Questions re Santander 123 Current Account

Chin

Hi all

I have some questions about the 123 Santander Current Account that I need some help with please.

1) what happens and is there a charge for closing the account at any time?

2) is the £2 a month charge applicable on both the interest and cash back option? I won't be wanting any of the cash back, just interest on savings up to £20k

3) is the above question the same for the 2 x direct debits it requires per month? Again I want pure savings (no cash back) so could ideally do without the 2x direct debits but not sure if it's part of the overall deal.

Thanks all

YorkshireBoy

1. No.
2. You'll pay £2 per month whether you enjoy any benefits or not.
3. No DDs = no interest! Note they don't need to pay out, just be set up. However, you'll need to use them at least once per year otherwise they'll lapse under the dormancy rules.

ColdIron

1) There is no charge for closing the account
2 and 3) Interest is contingent on both the monthly fee and 2 direct debits being set up, see
http://www.santander.co.uk/csdlvlr/ContentServer?c=SANDocument_C&pagename=WCSUKPublicaLte%2FSANDocument_C%2FSANDocumentPreview&cid=1324566123378

Chin

YorkshireBoy wrote: »

Note they don't need to pay out, just be set up. However, you'll need to use them at least once per year otherwise they'll lapse under the dormancy rules.

Thanks for your answer. Could you explain this to me in a little more detail please?

Archi_Bald

Worth noting that many people are able to offset the £2/mth charge with the DD cashback. Some get £2/mth cashback several times over.

YorkshireBoy

Chin wrote: »

Thanks for your answer. Could you explain this to me in a little more detail please?

http://www.directdebit.co.uk/SiteCollectionDocuments/DD_guarantee_leaflet.pdf
Right click, find, "dormancy".

or

Ctrl F "dormancy"

...will give you some more detail.

Chin

Archi_Bald wrote: »

Worth noting that many people are able to offset the £2/mth charge with the DD cashback. Some get £2/mth cashback several times over.

Thanks. In theory I could put a couple of DDs coming out of this account but I'm trying to keep a limit on the number of bank accounts with money going in/out so considered this for pure savings.

Archi_Bald

Chin wrote: »

Thanks. In theory I could put a couple of DDs coming out of this account but I'm trying to keep a limit on the number of bank accounts with money going in/out so considered this for pure savings.

You will not get any interest if you do not have 2 DDs on the 123, as well as meet the other pre-req . See ColdIron's earlier response.

Chin

Cheers all

jimjames

If you want accounts with less restrictions why not use the tsb ones? Only need to pay in £500 per month and can do that automatically between the 2 accounts.

Chin

I think the TSB ones only pay interest up to £2,000