Santander 1/2/3 Account down to 0.60% from 3 August 2020

Ageing_Stick_Insect

The best option for me with £20K kept in continuuously is to open a 123-Lite account and you keep the same account number etc. Just as important are all the records of transfers I make to various people. Would be a pain to have to set those up with another bank. I'll move the majority of my money to a easy-access savings account paying around 1%. Not a huge gain financially but just to show Santander I'm very unhappy with their decision. Not reducing the £5 monthly charge is outrageous.

colsten

Ageing_Stick_Insect said:

 Not reducing the £5 monthly charge is outrageous.

It might be annoying, but outrageous?!? You are free to move to a current account which charges less, or nothing.

KingGooner

Ageing_Stick_Insect said:

The best option for me with £20K kept in continuuously is to open a 123-Lite account and you keep the same account number etc. Just as important are all the records of transfers I make to various people. Would be a pain to have to set those up with another bank. I'll move the majority of my money to a easy-access savings account paying around 1%. Not a huge gain financially but just to show Santander I'm very unhappy with their decision. Not reducing the £5 monthly charge is outrageous.

Exactly my thoughts. Glad to see I am not on my own.
It is a real shame, I have been with Santander since it was Abbey and have never had any problems with them. I have opened  (and closed) several accounts with other banks most of whom have nightmare online systems (e.g. Nationwide First Direct, M&S) but always stuck with Santander as my main account so it has loads of transactions I don't want to move and to be honest despite the comments I have read so far, I certainly do not know of a bank that is paying ANYTHING like even 0.6 (Nationwide has just reduced to 0.1 and that is only on £1,500).

enthusiasticsaver

I am glad we moved our savings to Marcus a few months back and opened a Santander 123 Lite.  Kept same account.  Cashback is around £9 per month on a fee of £1. 

colsten

Ageing_Stick_Insect said:

The best option for me with £20K kept in continuuously is to open a 123-Lite account and you keep the same account number etc. 

Just to clarify: you would not keep the same account number if you opened a 123 Lite. To get a 123 Lite with the same number, your history, your SOs/DDs, you use the "upgrade" option. This option simply swaps your account from a 123 to a 123 Lite.

colsten

KingGooner said:

 I certainly do not know of a bank that is paying ANYTHING like even 0.6 (Nationwide has just reduced to 0.1 and that is only on £1,500).

Well, there is

• Virgin, 2% to £1K
• Club Lloyds, 1.00% from £1 up to and including £3,999.99, and 2.00%  on any part of the balance from £4,000 up to and including £5,000
• BoS Vantage - same as Club Lloyds
• TSB, 1.5% up to £1,500 (can have 3 of these between 2 people, and many more if you got them years ago, when they used to paid 5%)
• Tesco, 1% to £3,000 (not open to new applicants now)

Even those who (like myself) retain an account with Santander will, in the main, benefit from downgrading to 123 Lite as it's so easy (still) to get at least double the interest Santander will be paying from August, and more than they pay now.

robatwork

KingGooner said:

It is a real shame, I have been with Santander since it was Abbey and have never had any problems with them. I have opened  (and closed) several accounts with other banks most of whom have nightmare online systems (e.g. Nationwide First Direct, M&S) but always stuck with Santander as my main account 

Could have written this myself - exactly the same experience and I downgraded to 123 Lite in March.

grimsalve

I'm just going through the process of closing down my 123 account and saying goodbye to Santander. I did consider a transfer to 123 Lite but I don't see why I have to jump through so many hoops just for a couple of quid once a month... so stuff 'em

grimsalve

Why do they make it so awkward to close an account?!

colsten

The easiest to close any current account is to do a CASS switch.