Switching and using CASS at a later stage

onlyfoolsandparking

After getting over the "kick in the face" that Natwest (and other banks no doubt) has given all of us regarding closing down their "cashback" on bills payments (which i thought was pretty good) I have decided the time has come where I should seriously think about switching my current account.

I have been looking at the Santander 123 lite account as a good option and based on my income/ outgoings DD,s mortgage etc I would potentially earn £19-20 a month which IMO is a great deal for a £1 monthly cost.

My questions are these: (and I believe I stand a much better chance of having them answered here than keep endlessly searching the net.)

Is it better to use CASS from the start or apply for the 123 account, get it opened make sure everything works properly, APP, online log-in etc THEN use CASS and is it even possible to use CASS with what would be an existing current account.

I have a 5K overdraft which I hardly ever use (maybe once or twice a year by about 500-800) but I like having a decent size overdraft as although I don't like the new 40% APR they are introducing I have worked out the cost wont be much different for me because of the obvious not being in it constantly.

From what I can work out with Santander, if I take a 2K overdraft it will only cost me £1 a day every time I use it which I can live with but would my idea of setting up this new account be a problem with my idea of using CASS later, in principle I would have 2 current accounts, one with 5K overdraft, one with 2K overdraft. I don't know whether this would fatally flaw the application and the reason I ask what maybe stupid questions is I have not swapped my current account for 35 years (yes I know I am a dinosaur)

In conclusion I like the idea of switching but feel it has its risks, I accept CASS is exactly what is says it is but my current account with Natwest has loads of DD,s SO,s and 6 sources of income so a lot to mess up and maybe me have to sort out.

I welcome any thoughts or experiences with the whole switching malarchy.

badger09

onlyfoolsandparking wrote: »

After getting over the "kick in the face" that Natwest (and other banks no doubt) has given all of us regarding closing down their "cashback" on bills payments (which i thought was pretty good) I have decided the time has come where I should seriously think about switching my current account.

I have been looking at the Santander 123 lite account as a good option and based on my income/ outgoings DD,s mortgage etc I would potentially earn £19-20 a month which IMO is a great deal for a £1 monthly cost.

My questions are these: (and I believe I stand a much better chance of having them answered here than keep endlessly searching the net.)

Is it better to use CASS from the start or apply for the 123 account, get it opened make sure everything works properly, APP, online log-in etc THEN use CASS and is it even possible to use CASS with what would be an existing current account.

I have a 5K overdraft which I hardly ever use (maybe once or twice a year by about 500-800) but I like having a decent size overdraft as although I don't like the new 40% APR they are introducing I have worked out the cost wont be much different for me because of the obvious not being in it constantly.

From what I can work out with Santander, if I take a 2K overdraft it will only cost me £1 a day every time I use it which I can live with but would my idea of setting up this new account be a problem with my idea of using CASS later, in principle I would have 2 current accounts, one with 5K overdraft, one with 2K overdraft. I don't know whether this would fatally flaw the application and the reason I ask what maybe stupid questions is I have not swapped my current account for 35 years (yes I know I am a dinosaur)

In conclusion I like the idea of switching but feel it has its risks, I accept CASS is exactly what is says it is but my current account with Natwest has loads of DD,s SO,s and 6 sources of income so a lot to mess up and maybe me have to sort out.

I welcome any thoughts or experiences with the whole switching malarchy.

I'm not totally clear on what you're asking, but I'll have a go.

Ist of all opening a new current account and using CASS to switch an old one, are 2 separate processes. However, many banks offering a switch incentive will encourage you to do both at the same time.

If you're intending to switch your only current account, regular posters here would advise against this. Instead, open the new account then once that's up and running, switch the old one. In fact, most advise you to keep your longest running account and switch another instead. Open a donor account if necessary.

Re the overdraft, it will depend on your credit history whether Santander will give you a £2k overdraft on a new account, if you already have £5k with NatWest. If you only use the NatWest overdraft as you say, you could 1st get that reduced to say £2k.

If you do decide to switch, Santander should xfer all your DDs, SOs, forward incoming payments and notify payers. Belt & braces would be to notify payers yourself.

Most people switch seamlessly but a few have problems. Santander would be responsible for sorting them out.

onlyfoolsandparking

badger09 wrote: »

I'm not totally clear on what you're asking, but I'll have a go.

Ist of all opening a new current account and using CASS to switch an old one, are 2 separate processes. However, many banks offering a switch incentive will encourage you to do both at the same time.

If you're intending to switch your only current account, regular posters here would advise against this. Instead, open the new account then once that's up and running, switch the old one. In fact, most advise you to keep your longest running account and switch another instead. Open a donor account if necessary.

Re the overdraft, it will depend on your credit history whether Santander will give you a £2k overdraft on a new account, if you already have £5k with NatWest. If you only use the NatWest overdraft as you say, you could 1st get that reduced to say £2k.

If you do decide to switch, Santander should xfer all your DDs, SOs, forward incoming payments and notify payers. Belt & braces would be to notify payers yourself.

Most people switch seamlessly but a few have problems. Santander would be responsible for sorting them out.

