Martin Lewis says Santander 123 is now a dead duck current account as it cuts interest and cashback

hostertlady

NoodleDoodleMan wrote: »

1% interest, minus £60 annual fee, plus whatever cashback applies.

A doubtful presumption ?

even with the £60 account fee for the year, the interest I get on my balance is still about £250.. I don't think that's bad

eskbanker

hostertlady wrote: »

even with the £60 account fee for the year, the interest I get on my balance is still about £250.. I don't think that's bad

Relative to what?

A maximum interest-generating balance of £20K in a 123 will currently earn £298 in interest, which obviously then becomes £238 net return when allowing for the fee, although many will also get cashback to improve overall 'net net' return.

Once the headline interest rate is reduced to 1%, you'd be able to earn £200 gross and £140 net in a 123, but you'd earn £270 in a Marcus easy access account....

NoodleDoodleMan

even with the £60 account fee for the year, the interest I get on my balance is still about £250.. I don't think that's bad

What is the logic of paying £60 a year to have an account which has an inferior interest to other easy access deals on the market which don't ?

Notepad_Phil

molerat wrote: »

You won't get it if you change supplier to one that is not already listed though.

I wonder how up-to-date they keep their supplier list?

I recently contacted Santander as my new energy supplier Yorkshire Energy did not seem to appear on their list; however brewerdave says that he had already been in receipt of cashback from them so it would appear that their list was incorrect or they're good at hiding it.

I've just had another look and it still seems to be missing - though I am receiving the cashback.

keiran

Any advice on what date is best to downgrade to 123lite,with respect to the date that the £5 monthly fee is taken from 123"main"
OR is the £5 fee pro-rata'd and returned?

colsten

keiran wrote: »

Any advice on what date is best to downgrade to 123lite,with respect to the date that the £5 monthly fee is taken from 123"main"
OR is the £5 fee pro-rata'd and returned?

Looking at the T&Cs, the fee we are paying is for the previous month. There's therefore no case for any pro-rata-ing. If anything, it seems you can get up to almost a free month if you downgrade just before your monthiversary.

The monthly fee is taken to cover the previous month on the same day each month on the date the account was opened or transferred.

The monthly fee will be taken every month from your account (including any months you do not qualify for interest and cashback) until you instruct us to close or transfer your account.

Wheres_My_Cashback

DragonQ wrote: »

No, I haven't. Thanks for the tip! I know that NatWest currently pay cashback for both Symbio Energy and Utility Point so I don't see why Santander wouldn't.

Send Santander the respective payment OIN/SUN (6 digits usually) via secure message for each company and they'll look at it.
The OIN should be on the bill, if not ask the utility provider for it.

kuepper

Contrary to what MSE says you can't change to 123 Lite online. I messaged Santander and was told "Thank you for your email If you wish to downgrade your current account to the 123 lite, please visit your local branch or contact us on 0800 9123 123. There is not the facility to downgrade online."

Ed-1

kuepper wrote: »

Contrary to what MSE says you can't change to 123 Lite online. I messaged Santander and was told "Thank you for your email If you wish to downgrade your current account to the 123 lite, please visit your local branch or contact us on 0800 9123 123. There is not the facility to downgrade online."

You can do it here:

https://www.santander.co.uk/personal/current-accounts/123-lite-current-account/transfer-123-lite-current-account

colsten

kuepper wrote: »

Contrary to what MSE says you can't change to 123 Lite online. I messaged Santander and was told "Thank you for your email If you wish to downgrade your current account to the 123 lite, please visit your local branch or contact us on 0800 9123 123. There is not the facility to downgrade online."

Oh dear.

Another clueless CS person who needs extra training.