Top Bank Accounts Discussion Area

colsten

Jami74 wrote: »

Can I pay in £500 by standing order every month from my main account that my salary gets paid into, and then transfer back £400? Or, if I happened to have £1500 in there could I just transfer £500 in and then out again a couple of days later?

yes and yes. You can even transfer any surplus money out within minutes of having deposited it.

Jami74

colsten wrote: »

yes and yes. You can even transfer any surplus money out within minutes of having deposited it.

Thank-you!

bashful

polymaff wrote: »

Because, when you allow for the fees, the resulting rate is not a "top" rate. Even with £20k, paying £60 per year out of the £~300 annual interest brings that rate down to, at best, an easily-beatable 1.2%.

I too thought Santander 123 was a good account but, looking at the recommended accounts on the main MSE site this morning, it doesn't appear to figure on any "best of" lists.

I had about £25,000 of savings in my 123 and was getting about £25 pm interest and also about £6.60 cashback on various direct debits totalling about £444 pm.

I had a bit of a financial emergency over the weekend and had to scrape together every pound I could find so emptied my Santander 123 account. All is well again today and I was about to put my £25k back into Santander 123 but am now having doubts.

The 123 account gives 1.50% AER/1.49% gross (variable) on balances up to £20,000 and between 1-3% cashback on household bills. 1.5% seems pretty good?

What alternative accounts should I be looking at? There seems to be a split between recommendations for savings and bank accounts per se.

Brian

eskbanker

bashful wrote: »

The 123 account gives 1.50% AER/1.49% gross (variable) on balances up to £20,000 and between 1-3% cashback on household bills. 1.5% seems pretty good?

What alternative accounts should I be looking at? There seems to be a split between recommendations for savings and bank accounts per se.

You can achieve exactly the same cashback from Santander's 123 Lite product, which only charges £1 per month rather than £5. As it doesn't pay interest, you could put your £25K into a Marcus account that pays a clean 1.5% so overall you'd be £48/year better off by virtue of the lower monthly fees, while also benefiting from £75 interest on the surplus £5K that wouldn't have earned any interest in a full 123....

soulsaver

bashful wrote: »

I had about £25,000 of savings in my 123 and was getting about £25 pm interest and also about £6.60 cashback on various direct debits totalling about £444 pm.
Brian

Check you maths and your typing...;)

eskbanker

soulsaver wrote: »

Check you maths and your typing...;)

Oh, the irony!

murphydavid

[QUOTE=eskbanker;_Marcus_account_that_pays_a_clean_1.5%...you'd_be_£48/year_better_off_[/QUOTE]

Just to point out that part of the 1.5% is a 1 year bonus so the advantage is just for one year. So not £48/year but just £48 this year. Just like 123 and all the others; it appears to be; expand your market then cut to the quick.

colsten

murphydavid wrote: »

Just to point out that part of the 1.5% is a 1 year bonus so the advantage is just for one year. So not £48/year but just £48 this year. Just like 123 and all the others; it appears to be; expand your market then cut to the quick.

Good point. You need to keep your ear to the ground and try and move your money regularly.

murphydavid

Oh yes and if you are interested in smallish annual amounts you can make a further £64 by opening; within 123; a £200 a month regular saver at 5%. Don't know if you can do it with a 123lite

colsten

murphydavid wrote: »

Oh yes and if you are interested in smallish annual amounts you can make a further £64 by opening; within 123; a £200 a month regular saver at 5%. Don't know if you can do it with a 123lite

Santa regular saver pays max 3%. Regular Savers paying 5% are available elsewhere, and with higher monthly max amounts.