Any advice for current account?

ET18

Hi
I currently have a Santander 123 current account with the max amount in, I only have one household bill which pays cashback, usually around £1 a month. I understand with the £5 fee, this is not the best account for me, though I don't know where i should be switching to. Maybe someone can help?

With the santander account I do have a regular saver which is now paying 3% but this has only just restarted. Other accounts I hold:
Nationwide Flex direct , a regular saver and a HTB ISA
First direct current account and regular saver
HSBC graduate account and a regular saver
Monzo account - no interest
Metro account - no interest
A post office online saver with 1.45% - any extra I have in the Santander I usually add into here.

I only have 3DD, - broadband and occasionally paypal. Most of the accounts are funded through the santander account.

These are the options I have considered
- opening a TSB and/or
- switching to lloyds for their club lloyds account and keeping rest in the post office saver
- downgrading the santander account to an everyday current account and using a different account as my main but still funding everything from here

Anything I am overlooking?

YorkshireBoy

Santander is currently returning an equivalent 1.25% for you so shift the cash to PO and downgrade the Santander account.

PRAISETHESUN

I think it'd be worth opening a TSB Classic Plus account for the 5% interest on up to £1500 and then shifting any excess savings to PO Saver and downgrading the Santander account. No need ditch Santander completely if you'd prefer not to, you can still keep a token amount in there to cover bills, etc and then top it up as required from your savings/salary. Alternatively you could use the Santander account to switch elsewhere for a switching bonus, and as this also moves your DDs along with it then you won't need to worry about setting up a new account to be your main account.

Revolexis

I had a similar situation - downgraded the 123 to 123 Lite, then used bankaccountsavings.co.uk to pick the best accounts for interest, with any left over in Marcus.

Fulfilled monthly payments using looped standing orders and any odd direct debits with littledebits.co.uk

danthemoneysavingman

If you dont need instant access to all of this cash, it would make more sense to invest it in stockmarket funds, or even P2P lending.

The returns are notably higher in the medium to long term.

However, maybe wait till the Brexit fiasco settles down and take advantage of the inevitable downside expected after exit day.

Just a personal opinion.

ET18

PRAISETHESUN wrote: »

I think it'd be worth opening a TSB Classic Plus account for the 5% interest on up to £1500 and then shifting any excess savings to PO Saver and downgrading the Santander account. No need ditch Santander completely if you'd prefer not to, you can still keep a token amount in there to cover bills, etc and then top it up as required from your savings/salary. Alternatively you could use the Santander account to switch elsewhere for a switching bonus, and as this also moves your DDs along with it then you won't need to worry about setting up a new account to be your main account.

After I posted this I saw there was a RBS current account with switch incentive so I will look into this - but this will give me no long term interest and I doubt rewards will be useful to me.

Do you know if there is a way to change the interest in PO saver from annually to monthly?

Revolexis wrote: »

I had a similar situation - downgraded the 123 to 123 Lite, then used bankaccountsavings.co.uk to pick the best accounts for interest, with any left over in Marcus.

Fulfilled monthly payments using looped standing orders and any odd direct debits with littledebits.co.uk

Thanks, Santander lite is little use to me due to others being household bill payers currently, the website is useful and I have shared this with a few friends

danthemoneysavingman wrote: »

If you dont need instant access to all of this cash, it would make more sense to invest it in stockmarket funds, or even P2P lending.

The returns are notably higher in the medium to long term.

However, maybe wait till the Brexit fiasco settles down and take advantage of the inevitable downside expected after exit day.

Just a personal opinion.

I am likely to need the funds in the next 3 years as I am saving towards purchasing a house, though I will look into this - or even fixed 1 year accounts.

YorkshireBoy

ET18 wrote: »

Do you know if there is a way to change the interest in PO saver from annually to monthly?

Answered in your account T&Cs (under the section marked "interest" )...

You can’t change when your interest is paid once your account has been opened.

ET18

Thanks YorkshireBoy. Previously I have been able to open additional online savers but I can't seem to open another , so that I can see the interest monthly

SlovakianGuy

I currently earn nearly £26 per month from 4 different accounts.

Nationwide FlexDirect £10.38 per month
TSB ClassicPlus £6.24 per month
Tesco current account £7.31 per month
Halifax Reward account £2 per month


I also have a second Tesco account but not enough direct debits to earn interest on that second account. Need a few more credit cards for that



Of course, to earn all this, you need to leave £7000 (in total) just sitting in those accounts, plus at least £1000 to circle between them to meet the minimum monthly pay in requirements


I would go for Nationwide. Preferably get a recommendation from someone who already is a member, so you can earn £100 bonus, then 5% interest for the first year if you open FlexDirect and also 5% on their regular saver. Once you are a Nationwide member, you can send the recommendation to your wife or girlfriend or whoever, and earn another £100, while they'll get £100 too. I think you can even switch more than just one account to them and get the bonus again, although I'm not 100% sure.

YorkshireBoy

SlovakianGuy wrote: »

I also have a second Tesco account but not enough direct debits to earn interest on that second account. Need a few more credit cards for that

...or just the one PO Online Saver with a DD collecting weekly from Tesco.

I think you can even switch more than just one account to them and get the bonus again, although I'm not 100% sure.

You can't, officially. And if you can, unofficially, best to keep quiet about it!

lovingtescoforever

I have similar to the above.

Nationwide FlexDirect £10.38 per month x 3
TSB ClassicPlus £6.24 per month x 3
Tesco current account £7.31 per month x 2
Club Lloyd’s £6.24 per month x 2

Halifax doesn’t seem worth the effort for only £2 now.

Nationwide is by far the easier and most rewarding for the time being.