To switch or not

avondale

I'm currently with Santander 123 account and hold debit and 2 credit cards with them . I'm aware the fee for the account is going up from £2-£5 next year .
I've been accepted for the TSB account which if I totally switch I get £125 and also 5% on a maximum spend of £100 on there debit card . So in affect £185 for the year also 5% on first £2.5k in account

Am I tight in thinking that I should close my 123 account with Santander or is it still worth sticking with them as well , because if I don't do the full switch I won't get £125. I intend to keep about £3-5k in my cuttent account
Thanks In advance

YorkshireBoy

You're going to have to get your skates on to meet the deadline for the £125 aren't you?


Sounds like you should close the Santander current account. How much cashback are you making?


If you've £3-5K you should be keeping that in TSB and Nationwide (the latter for 12 months only). Any surplus (ie £500) could be swiftly moved to the TSB monthly saver so you're making 5% AER on everything!

avondale

I believe the switch has to take place by 23/11 to get the £125

YorkshireBoy

avondale wrote: »

I believe the switch has to take place by 23/11 to get the £125

It's a 7 day process, ending by the 23rd. So that's only 8 working days from now! Just a day to spare...IF you initiate it tomorrow and IF they can start straight away. I fear you may have missed out.

planteria

i think YB is right to express concern re. timing avondale..
just a thought but perhaps you can get Santander to open a 2nd account for you, whilst also transferring your existing account away.. that way you can always go back and use Santander alongside, if you want to

f1rich

Hi, I haven't switched Banks for Donkey years so was wondering if I do switch to get £100, how long do I have to stay with them for? Is it 1 year?

d70cw6

f1rich wrote: »

Hi, I haven't switched Banks for Donkey years so was wondering if I do switch to get £100, how long do I have to stay with them for? Is it 1 year?

read the T&Cs - generally no time limit.

Katiehound

avondale wrote: »

also 5% on a maximum spend of £100 on there debit card .

Don't bank on that! Purchases have to be with contactless card- and there are precious few retailers (round here) that have that facility!
saying that the 5% interest is great- but it is on £2000, not £2.500

System

Where do you live?
Most (modern) chip & pin terminals are setup already...

Katiehound wrote: »

Don't bank on that! Purchases have to be with contactless card- and there are precious few retailers (round here) that have that facility!
saying that the 5% interest is great- but it is on £2000, not £2.500

Archi_Bald

Heng_Leng wrote: »

Where do you live?
Most (modern) chip & pin terminals are setup already...

Huge retailers, such as Tesco and ASDA, don't have contactless in most of their stores yet. Some smaller ones, e.g. hair dressers, flower shops, family butchers tell me they don't have short or medium term plans for contactless as most of their transactions are over £30, and they can't justify the cost associated with contactless (e.g. staff training about refunds etc etc)