Martin Lewis says Santander 123 is now a dead duck current account as it cuts interest and cashback 14 January 2020 at 11:38AM edited 30 November -1 at 12:00AM in Budgeting & Bank Accounts 116 replies 15.6K views

Wheres_My_Cashback

MSE_Naomi wrote: »

Santander will be slashing current account interest to 1% on its popular 123 account this spring, and introducing a single overdraft interest rate of 39.9%...

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

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I think most savvy people realised about 2/3 years ago the the 123 account was a dead duck effectively only paying 1.19% after the fee, whereas there were dozens of savings accounts paying more.

Zero_Sum

Ben8282 wrote: »

No to all 3
Yes but how many people are going to be happy about doing that, how many people can afford to do that every month, how many people could actually be bothered and how are the utility providers going to react to constant demands for repayments? They will simply reduce the direct debits ….

Most wont do it cos its a bit of effort but it is more to highlight that it is possible to squeeze a bit more cash out of the banks to maximise returns. It is basically just clicking a few buttons on phone once a month. Affordability doesnt really come into it, overpay by £200 then log onto electric account on that day for refund & money is back in account 2 or 3 days later. It's essentially getting 24% return on a £200 lump you've set aside.

British gas are a pain though as they review your account every 6 months & just block any changes so cant refund twice a year then change DD. So need to re-amend.

surreysaver

Wheres_My_Cashback wrote: »

I think most savvy people realised about 2/3 years ago the the 123 account was a dead duck effectively only paying 1.19% after the fee, whereas there were dozens of savings accounts paying more.

Which is when and why I downgraded mine to a Lite and kept it at a nominal £0 (I do have an overdraft to allow dds and SOs to work)

Malchester

Never listen to a word Martin says. It is mainly hype. Uses the word 'trick' in many posts when it means ' do the bleeding obvious'

colsten

Wheres_My_Cashback wrote: »

I think most savvy people realised about 2/3 years ago the the 123 account was a dead duck effectively only paying 1.19% after the fee, whereas there were dozens of savings accounts paying more.

Your definition of 'savvy' doesn't appear to include people who have large numbers of SOs and DDs coming out of their current account, and who don't have the time to manually refill that current account with the required funds on an ongoing basis. There also never were dozens of access savings accounts that paid more than 1.5% and provided instant access.

Good go at trying to insult a whole host of truly savvy MSEers in one go. Shame it didn't work.

Zero_Sum

colsten wrote: »

There also never were dozens of access savings accounts that paid more than 1.5% and provided instant access.

Good go at trying to insult a whole host of truly savvy MSEers in one go. Shame it didn't work.

And at no point was this ever claimed.

What was claimed that there were dozens paying more that 1.19% (which is the real rate of 123). And this is true.

Wheres_My_Cashback

colsten wrote: »

Your definition of 'savvy' doesn't appear to include people who have large numbers of SOs and DDs coming out of their current account, and who don't have the time to manually refill that current account with the required funds on an ongoing basis. There also never were dozens of access savings accounts that paid more than 1.5% and provided instant access.

Good go at trying to insult a whole host of truly savvy MSEers in one go. Shame it didn't work.

Exactly, it doesn't include those who are too lazy/don't make the time as everyone has the time IF they really want to do it. Maybe that was your feeble excuse? If you can't be bothered then you've insulted yourself.
60mins to set up, 10 mins to facilitate each month
out of 43000+ mins....hardly onerous is it.

I never said there were dozens paying more than 1.5%, I said more than 1.19% which there were at that time and there still are a few, whether easy access or fixed but you already know that don't you.

Wheres_My_Cashback

Zero_Sum wrote: »

And at no point was this ever claimed.

What was claimed that there were dozens paying more that 1.19% (which is the real rate of 123). And this is true.

Thanks for pointing that out Zero as clearly that claim was only obvious to the savvy

colsten

Zero_Sum wrote: »

What was claimed that there were dozens paying more that 1.19% (which is the real rate of 123). And this is true.

No, there weren't even dozens with instant access paying more than 1.19%. Not that I recognise 1.19%, as I have enough cashback to eliminate the monthly fee. Before you say '123 Lite', I have just posted elsewhere why that is not a viable alternative for me.

colsten

Wheres_My_Cashback wrote: »

Exactly, it doesn't include those who are too lazy/don't make the time as everyone has the time IF they really want to do it. Maybe that was your feeble excuse? If you can't be bothered then you've insulted yourself.
60mins to set up, 10 mins to facilitate each month
out of 43000+ mins....hardly onerous is it.

I don't need any excuses, and your renewed attempt to insult me, this time as 'lazy', hasn't worked either. You have absolutely no idea how I use my accounts and my time, so you are in no position to comment on my money management. The same applies to many other people's accounts and time. So give it a rest please.