Halifax Reward Account & Santander 123

angrysharks

I have a Co-op bank current account and while I do love their excellent service I'm disappointed with 0% interest. Here's what I'm thinking:

Open a Halifax Reward Account and get the £100 for switching. I understand I need to pay in £750 each month but can remove it with no concerns. I only need 2 Direct Debits to be there to receive the £5 per month reward. There is no reason to keep money in this account as it doesn't pay interest (but will need enough in the account to pay the 2 bills).

Once this is settled then open a Santander 123. No bonus for switching so then manually move at least two Direct Debits to meet the accounts criteria for paying interest - and keep the Halifax account open as using the switching service means they close the previous current account. (I currently only have 3 eligible Direct Debits as my energy supplier isn't on the list so can't open more than one account. If I had 4 eligible Direct Debits I would consider having two accounts to max out on the interest for savings.) To run the Santander 123 account I need to pay in £500 per month and have those 2 Direct Debits for household bills but can then put £20,000 of my savings in there as it's a better rate than most savings account.

My questions:
Have I understand it all correctly and does this sound like the right order to do everything?

Thanks!

a&akay

Looks OK, but you can open the 123 any time, it's just that you won't receive the benefits till you meet the £500 and 2 DDs set up criteria.

innovate runs advice on which savings accounts run on DDs. I use mine set at £1 for the Halifax fivers. These saver DDs are set up to come out of our fiver accounts on the 15th and I've got £1 SOs into them from other accounts set up on the 10th to make sure I don't get stung for any fees. This takes into account that SOs aren't paid over weekends and Bank Holidays etc. I recycle the few pounds in the fivers and savers every now and again when I remember.

The aim is to use good payback DDs on the 123 and not waste them on the fivers. You can now set up a DD on Council Tax for instance. This itself for me pays the £2 monthly fee on a 123. Our British Gas central heating cover also pays out, though it shouldn't as it's effectively insurance. It all depends on the code used for the DD payment out of Santander

Nick_C

I am a member of my Council's gym, and I get cashback on that DD as well :-)

angrysharks

a&akay wrote: »

Looks OK, but you can open the 123 any time, it's just that you won't receive the benefits till you meet the £500 and 2 DDs set up criteria.

innovate runs advice on which savings accounts run on DDs. I use mine set at £1 for the Halifax fivers. These saver DDs are set up to come out of our fiver accounts on the 15th and I've got £1 SOs into them from other accounts set up on the 10th to make sure I don't get stung for any fees. This takes into account that SOs aren't paid over weekends and Bank Holidays etc. I recycle the few pounds in the fivers and savers every now and again when I remember.

The aim is to use good payback DDs on the 123 and not waste them on the fivers. You can now set up a DD on Council Tax for instance. This itself for me pays the £2 monthly fee on a 123. Our British Gas central heating cover also pays out, though it shouldn't as it's effectively insurance. It all depends on the code used for the DD payment out of Santander

Thanks so much. Good advice to just get the 123 open and then I'll be ready for moving DDs.

What's innovate?

eskbanker

angrysharks wrote: »

What's innovate?

innovate is a poster on here who started this thread about savings accounts that allow funds transfer by direct debit.

These enable you to effectively use direct debits to pay yourself and are therefore very useful when wanting to open multiple accounts that each have DD requirements!

badger09

angrysharks wrote: »

What's innovate?

:eek::eek::eek::eek::eek::eek::eek::eek::eek::eek::eek::eek::eek::rotfl:

a&akay

angrysharks wrote: »

Thanks so much. Good advice to just get the 123 open and then I'll be ready for moving DDs.

What's innovate?

Apologies. Should have said it'll cost you £2 a month in fees once open. As their process is so convoluted to open you may think this worth paying. You may also not be accepted, but at least you could plan accordingly.