Santander to double 123 Lite fee and shake up current account cashback - MSE News

crumpet_man

ZeroSum said:

crumpet_man said:

It probably costs about £10 per month to keep the full 123 compared with changing to 123 lite and Marcus for savings.  For some that is definitely worthwhile to cut down on the banking admin.

Yeah, but then this is a money saving forum after all, so you're going to get a lot of disagreement that effectively giving the bank £10 is worth it. 

I agree and I choose to have slightly more admin (better than spending time on facebook!) to earn a few extra quid each month.

ColdIron

Doc_N said:

crumpet_man said:

It probably costs about £10 per month to keep the full 123 compared with changing to 123 lite and Marcus for savings.  For some that is definitely worthwhile to cut down on the banking admin.

After the reduction of Marcus to 0.7% I’d be genuinely interested in the calculation of that £10 per month. 

The Marcus easy access account isn't dropping to 0.70%

Doc_N

ColdIron said:

Doc_N said:

crumpet_man said:

It probably costs about £10 per month to keep the full 123 compared with changing to 123 lite and Marcus for savings.  For some that is definitely worthwhile to cut down on the banking admin.

After the reduction of Marcus to 0.7% I’d be genuinely interested in the calculation of that £10 per month. 

The Marcus easy access account isn't dropping to 0.70%

Let’s see, shall we? It’s out of line, and nothing stays that way unless there’s a government involved.

RG2015

Doc_N said:

ColdIron said:

Doc_N said:

crumpet_man said:

It probably costs about £10 per month to keep the full 123 compared with changing to 123 lite and Marcus for savings.  For some that is definitely worthwhile to cut down on the banking admin.

After the reduction of Marcus to 0.7% I’d be genuinely interested in the calculation of that £10 per month. 

The Marcus easy access account isn't dropping to 0.70%

Let’s see, shall we? It’s out of line, and nothing stays that way unless there’s a government involved.

Like I said it's speculation that it will come down and by how much.

I happen to agree, but it could 2 weeks or 2 months away and be anywhere from 0.50% to 0.75% depending on their UK business goals.

Thrugelmir

ColdIron said:

Doc_N said:

crumpet_man said:

It probably costs about £10 per month to keep the full 123 compared with changing to 123 lite and Marcus for savings.  For some that is definitely worthwhile to cut down on the banking admin.

After the reduction of Marcus to 0.7% I’d be genuinely interested in the calculation of that £10 per month. 

The Marcus easy access account isn't dropping to 0.70%

Closed to new applicants though. Maintaining rates as afraid of a drain to NSI perhaps? 

kevpc

many tnx for the replies and info, guys. very helpful. i have made the change now. i'm just waiting to see how long it is before Santander makes changes to this account and kicks customers again! life's strange. when you consider how well received Santander's 123 account was, how it was the account to beat because it actually gave customers something back for a change, to what it has become now and that includes the 123 Lite account as well. shame but Santander seems to have had it's day in the UK. i have to wonder though if there is the same/similar account in Spain and if the customers there have been hit as hard?

Doc_N

Thanks from me too. Still chewing over the options.

Notepad_Phil

kevpc said:

i have to wonder though if there is the same/similar account in Spain and if the customers there have been hit as hard?

Fairly sure (but not 100%) that www.bancosantander.es is the website that Spanish people would go to, so if it is the right site then from the look of things they don't seem to currently have anything similar and given the history of the ECB interest rate I wouldn't be surprised if any such account was dropped many years ago. They seem to be more interested in telling people they offer zero  fees if you jump through their hoops on monthly payins etc.

You can get a partially googled translation of the website here (it can't do images): https://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=es&u=https://www.bancosantander.es/&prev=search&pto=aue

colsten

kevpc said:

many tnx for the replies and info, guys. very helpful. i have made the change now.

Very pleased to hear you managed to downgrade your account now.

kevpc said:

shame but Santander seems to have had it's day in the UK.

What makes you think that? Santander UK are a UK plc like many other banks are. Almost without a single exception, the products offered by any of them are nothing like as attractive as the products they offered just a few months ago. Do you reckon they all had their day in the UK?

inspectorperez

kevpc said:

many tnx for the replies and info, guys. very helpful. i have made the change now. i'm just waiting to see how long it is before Santander makes changes to this account and kicks customers again! life's strange. when you consider how well received Santander's 123 account was, how it was the account to beat because it actually gave customers something back for a change, to what it has become now and that includes the 123 Lite account as well. shame but Santander seems to have had it's day in the UK. i have to wonder though if there is the same/similar account in Spain and if the customers there have been hit as hard?

Apart from the disappointing but not unsurprising reduction in rewards and interest rate incentives, I believe that Santander were successful in their acquisition policy of other UK banks as well as the way they set out to increase and support a larger customer base.

I have never had reason to complain about their service and they have administered my own and my familys' accounts in exemplary fashion.

Personally I would say they are on of the best UK banks and see no reason whatsoever why I would wish to switch to another provider.