A year ago Santander 123 halved its interest to 1.5% – now most should consider ditch

RG2015

I have learned not to read too much into headlines.:) However, the blog has been quoted by several mainstream newspapers with much more misleading headlines. The Sun for example has the following headline.

"MoneySavingExpert’s Martin Lewis urges customers of THIS bank to ditch their current account"

I have not read it but I have included a link below.

At the end of the day we all need to do our own research and make our decisions based on our individual circumstances. I do however find the breadth of experience of the numerous posters on this site to be invaluable.

https://www.thesun.co.uk/money/4807146/moneysavingexperts-martin-lewis-urges-customers-of-this-bank-to-ditch-their-current-account/

Gordon_the_Moron

About 95% I'd guess absolutely should ditch 123 right now.

Many for 123 lite.

I'm not ignoring the cashback
I'm not ignoring the 5% regular saver
I'm not ignoring the retailer offers

Unless you have a balance at or very close to 20k all the time you would be better off converting your 123 account to 123 lite which has all the above benefits except interest and putting the bulk of your savings in a Birmingham Midshires Internet Saver.

Radarluggs

Is it stiii worth keeping this account to get the 5% interest on the regular savings account attached to it?
I am not getting any ash back on this account.

Gordon_the_Moron

Nationwide has a 5% regular saver allowing a £250 monthly deposit, 5% credit interest on up to 2.5k for a year and £100 each referral bonus if a friend refers you. If the 5% saver is all that's keeping you no.

gilly56

The Santander site says "All savings products linked to the base rate will move in line with the increase from the beginning of December." So perhaps it would be best to wait until then to see if the 1-2-3 account gets a raise in rate before deciding to keep or ditch?

http://www.santander.co.uk/uk/base-rate-change

anotheruser

I looked at downgrading our joint but the interest + cashback is more than the fee. We get more money in interest than we get cashback, hence no switch to the Lite version.

We're not particularly close to the 20k limit, but we still make a few pounds every month, so it's not worth the hassle of changing elsewhere.

TSB looks great but our individual accounts are with them, so I'd rather not have two cards that look exactly the same in the wallet for the slight extra it'll get me.

Ditched their credit card though.

pearl123

Correct or not?
"Santander 123 account holders will miss out on interest rate rise"
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/11/08/santander-123-account-holders-will-miss-interest-rate-rise/

gilly56

@pearl123

This link has been updated since I last posted it so the Telegraph article appears to be correct...

http://www.santander.co.uk/uk/base-rate-change

There is no mention of the 1-2-3 current account being increased from 1.5%, disappointing indeed! :-((

pearl123

gilly56 wrote: »

@pearl123

This link has been updated since I last posted it so the Telegraph article appears to be correct...

http://www.santander.co.uk/uk/base-rate-change

There is no mention of the 1-2-3 current account being increased from 1.5%, disappointing indeed! :-((

I’m a little suprised that Santander haven’t made any increase, especially considering Martin Lewis suggestion that many people should consider ditching.

gilly56

I suppose it was too much to expect an increase at this stage but surely if the BofE base rate continues to go up over the next 6 months+ they will hopefully increase it?