Santander 123 bank account - anything as good?

t8769

Yes.

Indeed

Santander inform me I have earned £2,436 cashback, so far, which isn't actually bad.

RG2015

t8769 wrote: »

Yes.

Indeed

Santander inform me I have earned £2,436 cashback, so far, which isn't actually bad.

Does this include interest? And/or cashback on business expenses?

ColdIron

t8769 wrote: »

Santander inform me I have earned £2,436 cashback, so far, which isn't actually bad.

If that figure is from the header/banner on the account that includes interest, don't forget it used to pay 3% and the fee was £2

Neil_Jones

The "total cashback" figure is now explained on the website if you click on the "What's This?" link that's suddenly now appeared:

1|2|3 earnings, where applicable, includes any cashback or interest earned from the following products:

1|2|3 Current Account
1|2|3 Lite Current Account
Select Current Account
Private Current Account
1|2|3 Credit Card

The amount shown does not take into account any account fees, interest payable on the 1|2|3 Credit Card, or cashback earnings from Retailer Offers. It does include any primary and secondary card / account holdings.

Of course if you've had the account long enough (ie back in the days when it was paying 3% on £20k, which was IIRC the best part of £40 a month!) the bulk of the reported figure will be from that. These days now I'm Lited I received £6.46 last account month and my grand total since opening is £2,300 over the lifetime of the account.

t8769

Yes, I fear you are right, most of it is from the old days!

t8769

Yes!

My Cashback for the whole of last year was £52, that's less than my monthly fee.
Even though I was using the card for many many purchases and standard orders.
Time to switch I think.

Zanderman

t8769 wrote: »

Yes!

My Cashback for the whole of last year was £52, that's less than my monthly fee.
Even though I was using the card for many many purchases and standard orders.
Time to switch I think.

Time to downgrade to 123Lite, rather than switch.

Neil_Jones

t8769 wrote: »

Yes!

My Cashback for the whole of last year was £52, that's less than my monthly fee.
Even though I was using the card for many many purchases and standard orders.
Time to switch I think.

You don't get cashback on purchases of anything on the 123 Debit Card, it was only on the direct debits and even then only in the specific categories - 1% council tax and water, 2% energy (and Santander insurance), 3% communications and TV. Everything else you did on the account - standing orders, payments - received nothing. There are "side effects" in your favour of payments to the council if you live in social housing and take their suggested contents insurance (and maybe rent a garge) though, as the entire lot attracts 1% cashback, but I've written about this before.

You did (and still do I believe) get them on the 123 Credit Card if you have one and you spent in supermarkets, department stores and petrol stations, but the format of that was changed for existing customers and ultimately capped at a total of £3 per category but they charged you £3 a month for it, so the maximum you could ever get from it was £6 a month. Previously it was unlimited.

Its replacement was another card that didnt have the £3 caps but they still charged you £36 a year for it, but gave you a flat rate 0.5% cashback on all purchases so you'd have to spend a lot to cover that fee i the first place. Wasn't worth it when the likes of Aqua gave you the same cashback without the fee, though to reach their cap of £100 cashback you'd have to spend £20k a year. Cashback cards are still around:
https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/credit-cards/best-credit-card-rewards/