Santander 123 eligibility

cattysmum

Just looking into the 123 account myself, do you have to close your normal bank account (mines TSB with 4 classic (5%) accounts between myself and hubby) and switch to santander, or could I fund 123 account with a DD from our TSB account where both my salary and OHs pension goes into? we have about £20,000 we can afford to save in the santander. Just a bit bothered re the direct debits, Is it much bother to move DDs ie council tax, water rates, sky to the 123 account to take advantage of the cashback.

Sabriski

Sorry for the double post, I can't figure out how to double quote!

YorkshireBoy wrote: »

You'd be throwing a five pound note on the fire every month...unless you could cover it with some DD cashback.

On the calculator it worked out we would earn around £18 per month with cash back and interest after the £5 charge.

YorkshireBoy

Sabriski wrote: »

Yes that is not a problem at all. I consider this money to be ours rather than just mine

In that case an easy solution would be a Club Lloyds account each (or one sole in your name and a joint). That would pay 4% AER on £10K in total. Once you get to £12K you could open a 3rd account between you (splitting £4K in each), and then you've scope for £15K @ 4% AER (splitting the max £5K in each).

All subject to meeting the T&Cs of course, but that's a 33% increase in your return compare with Santander in pure interest terms.

YorkshireBoy

Sabriski wrote: »

On the calculator it worked out we would earn around £18 per month with cash back and interest after the £5 charge.

My Lloyds suggestion above would see that increase to £26 a month on £10K. That's £8 a month...nearly £100 a year.

You could do a lot better, but I don't think you're up for multi-accounting?

Sabriski

YorkshireBoy wrote: »

In that case an easy solution would be a Club Lloyds account each (or one sole in your name and a joint). That would pay 4% AER on £10K in total. Once you get to £12K you could open a 3rd account between you (splitting £4K in each), and then you've scope for £15K @ 4% AER (splitting the max £5K in each).

All subject to meeting the T&Cs of course, but that's a 33% increase in your return compare with Santander in pure interest terms.

Thanks for giving me an alternative but unfortunately the monthly pay-in would not meet the required £1500

YorkshireBoy

Sabriski wrote: »

Thanks for giving me an alternative but unfortunately the monthly pay-in would not meet the required £1500

You have £10K. That's £5K in each account. Ergo you do have £1,500 to 'play with'! In other words, you'd transfer £1,500 from one account to the other and immediately transfer it back again.

I'm thinking you'd rather have an easy life than maximise your return? In that case, probably best to go with Santander...and forget about the (at least) £100 a year you're missing out on...and more after April when the PSA kicks in!

Sabriski

YorkshireBoy wrote: »

You have £10K. That's £5K in each account. Ergo you do have £1,500 to 'play with'! In other words, you'd transfer £1,500 from one account to the other and immediately transfer it back again.

I'm thinking you'd rather have an easy life than maximise your return? In that case, probably best to go with Santander...and forget about the (at least) £100 a year you're missing out on...and more after April when the PSA kicks in!

Yes you are right in thinking I am for the easy life and I do realise this means I miss out on interest but I like to know what's what and I get confused easily!!

I am thinking of switching my current Santander account to M&S bank to get the £100 gift card + £10 per month on the gift card. This will then mean that I am eligible to meet the t&cs for the 123 account and the first year I have earned £220 on top of the cashback and interest of the 123 though this can only be spent at M&S. Does this seem like a sensible option?

badger09

cattysmum wrote: »

Just looking into the 123 account myself, do you have to close your normal bank account (mines TSB with 4 classic (5%) accounts between myself and hubby) and switch to santander, or could I fund 123 account with a DD from our TSB account where both my salary and OHs pension goes into? we have about £20,000 we can afford to save in the santander. Just a bit bothered re the direct debits, Is it much bother to move DDs ie council tax, water rates, sky to the 123 account to take advantage of the cashback.

You don't have to close your 'normal bank account', and as Santander are not offering any switching incentive, there is no point in doing so.

You cannot fund your Santander account by DD from your TSB account, but you can fund it by Standing Order:cool:

Its not clear whether the £20k you mention includes the money already in your TSB accounts. Anyway, there are other current accounts paying higher interest than Santander. However, Santander is one option if you want to keep life simple.

It is easy to move DDs, such as Council Tax, Water Rates etc to Santander. Many councils and companies let you do this online, or failing that, by phone. You would obviously have to wait until you had details of your new Santander account before arranging this;).

Joe99

You can fund the account by £500 in cash deposit every month too, it doesn't necessarily have to be bank transfers.