Downgrading Santander 123 to 123 Lite not straightforward

BoxerfanUK

Ronknee said:

On 5th May, the 1-2-3 account interest rate fell from 1.5% to 1%. When logged in I tried to "downgrade" to the Lite 1-2-3 account. It was a long process and it created a Lite account with a new sort code and account number. I rang Santander and asked them to delete this unwanted account.

I was advised to go to santander.co.uk WITHOUT LOGGING IN and it was a simple process which took seconds. Just had to enter my sort code and account number.

Very counterintuitive and didn't feel very secure.

If I were cynical, I'd think it's almost as if Santander doesn't want customers to "downgrade" when a 1% rate can be bettered.

I logged into my account, hit the 'upgrade account' button on the right hand side, selected 123 lite and it was done within 24 hours.  All account/card details/remain the same including DD's.  Yes it does seem a bit weird to hit the upgrade button as essentially it's a downgrade, but there we go.

colsten

born_again said:

What happens if you have the regular saver? 

Nothing 

born_again said:

Does it also cover the 123 lite?

You can have a Santander RS if you hold a 123 Lite

ratechaser

What I'm now wondering is when I will drop out of "Select" status, which still shows at the top of the screen when I log in via my desktop. It's already been a few years since I've met the technical criteria for Select 'membership' in terms of monthly pay ins or deposits held, but it's still lingered on. Perhaps the downgrade to 123 Lite will be the final nail there.

No big deal... in the past the Select hotline was a pretty good way to get through to someone quickly, and the gold debit card with its selective fee free overseas wIthdrawals was quite useful, but nothing I'd miss that much.

inspectorperez

ratechaser said:

What I'm now wondering is when I will drop out of "Select" status, which still shows at the top of the screen when I log in via my desktop. It's already been a few years since I've met the technical criteria for Select 'membership' in terms of monthly pay ins or deposits held, but it's still lingered on. Perhaps the downgrade to 123 Lite will be the final nail there.

No big deal... in the past the Select hotline was a pretty good way to get through to someone quickly, and the gold debit card with its selective fee free overseas wIthdrawals was quite useful, but nothing I'd miss that much.

Yes, I wondered about the loss of "Select" status, but to be honest I don't think its really done anything for me. Even the beneficial rates offered for insurance products were in all honesty pretty useless.

It has made me wonder what will happen to the dedicated managers who looked after "Select" customers as I can see a lot of customers losing their "Select" status. Hope they are redeployed to other duties.