Santander 123 options

schiff

I haven't got any accounts paying less than 1% but even if Santander reduced further I would stick with it. It would be far too much faff with a Lite making sure from day to day that whatever was due to happen on the account was catered for, from making sure I wasn't going overdrawn to trying to keep my balance as low as possible.

6022tivo

The more I have been thinking about this, the more I'm probably going to keep it going. 
I am basically paying £48 for 1% interest on £20k a year.  
My only real alternative would be to put 15k of that into premium bonds (Need a 5k buffer). 

If I need money over the next 12 months, then I will use this Santander money and drop to lite as it's my weakest fund at the moment. 

Another reason IMO to keep this account is any potential offers that come along that are exclusive. 
I still have my 1.9%  Fixed Rate 2 year ISA they offered to me a year or so ago. With transfers allowed!  

merchant_ac

I have still not received any notification that the interest rate on my  Santander 123 current account is changing! Presumably they sent out a letter a couple of months ago?

ecnirp98

6022tivo said:

The more I have been thinking about this, the more I'm probably going to keep it going. 
I am basically paying £48 for 1% interest on £20k a year.  
My only real alternative would be to put 15k of that into premium bonds (Need a 5k buffer). 

If I need money over the next 12 months, then I will use this Santander money and drop to lite as it's my weakest fund at the moment. 

Another reason IMO to keep this account is any potential offers that come along that are exclusive. 
I still have my 1.9%  Fixed Rate 2 year ISA they offered to me a year or so ago. With transfers allowed!  

Yeah, similar here, the best deal I can see is for fixed accounts, I just opened the Vanquis bank 1.6% fixed for 12 months, so I am going to close one of my 2 123 accounts and merge the DD so the cashback payments I get for that remaining account will more than cover the £5 monthly fee, I will take £15K from the remaining Santander 123 with £20K from the closed 123 and pay the money into the Vanqis 1.6% bank account, I shouldn't need to access to that money, as I will leave £5K in the remaining 123 account if I do need access to money with no penalty.
Its a shame, the 123 account has been good over the years (started both at 3%), but as you say, I will keep with them in case I get a good customer offer (also means I do not have to move all my DD's).

Steve_L

Why not convert the remaining 123 account to a 123 Lite one? No interest, but no change to the DD's and you still get the same cashback. Monthly fee is £1 per month, which just the cashback on my council tax or energy more than covers. You can do this online.

ecnirp98

Steve_L said:

Why not convert the remaining 123 account to a 123 Lite one? No interest, but no change to the DD's and you still get the same cashback. Monthly fee is £1 per month, which just the cashback on my council tax or energy more than covers. You can do this online.

I was thinking of still leaving a decent amount (£5000) in the account if I need access for the lump sum, as its 1% interest, its not much different to most instant access account rates, but I guess going to lite the monthly charge is less, so I guess that saves me £48 a year and I can put the £5000 into another easy access account with no charges, just make sure there is enough in there monthly to meet the DD's..
If I change to  the lite, the account number/sort code does not change does it? so no need to change DD's on that account?

ColdIron

ecnirp98 said:

If I change to lite the account number/sort code does not change does it? so no need to change DD's on that account?

That's right, most things stay the same. You might find your statement date changes depending upon when you do it

ecnirp98

ColdIron said:

ecnirp98 said:

If I change to lite the account number/sort code does not change does it? so no need to change DD's on that account?

That's right, most things stay the same. You might find your statement date changes depending upon when you do it

Thanks, not bothered on statement dates, rather have the £48 !

colsten

When downgrading from Select to Lite, they will let you fill in the online form and then say they will be in touch by email in the next 1-2 working days.

The email advises you that the downgrade from Select can only be done in Branch (appointment needed) or on 0800 032 3323.

When you call that [general] number, you are being asked to use online banking or chat. When you use chat, you get to "speak" with a useless bot who tells you to use online banking to downgrade.

So, eventually, you put all the "don't call us"  warnings to the wind and call them. Depending on how long the Q is, you can complete the downgrade in 40-50 minutes as you have to listen to lengthy explanations of how the 123 Lite works. They aren't quizzing you for reasons for the downgrade, and are not making any attempts to convince you not to downgrade. Your downgrade is complete at the end of the call but you have 14 days to cool down and change your mind.  Account number and card stay the same, as do all the SOs and DDs, and any alerts you may have set up on the account. I was told I would lose my Select status, the daily ATM limit reverts to £300, no more access to the Select helpline, and the account month now starts on the day of downgrade. None of this is an issue, or unexpected. I didn't ask about part-payment of the full-fat fee because it will all come out in the wash. 

This was a hard earned £48!

ColdIron

In my experience they pro rata your interest earned to date and skip a month of fees. I still have Select after 18 months