Want to be a tart, am I doing this right?

Katiehound

TSB Classic Plus 3% on £1.5k-
+ £5 cashback for 2 monthly DDs
+ £5 cashback every month if you spend with your debit card at least 20 times a month, including Apple and Android Pay.

To earn interest (which is paid monthly) just pay in a minimum of £500 a month and register for Internet Banking, Paperless Statements and Paperless Correspondence. It's important that you log in regularly, at least once every 12 months.

Sunshine_and_Roses

ValiantSon wrote: »

When you asked about the SO, where you thinking of the requirement for minimum funding of the M&S account? If so then you can set up the SO once the M&S account is open.

Just trying to get everything straight in my head, might be easier to do it all at the same time. Memory is not as good as it used to be!!

Katiehound

I think £1 per month to charity is ........ insulting?.
£2 is more acceptable especially as you are going to benefit. But for M&S unless t&cs have changed it could be an annual subscription.

YorkshireBoy

clareski wrote: »

No, I was being greedy, thinking we could do a switch each and also a joint one .

It's always worth a try to see if the banks' systems are robust. Sometimes they're not. But take the bird in the hand first!

£1000 SO then

I really wouldn't be bothering with setting up SOs on a donor account.

set up the SO from 123 to M&S and back again

Be sure to leave a few days in between. Alternatively, do as I and others do, which is SO into M&S and manual payment out.

I can forget about it and enjoy £185 on a gift voucher in 12 months time?

£125 almost straight away, and £5 per month from then on isn't it?

ValiantSon

YorkshireBoy wrote: »

Exactly the opposite in fact. See the last sentence in para 1.

Thanks, I completely misread that!

YorkshireBoy wrote: »

Santander Lite would be good, assuming they haven't already filled all the 5%/3%/2% current accounts. I'm guessing they have though, otherwise why be content with 1.5% (or less depending on DD cashback)?

Agreed, and thanks again for pointing out my misreading.

Sunshine_and_Roses

Katiehound wrote: »

I think £1 per month to charity is ........ insulting?.
£2 is more acceptable especially as you are going to benefit.

Sorry you find this insulting, I know it is only a small amount but I do donate to other charities, give to various sponsored events, hospice lottery, raffles, etc. I feel if everyone gave £12 a year to a number of charities then this would add up and help them immensely. I was following Martin's suggestion but will give this some more thought.

rangers_fc

Your opinion on if £1 charity donation is insulting is just that your opinion, I think its bad manners to deride a donation to charity because it is of small value. As claeski said if we all donated £12 to charity all the small donations would end up a significant amount

ValiantSon

clareski wrote: »

Sorry you find this insulting, I know it is only a small amount but I do donate to other charities, give to various sponsored events, hospice lottery, raffles, etc. I feel if everyone gave £12 a year to a number of charities then this would add up and help them immensely. I was following Martin's suggestion but will give this some more thought.

The issue with £1 DDs to charity is to do with cost vs benefit. The administrative costs and transactional costs of claiming a DD can actually work out as being quite high, particularly for smaller charities. A £1 DD is, therefore, more likely to cost a charity money, especially if it regularly has to cope with changing the details of that DD as the benefactor switches to a new account every time a switch incentive comes along. I, and others, have been critical of Martin for suggesting this as it doesn't take into account the costs to the charity. Giving £2 significantly increases the potential for a charity to actually benefit from the gift.

If you give to other charities, then perhaps set up the DDs with those charities and give a monthly donation of what you reckon you donate annually (and gift aid it too!). I have DDs to charities, and have used them to meet current account requirements, but they are for significantly higher sums than £1. There are certain charities that I support and I concentrate my charitable giving on them. The meeting of account criteria is a side issue; the primary purpose of my DDs is to support the work of the charity.

EachPenny

ValiantSon wrote: »

I, and others, have been critical of Martin for suggesting this as it doesn't take into account the costs to the charity.

+1 on that.

It is also probably costing you real money, for not much advantage (or a net loss) to the charity.

If you have the normal kind of expenses that most people do it is likely you have DD's coming from the Santander accounts earning significantly less than £1 cashback per month. It makes more sense to move these to accounts you intend to switch, rather than setting up charity DD's.

Sunshine_and_Roses

Thank you all for your comments, especially regarding the £1 monthly charity donations. I did not realise that it would cost so much for the charities to receive this donation. Wouldn't it be nice if the banks waived any set-up fees for charities?

I have been checking T&C for banks but cannot see if there is a minimum term to be with the bank after you have switched, apart from M&S where you get the £5 as an incentive to stay. Can I ask how long people have stayed with the 'switched' bank before switching again?