Bank switching

vixen1500

Might seem like a daft question but -

Thinking of closing a joint san123 account to access the direct debits for meeting requirements of other accounts. As my cashback only covers their monthly fee and I can get higher interest elsewhere

Is it possible to use the switch service to an account you already have with all banks? Thinking poss Lloyds

I know the Halifax do it as we have done it with our single accounts - (So we wouldn't qualify for their current offer) - do any others?

Just don't fancy resetting up all my standing orders

Thanks

[Deleted User]

You don't have to reset all your standing orders, whoever you switch to does that, it really is a painless procedure.

ValiantSon

It should be possible.

I assume that you don't have the full £20,000 in your 123 account as I can't see how you would earn more interest elsewhere on that amount in one single account.

vixen1500

Deleted_User wrote: »

You don't have to reset all your standing orders, whoever you switch to does that, it really is a painless procedure.

thats exactly what I want them to do

vixen1500

ValiantSon wrote: »

It should be possible.

I assume that you don't have the full £20,000 in your 123 account as I can't see how you would earn more interest elsewhere on that amount in one single account.

We had 3, but at 1.5% less the £60 in fees it brings it down to roughly 1.24% - I have both Tesco and Post office accounts paying more - without having to have 6 direct debits.

Nat West pay 1.5% on the first £5000 in their saver builder account - some has gone there you can have single and Joint accounts

Also Nationwide offer 1.4% on their ISA and we havent used any allowance so that will take £40,000

YorkshireBoy

vixen1500 wrote: »

We had 3, but at 1.5% less the £60 in fees it brings it down to roughly 1.24%

Even worse. Isn't it 1.19%?

Nat West pay 5% on the first £5000 in their saver builder account - some has gone there you can have single and Joint accounts

I think you've omitted a "1." in front of that figure?

vixen1500

YorkshireBoy wrote: »

Even worse. Isn't it 1.19%?I think you've omitted a "1." in front of that figure?

Opp - well spotted - amended now

ValiantSon

vixen1500 wrote: »

We had 3, but at 1.5% less the £60 in fees it brings it down to roughly 1.24% - I have both Tesco and Post office accounts paying more - without having to have 6 direct debits.

The cashback negates the fees in many cases. If you earn at least £5 cashback a month then the interest rate is 1.5%. You would have to be earning virtually no cashback to get an effective interest rate of 1.24%.

I did say, "in one single account". I was referring to current accounts as well, as that is what you are talking about switching to.

You did have three accounts, but now you only have one, so we're talking about a £20,000 figure rather than a £60,000 figure. It is much easier to find direct debits for the one account to make the cashback, rather than three.

vixen1500 wrote: »

Nat West pay 5% on the first £5000 in their saver builder account - some has gone there you can have single and Joint accounts

I think you have made a typo as the rate is 1.5%. It also isn't a current account and I was talking about current accounts as that is what you were talking about.

1.5% with NatWest is the same as 1.5% with Santander, but on a much lower amount and with obtuse conditions that require you to mess around to get the interest, unlike Santander who just require you to have two active direct debits and pay in £500 per month.

vixen1500 wrote: »

Also Nationwide offer 1.4% on their ISA and we havent used any allowance so that will take £40,000

1.4% is less than 1.5%.

On a separate note, if you are holding that much cash then you might want to consider investing in an S&S ISA (or even two) as the interest you are earning is well below inflation, so the value of your money is eroding. A diversified S&S investment could reasonably be expected to beat inflation (assuming it is held for a suitable period, e.g. 10 years or more) as historically the markets always have.

Do you really need access to £60,000 cash? It's your money, so do as you wish, but there are better options than holding unnecessarily large cash deposits.

vixen1500

Just found details of how to switch to Lloyds - seems like a pretty straight forward online form. Not sure if I need to wait until reg savers mature - do I need a 123 account for these?????

Do you 2 other bank accounts with Santander - just need to check reg saver details first

ValiantSon

YorkshireBoy wrote: »

Even worse. Isn't it 1.19%?

Only if you earn no cashback.

ValiantSon

vixen1500 wrote: »

Just found details of how to switch to Lloyds - seems like a pretty straight forward online form. Not sure if I need to wait until reg savers mature - do I need a 123 account for these?????

Do you 2 other bank accounts with Santander - just need to check reg saver details first

A requirement of the regular saver is that you must have a 123 World account (or be a Select customer) to earn the 5% interest. If you don't then the interest rate is 3%. Technically the terms on the website say that you have to hold one of these accounts at the point of opening the regular saver to get the 5% rate, but you might want to clarify with Santander.

That regular saver is another potentially good reason to keep the Santander account open.