Which bank offer the best current account?

Goldman2020

In your opinion which bank offers the best current account to include benefits such as monthly interest on the cash balance, cash back etc?


Does anyone have experience of using the Santander’s 123 current account; is it any good and what is the Santander service like?


Thanks in advance for any meaningful comments/suggestions.

colsten

"Best" is subjective, as is the definition of "service". MSE's opinion is here: https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/banking/compare-best-bank-accounts/

Lots of people have been using Santander 123 accounts, and some still are. Search the forum for experienes. The forum is also packed with posts about other bank accounts.

[Deleted User]

Define best?

Have you looked at all the available accounts side by side and tried to come to your own decision?

surreysaver

Best? One which pays the highest interest? Best overdraft rates? Best app? Fewest conditions to adhere to? Most branches? Debit card with a nice picture on it? Depends what you want from a bank account

Flobberchops

It really, really, boils down to what you want from the account. Are you looking for one that pays a good switch bribe, or has longer-term ongoing cashback and rewards? Are you opposed to the idea of paying a monthly fee for a packaged account, or would you like an account that includes travel, breakdown, and phone insurance? Is interest a requirement, or do you keep most of your savings in a dedicated ISA or savings account? If the account has monthly pay-in and Direct Debit requirements, would you be willing and able to meet them?



Somebody linked the MSE article above, you'll have to make your own decision though.

RG2015

Here are my choices:

Best current account interest.
Nationwide Flexdirect 5% but only for 12 months for up to £2,500
TSB 5% for up to £1,500

Best Cashback
NatWest 2% on Electricity, Gas, Water, Council tax, Phone and Broadband, TV, Mobile Phone with a monthly fee of £2. However this account gives me a full refund on my NatWest Reward credit card which in turn gives me 1% cashback on all supermarket spend.
Santander 123 Lite, 3% on Mobile Phone and Phone and Broadband with a £1 monthly fee. There are other cashback items on this account but none are better than the 2% on my NatWest account.

Telephone Customer Service
First Direct always answer immediately and are knowledgeable
Santander are NatWest are okay but have about two minutes of automatic options before possible lengthy waits to speak to someone.

I have just realised that my 3% on Santander is effectively 1% after deducting the £1 fee. I need to transfer these DDs to my NatWest account to get 2%!

RG2015

Further to my post above I have just remembered that I need the 123 account to qualify for the 3% Santander Regular saver.

This has reminded me about the regular savers which require a current account to qualify. The best of these are First Direct, Nationwide, HSBC and M&S offering 5% regular savers although there are further conditions for these.

YorkshireBoy

RG2015 wrote: »

This has reminded me about the regular savers which require a current account to qualify. The best of these are First Direct, Nationwide, HSBC and M&S offering 5% regular savers although there are further conditions for these.

I'm aware of the requirement for a switch and DDs for the M&S regular saver, but what are the "further conditions" for the first 3 you mention?

RG2015

YorkshireBoy wrote: »

I'm aware of the requirement for a switch and DDs for the M&S regular saver, but what are the "further conditions" for the first 3 you mention?

HSBC requires a monthly pay in of £1,750 to the current account.

First Direct require a current account £1,000 minimum pay in or average £1,000 balance or other accounts including another savings account. I admit that a savings account with a balance of £1 is a minimal condition.
(Note: This is to avoid the £10 monthly fee.)

I accept that Nationwide has no ongoing conditions to qualify for the regular saver.

YorkshireBoy

RG2015 wrote: »

HSBC requires a monthly pay in of £1,750 to the current account.

First Direct require a current account £1,000 minimum pay in or average £1,000 balance or other accounts including another savings account. I admit that a savings account with a balance of £1 is a minimal condition.

I accept that Nationwide has no ongoing conditions to qualify for the regular saver.

When you said "further conditions for these" I took it you were still talking about regular savers, not conditions for holding the prerequisite current accounts.

RG2015

YorkshireBoy wrote: »

When you said "further conditions for these" I took it you were still talking about regular savers, not conditions for holding the prerequisite current accounts.

Okay, I understand.

Also, I hadn't realised until now that you need to switch to M&S to qualify for the regular saver.