MSE News: NatWest cuts its current account cashback – is it still worth it?

MSE_Luke

NatWest has cut Reward account cashback from 3% to 2% and dropped the monthly fee from £3 to £2...

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'NatWest cuts its current account cashback – is it still worth it?'

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minislim

is there anyone foolish enough to still be with Natwest after all their rate cuts and branch closures over the last few years?

Herbalus

minislim wrote: »

is there anyone foolish enough to still be with Natwest after all their rate cuts and branch closures over the last few years?

A) everybody is cutting rates, it's still useful to ping all my DDs out of it. Few £ for little effort.
With just DDs going out and a SO to cover those bills going in, no need for a branch.

Don80

I've closed my RBS account and moved it to the Bank of Scotland where you get interest (shock!) and their everyday offers, which earns me cash back on spending, and I have a contactless debit card.

My old RBS account gave me nothing - no interest, and despite asking for one, no contactless card. And that was on a Select Account, not the basic account. No explanation given, just "not eligible". I've had no issues with them, the account was run well. So what is the point in staying loyal to them? The Reward Account wouldn't earn me very much, so what's the point?

minislim

Herbalus wrote: »

A) everybody is cutting rates, it's still useful to ping all my DDs out of it. Few £ for little effort.
With just DDs going out and a SO to cover those bills going in, no need for a branch.

ah yes. but natwests rates are usually always way below the competition. they couldn't really cut them any further. but have managed to.
you can easily get more for a few DD's elsewhere.

worked out in the last 20 years or so that i've been at least £100 better off each year since i left natwest!

so £2000 in my pocket and not theirs is much better!

DragonQ

Still worth it for me. It's all about council tax since it's by far the highest bill amount eligible for cashback.

If I switched to Santander's 123 Lite account, I'd gain 1% on broadband & mobile (+£5.80), lose 1% on water & council tax (-£21.10), gain £12 in reduced fees, so in total I'd lose a whole £3.30/year. Also I'm not sure if Santander allows you to swap the cashback for rewards - I use mine regularly to get cinema tickets for £5.

I literally use it as a DD account though, all of my money minus a small buffer is elsewhere earning 3-5% interest and all of my spending is on 0% credit cards or pre-loaded cards with discounts.