Direct Debit Dilemma?

Helen28

I have a Santander 123 account in which I pay out 4 DDs which gives me £5.20 cashback and with the account fee a profit of £0.20.

I also has a balance of around £15000-£17000 giving me interest of around £19 odds a month.

I also have a Halifax Reward account containing £0 with 2 Tesco DDs of £1.50 each, which will, as you know be ending in April giving me £3 a month.

Then I have a BoS Vantage account containing £5000 into which is paid my income which also has 2 Tesco DDs.

This account I use to fund all my other accounts for min payments etc.

The problem is after the Tesco DDs stop I only have 5 direct debits
including one to pay my Santander Zero credit card from my Santander account.

Any ideas where I could get 4 DDs from or should I just close my Halifax and Vantage accounts and maintain a balance of £20000 in my Santander account and put the excess in one of my Tesco savings account?

clivep

Helen28 wrote: »

I have a Santander 123 account in which I pay out 4 DDs which gives me £5.20 cashback and with the account fee a profit of £0.20.

I also has a balance of around £15000-£17000 giving me interest of around £19 odds a month.

I also have a Halifax Reward account containing £0 with 2 Tesco DDs of £1.50 each, which will, as you know be ending in April giving me £3 a month.

Then I have a BoS Vantage account containing £5000 into which is paid my income which also has 2 Tesco DDs.

This account I use to fund all my other accounts for min payments etc.

The problem is after the Tesco DDs stop I only have 5 direct debits
including one to pay my Santander Zero credit card from my Santander account.

Any ideas where I could get 4 DDs from or should I just close my Halifax and Vantage accounts and maintain a balance of £20000 in my Santander account and put the excess in one of my Tesco savings account?

We had 3 x Santander 123 a/cs between us but not any longer...

You can switch yours to a NatWest Reward for a £125 switching bonus + better cashback on DDs + lower monthly fee of £2.

We each have 3 x BOS a/cs allowing 2% on up to £15k each. Open another 2 for yourself and stuff £10k there.

Plenty of posts about Tesco DD alternatives...

Between us we have:
8 x Post Office Internet Savers
4 x Birmingham Midshire Internet Savers.
4 x Scottish Widows Internet Savers (new a/cs not currently available).
2 x local credit union savings a/cs.

Helen28

I've been doing some calculations on my Santander account.

The cashback minus the fees is £3.02 a year and I will be changing my Sky account from £32 a month to £20 a month when they let me so it will actually be £0.01p :eek:

So I am only getting interest of 1.5% on my money.


I need a replacement for it.

Kim_13

Santander 123 Lite gives the same cashback for £1 per month. Natwest Reward gives a flat 2% on all bills for £2 per month. Crunch the figures and see if these work for you.

If not, use your DD's to either retain your BOS Vantage interest or bag a monthly payment. Have you had a TSB Classic Plus account before? If not, it's one I'd recommend, as they pay 3% on £1,500 so beat BOS on that amount and give £5 cashback for 2 direct debits until 31 December. They also give cashback for 20 debit card payments a month until this date. The interest continues indefinitely.

The following MSE guide gives more detail on the best bank accounts: https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/banking/compare-best-bank-accounts

The following thread gives some suggestions of other DD's that can be used to retain interest/rewards: https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/5734632

surreysaver

I have a 123 account as my main account. I think I'm going to downgrade it to a 123 Lite, and keep a minimal balance in it and just transfer money from a Tesco Internet Saver when direct debits are due

Helen28

Santander 123 Lite gives the same cashback for £1 per month. Natwest Reward gives a flat 2% on all bills for £2 per month. Crunch the figures and see if these work for you.

But they don't give me 1.5% interest on my >£16000 balance.

roxy28

Helen28 wrote: »

But they don't give me 1.5% interest on my >£16000 balance.

Do you need 2 dd to get both interest and cashback or can you just get the interest without dd but fund it with £500 each month.

badger09

roxy28 wrote: »

Do you need 2 dd to get both interest and cashback or can you just get the interest without dd but fund it with £500 each month.

You'll find the answers here;)

https://www.santander.co.uk/uk/current-accounts/123-current-account?icid=php-Hero-1|2|3%20Current%20Account-0118

ST-User

Bank of Cyprus online easy access saver gives you 1.55% up to a million (at least) and you don't have to pay monthly fee or DD's.

camelopardis

ST-User wrote: »

Bank of Cyprus online easy access saver gives you 1.55% up to a million (at least) and you don't have to pay monthly fee or DD's.

Where are you getting that information? Their website says 1.25% for 12 months reverting to 0.85%

ST-User

Mine pays 1.55% in the first year, but I opened it a few months ago.
Indeed, it offers 1.25% for new accounts, sorry.