Many thanks for the reply.

I don't know whether it makes any difference myself but yes the Natwest account is my only current account, I know many people have more than one but I've not felt a need for more than one but I accept what your saying.

Regarding my overdraft I was actually thinking of reducing it to 2K as like you have pointed out and I already know I don't need a 5K limit and if this helps my application then all the better.

Hopefully I'll get more opinions/experiences to help me make an informed decision.

YorkshireBoy

onlyfoolsandparking wrote: »

I have been looking at the Santander 123 lite account as a good option and based on my income/ outgoings DD,s mortgage etc I would potentially earn £19-20 a month which IMO is a great deal for a £1 monthly cost.

Presumably you have a Santander mortgage already? If not I'm struggling to see how you can generate so much cashback. I make just under £5/mth on my Lite.

Is it better to use CASS from the start or apply for the 123 account, get it opened make sure everything works properly, APP, online log-in etc THEN use CASS

Absolutely! Doing anything else with your one and only current account would be madness!

and is it even possible to use CASS with what would be an existing current account.

Yes. Several banks offer switching incentives to existing customers (Santander last year and Nationwide being two examples).

I have a 5K overdraft which I hardly ever use (maybe once or twice a year by about 500-800) but I like having a decent size overdraft.

If they didn't give you an adequate overdraft facility it sounds like that would be a problem? Yet another reason for opening first, then switching once you know the facility meets your needs. If it doesn't, then you abort. But why choose to pay 15-19% EAR to borrow £800 twice per year when you could borrow from savings paying far less than that...unless you don't have any savings?

onlyfoolsandparking

Many thanks for your reply Yorkshireboy, it makes for good reading.

In answer to your question/s yes I have a Santander mortgage and I used their cashback calculator to reach the £19-20 per month (unless they are fibbing, lol)

So in theory I can apply for the 123 account, get everything up and running, THEN ask Santander to switch for me?? and maybe even keep my existing Natwest account open??

In answer to your overdraft question, I don't NEED any facility I just like having one there so I don't have to mess about transferring money over from savings account, my charges on average are the soon to be abolished £6 usage fee then around £0.50-£1.50 on the odd times I dip into it so nothing for me to get uptight about. I'm not very tech-savvy and have only just started using on-line banking around 12 months ago (must admit I like being able to do banking on phone though)

Does any of that make sense??

born_again

Just remember using CASS results in the old account being closed.

If you use a O/D for £500 to £800 it will not cost you £1 a day. I know it shows that on their site now for your £800 for 1 day. But that will all change soon.

Pretty sure that Santander have not announced their new O/D interest rate fron 06 April. They will be doing soon.

onlyfoolsandparking

born_again wrote: »

Just remember using CASS results in the old account being closed.

If you use a O/D for £500 to £800 it will not cost you £1 a day. I know it shows that on their site now for your £800 for 1 day. But that will all change soon.

Pretty sure that Santander have not announced their new O/D interest rate.

Thanks for clarifying, that was a further question that crossed my mind ie: if I use CASS does it mean I HAVE to close account I'm switching from?

I understand the overdraft analogy and I'm sure it will change soon, maybe I'll wait and see what the changes are OR scrap the overdraft altogether.

colsten

onlyfoolsandparking wrote: »

Thanks for clarifying, that was a further question that crossed my mind ie: if I use CASS does it mean I HAVE to close account I'm switching from?

You don't have to close the account you are switching with CASS - they do it for you. By using CASS, you authorise them to do so, and you can't stop it once you are in the 7-day switching window. https://www.currentaccountswitch.co.uk/howtoswitch/Pages/How.aspx

All CASS does is switch your SOs and DDs for you, transfer your money, and close your old account, with a guarantee that if something goes wrong, the receiving bank will be responsible for sorting it out.

You can move some or all of your money yourself.
You can set your SOs on your new account, and delete them on your old account, yourself.
You can move your DDs yourself - some payees let you do it online, some in a phone call, and very few want something in writing.
The most difficult thing to do yourself is to actually close a current account, even when it's got a balance of £0 and has no SOs/DDs - - the easiest to do that is by CASS.

onlyfoolsandparking

After reading about Santanders "shake up" with their accounts conclusion is, no point switching I may as well stick with Natwest, I know them and they know me,their all the same if you ask me, they give nothing for free and no such thing as a free lunch.

After doing the maths on my overdraft usage I've worked out that even with the new ridiculous APR it will only cost me about £1 more than it used to!!!!!! so on the odd occasion I actually use it I'll have to find a tenner instead of £9, big deal.

Many thanks for all replies, its been interesting.

tryin

You can also do a partial switch, which switches payments but leaves first account open. https://www.which.co.uk/news/2017/11/ask-an-expert-how-do-i-switch-current-account-without-closing-my-existing-account/

colsten

tryin wrote: »

You can also do a partial switch, which switches payments but leaves first account open. https://www.which.co.uk/news/2017/11/ask-an-expert-how-do-i-switch-current-account-without-closing-my-existing-account/

Only if the bank you switch to is offering that service, and it has the possible pitfalls already covered in this thread.