Santander 123 "Active Direct Debits"

uk1

We currently have a joint Santander 123 account and I am planning to open up new individual 123 accounts for each of us and then fund them from a Halifax account with £500 monthly for each account.

I have a question about Active Direct Debits. The Santander site says:

Have at least 2 active Direct Debits. You'll get monthly cashback on selected household bills you pay by Direct Debit

My question is what is meant by "active" and can they be annual DD's but if they are is interest only paid in the months that DD's are paid? Or must they effectively be monthly DD's?

Any help from any one who has done this appreciated.

Thanks.

Jeff

YorkshireBoy

"Active", in the Santander context, means that a direct debit instruction (DDI) exists on the account. In other words it has not lapsed under the dormancy* rules and may pay out if called upon to do so.

Presumably you've already exhausted all the better** paying accounts, with you opening 2 more Santander and paying £120 a year for the privilege?


* Generally 13 months of inactivity will mean the DDI is cancelled by Santander.

** As a couple you could get up to £28,500 making 4-5% AER, and a further £42,000 making a clean 3% AER. And all this using current accounts...more if combined with regular savers and drip-feeding.

weezie7

I have two DD with Santander and had long conversations with them when I opened the 123 account. I was concerned as the council tax only pays out for 10 months, it is considered 'active' all year, but be aware you will not earn the cashback for the months when it is not paid out. It is 'active' even though it only pays out for 10 months! I recall that even the TV licence payment (once a year) would count! This was a couple of years ago, so suggest contacting them for clarity as, like everything in life, it may have changed!
Hope that makes sense!

uk1

YorkshireBoy wrote: »

"Active", in the Santander context, means that a direct debit instruction (DDI) exists on the account. In other words it has not lapsed under the dormancy* rules and may pay out if called upon to do so.

Presumably you've already exhausted all the better** paying accounts, with you opening 2 more Santander and paying £120 a year for the privilege?


* Generally 13 months of inactivity will mean the DDI is cancelled by Santander.

** As a couple you could get up to £28,500 making 4-5% AER, and a further £42,000 making a clean 3% AER. And all this using current accounts...more if combined with regular savers and drip-feeding.

Many thanks for these hints, and they are relevant to me. This year I have a large chunk of cash moving from high interest to almost zero and I am looking to minimise the losses.

Would you mind fleshing out how I could organise it that way? Thanks.

I clearly haven't exhausted those options becasue I don't know about them. I am interested in no risk ie interest only.

Jeff

uk1

weezie7 wrote: »

I have two DD with Santander and had long conversations with them when I opened the 123 account. I was concerned as the council tax only pays out for 10 months, it is considered 'active' all year, but be aware you will not earn the cashback for the months when it is not paid out. It is 'active' even though it only pays out for 10 months! I recall that even the TV licence payment (once a year) would count! This was a couple of years ago, so suggest contacting them for clarity as, like everything in life, it may have changed!
Hope that makes sense!

Thanks just to doublecheck I don't misunderstand your warning.

You are alerting me to the fact that cashback is obviously only paid out in the months qualifying DD payment is made. However interest is still payable on the cash balance for all 12 months.

I am not concerned about cashback. Just 3% interest.

Correct?

Thanks

Jeff

badger09

uk1 wrote: »

Thanks just to doublecheck I don't misunderstand your warning.

You are alerting me to the fact that cashback is obviously only paid out in the months qualifying DD payment is made. However interest is still payable on the cash balance for all 12 months.

I am not concerned about cashback. Just 3% interest.

Correct?

Thanks

Jeff

Correct.

As long as your DDs are active, as outlined by Yorkshireboy, and you meet the minimum monthly funding, you will qualify for interest.


Have a look here

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/savings/which-saving-account

and at the links in it to Best bank accounts.

There is lots of information on this forum about the best (ie highest interest paying) bank accounts. Regular Savers can earn up to 6%, so consider those alongside current accounts.

Come back if you have any questions:)

uk1

Thanks,

A dafto question. Normally I only see a way of moving a DD when one is cancelled and called upon, and at that point I hear from the organisation I'm paying that the dd is cancelled.

Is there an easier and more immediate way of moving a dd so it is immediately active? Can I ask Santander to simply move over and manage a couple of DDs from our joint to each of our individual 123 accounts?

thanks

Jeff

YorkshireBoy

uk1 wrote: »

Is there an easier and more immediate way of moving a dd so it is immediately active? Can I ask Santander to simply move over and manage a couple of DDs from our joint to each of our individual 123 accounts?

I understand some banks (FD is one I believe) can do this, but I don't think Santander is one of them. Probably best if you contact the DD originators and ask them to change the source account.

Just be careful of timings, especially with any credit card DDs.

weezie7

From memory, when we switched our own accounts to the 123 Santander you need to check when the new 123 is active, as it depends on when you open the account. My other half had a few problems making it work so that he got the cashback, as some of his DD dates did not work out properly with his new account opening.


I had all my DD's taken either early in the month or very late, and then was eligible for cashback. My partner only had problems in the first month, after this, no problem.

LXdaddy

uk1 wrote: »

Thanks,

A dafto question. Normally I only see a way of moving a DD when one is cancelled and called upon, and at that point I hear from the organisation I'm paying that the dd is cancelled.

Is there an easier and more immediate way of moving a dd so it is immediately active? Can I ask Santander to simply move over and manage a couple of DDs from our joint to each of our individual 123 accounts?

thanks

Jeff

The DD is "owned" by the originator (the utility company or the communications company etc etc) so if you want to change which bank account they pull money from you need to contact them.


(Unless you are moving them as part of a current account switch where the receiving bank contacts them on your behalf)


(And First Direct seems to be an exception if you want to move the DD from one FD account to another FD account)

Eco_Miser

uk1 wrote: »

Many thanks for these hints, and they are relevant to me. This year I have a large chunk of cash moving from high interest to almost zero and I am looking to minimise the losses.

First post in this thread lists all the accounts, by AER interest rate.