123 Lite low balance notification by text 13 May at 10:09AM in Budgeting & Bank Accounts 19 replies 558 views

Norman_Castle

A friends got a 123 account which I've suggested she changes to 123 lite. She keeps a high balance in it, thousands more than needed, to ensure the money is there to cover direct debits. Can a low balance notification be set with text notification for this account?  

roddydogs

No, its up to you to juggle your finances.

inspectorperez

Without wishing to go against what someone else has stated, I have just "downgraded" from 123 Select to 123 Lite. Under Account services overview there is a menu for "Alerts" and there are a variety of alerts you can switch on or off including "Low Balance" alert where you set the amount and choose between email and/or text message. I use this feature for precisely the question your friend has asked. I make transfers in to cover when needed from an easy access savings account paying 1.2% interest and who use the faster payment service. I used to use Santander savings but the interest rates reduced to unacceptable levels and I closed the account as well as reducing my current account balance substantially. My good lady wife did exactly the same.

Hope this helps.

colsten

It is, of course, possible to set alerts on the 123 Lite. 

The question is how reliable they would be, as they are not being sent in real time. In my experience, it can take up to 24 hours for any alert to arrive.

Yet another reason for having a budget which looks ahead and shows when the account balance gets too low. I use AceMoney to record all my DDs, SOs, one-off expenses, and income. It shows me all the known incoming and outgoing amounts for the next couple of months, and it then just takes a few seconds for me to see if and when the account needs topping up. Other personal finance managers are available - MS Money, YNAB, Money Dashboard to mention but a few.

 inspectorperez said:

............ I make transfers in to cover when needed from an easy access savings account paying 1.2% interest and who use the faster payment service.

Good luck finding a 1.2% account after the end of this month.

roddydogs

Apologies, my bad.

Steve_L

It seems to be a case of not relying on alerts, but staying alert. Where have I heard that before?

inspectorperez

colsten said:

"Good luck finding a 1.2% account after the end of this month."

Couldn't agree more!

molerat

As above, don't rely on alerts to manage your accounts.  From experience they take anything from instant to 24 hours. Most disconcerting when you get a notification that a £1K payment has been made from your account then you realise it was the one you did yesterday !

Norman_Castle

Thanks inspectorperez , I had a 123 account and thought this could be done, she doesn't use online banking and very rarely checks email. Her average money in almost matches her money out so a reasonable float should be fine for her, just not the excessive amount she parked there when the interest was worth having.

Vortigern

I'm surprised to learn that the low balance alerts are not sent in real time.

I have a current account high balance alert that comes through as soon as a payment goes in.

I used to get credit card balance alerts as I was leaving the shop where I'd made a purchase. This was when I was running a 0% on purchases card close to its credit limit.

colsten

I always receive my alerts for outgoing payments > my set amount several hours after the event. Yesterday I went below my minimum for the first time, as the result of an FP I made. I got notified about 3 hours later. I haven‘t yet had insufficient funds etc so haven‘t got practical experience with them but I would certainly not rely exclusively on those alerts.

Credit card alerts are separate from the current account ones and you can‘t draw conclusions from them about notifications for current accounts.