month so I can move £650 into the 123 a/c then move £150 back to Nationwide thus fulfilling both a/c requirements. Blindingly obvious (when you realise), and so simple it really should have occurred to me before but there you go! That pretty much takes care of all my savings after I had maxed out my ISA for the year.