1-2-3 Current Account as a Savings Account ?

NatAmelBaines91

Hi there !
I'm just after a little clarification ; I currently have an NSI Premium Bonds Account which I use as a Savings Account. A few people have recommended opening a Santander 123 Current Account. I'm thinking of transfering my savings from the PB to the 123 Account.

After reading the small print on the Santander site it says:

• Pay a monthly account fee of £2, which will be automatically taken from your account each month.
• Fund the account with £500 a month (a minimum balance of £1,000 is required to receive interest).
• Have at least 2 active Direct Debits. For cashback household bills must be paid by Direct Debit to organisations within eligible categories.

I am able to fund the account with £500 a month (and pay the £2 fee) but due to still living with parents the only direct debit I have is my phone bill (no TV , utility bills etc).
I was just wondering if I could still receive interest on the money I have in the account , without having any direct debits set up on the 123 account. I'm not too bothered about the cashback if I'm being honest.

Hope someone can clarify this or has been in the same situation?

Thanks,
Nat

HappyMJ

You need 2 direct debits and there have been plenty of threads on this.

Try a Paypal account with a direct debit.

Or a Tesco savings account.

YorkshireBoy

NatAmelBaines91 wrote: »

After reading the small print on the Santander site it says:

• Pay a monthly account fee of £2, which will be automatically taken from your account each month.
• Fund the account with £500 a month (a minimum balance of £1,000 is required to receive interest).
• Have at least 2 active Direct Debits. For cashback household bills must be paid by Direct Debit to organisations within eligible categories.

More accurately, and to quote the section in full, it says...

To get cashback on your household bills and interest on your balance, just follow these steps:

• Pay a monthly account fee of £2.
• Fund the account with £500 a month (excludes internal transfers). A minimum balance of £1,000 is needed to receive interest.
• Have at least 2 active Direct Debits. You'll get monthly cashback on selected household bills you pay by Direct Debit

I've highlighted the bit you missed.

xylophone

You already have one direct debit.

If you open a Tesco Internet Saver http://www.tescobank.com/savings/flexible/internet-saver/index.html

you will be able to set up a direct debit to pull money from Santander into this account.

Archi_Bald

There are several other accounts that pay better interest than the 123

bigfreddiel

Archi_Bald wrote: »

There are several other accounts that pay better interest than the 123

Name them please fj

Archi_Bald

they are easy enough to find

molerat

Archi_Bald wrote: »

There are several other accounts that pay better interest than the 123

Not many that pay better on large amounts though.

jimjames

HappyMJ wrote: »

You need 2 direct debits and there have been plenty of threads on this.

Try a Paypal account with a direct debit.

Or a Tesco savings account.

Or even a tesco current account that pays 3% with no DD restriction. Or tsb paying 5% with no requirement for a DD

Archi_Bald

jimjames wrote: »

Or tsb paying 5% with no requirement for a DD

and the option to drip-feed £250 a month into a 5% reg saver.

IMO, there are very few reasons why anyone would settle for an account that pays out less than 3% AER before they have exhausted the 4, 5 and 6% AER accounts, and also the real 3% AER accounts. Laziness would be one reason, not being accepted for the better accounts is another.

ValiantSaint

Sorry to hijack this thread. I was just wondering if there's any of the higher paying savings account, where they can be left "dormant"? Such as not having to fund them every month?

My brain is fried trying to figure out how to gain interest from a joint current account, a joint savings account and my own savings! Thanks