Santander 123 account close, move or switch

No_Name

Just want to gain an insight into experiences people have had recently with closing, downgrading or switching away from their 123 current account.

Mine pays interest around the 20th.

Assuming I downgrade , close or switch my account in the next couple of days, what happens with interest accrued to date; does the monthly £5 fee get prorated; would cashbach be earned on direct debits paid since the last interest payment?

durhamviper

I downgraded my 123 account to a 123 Lite account mid-period and received the interest to change date. The monthly £5 fee wasn't charged. I can't say about the DD cashback as none was due on my account but I would think it would be paid.

Neil_Jones

Discussed previously but in a nutshell:

Downgrade to Lite, you get cashback on the direct debits you would have had up to that date and any interest due. Your new month starts from the date you downgrade to Lite and not whatever it is now. The £5 fee appears to be a "for the previous month" setup and not as you'd expect in advance and if you downgrade its effectively waived. The £1 fee for Lite comes out the next month.

Switching away and closing are effectively the same thing; you'd get any interest due, any cashback pending and then the account details (if you're switching) falls into the redirect scheme. Otherwise it just gets closed.

Spidernick

I would say not to close the account, whatever you end up doing, as that would then remove the possibility of a switching bonus to another bank.

No_Name

Thanks for the comments.

To convert to a Lite account, is it just a matter of selecting the upgrade options whilst logged in to downgrade?

All account details will remain the same?

Neil_Jones

No_Name wrote: »

Thanks for the comments.

To convert to a Lite account, is it just a matter of selecting the upgrade options whilst logged in to downgrade?

All account details will remain the same?

All account details remain the same, your card continues to work, just follow the links in Online Banking. It's not immediate though and you'll get an email at some point to say when its done, possibly the next day.

FB13

Neil_Jones wrote: »

Discussed previously but in a nutshell:

Downgrade to Lite, you get cashback on the direct debits you would have had up to that date and any interest due. Your new month starts from the date you downgrade to Lite and not whatever it is now. The £5 fee appears to be a "for the previous month" setup and not as you'd expect in advance and if you downgrade its effectively waived. The £1 fee for Lite comes out the next month.

So it is advantageous to downgrade as close as possible to the date that the £5 fee would be taken? Like a day or two before?

Neil_Jones

Makes no difference because the fee isn't pro-rated anyway. If you want to try and maintain the same date your month falls on, then yes apply a day or so before it's due and hope you hit it.