Santander £130 switch offer

soulsaver

phillw said:

Fingerbobs said:
but it's the only thing that has a slight element of ambiguity in the published qualification criteria.

There is ambiguity here

3.4 We reserve the right to not make any Cashback Payment where we suspect or are made aware that the Switcher Offer is being abused, for example, by closing an Old Account to switch back to us to receive the Cashback Payment.

I figured "an Old Account" could be one that you had previously used but were no longer using and would therefore no longer have any direct debits on it.

Certainly I don't believe that santander intend for you to just make £130 out of switching in an account that you weren't actually using, there doesn't seem to be any benefit to them.

An 'Old Account' is defined in the terms.  

Alex9384

binaryuniverse said:

I got an email saying they were looking at my application. That was almost 3 weeks ago. I've heard nothing since.

I received multiple emails since my application 11 hours ago.
One email asked me to click to confirm my overdraft. When I confirmed it I received another email saying that my account is now open. So far 6 emails.

The email also says my account is now ready to use but I don't have any account details.

olegstar

*** important correction to your bank switch bribes info RE monthly payins ***

Hi,

 

Just wanted to make it clear that when you publish bank switch bribes terms where a monthly paying is required, it may mean either per calendar month or monthly anniversary after account opening/transfer.

 

Simply stating per month amounts is therefore not clear enough and can lead to your readers missing out on bribes.

 

For example, I just switched to Santander Lite 123 a few days ago and paid in £1000 today. If I assume I am done for October paying and now pay in next in November, I shall miss out on the bribe as the account was open end of September.

 

I found this by googling “santander monthly 500 payin is it calendar month” and the top result states: “You must pay at least £500 into your account every month. This is not a calendar month, it is the monthly anniversary from the date you opened/transferred your account.”

 

Please do the research on the other bribes currently available and any future ones going forward and amend your website/monthly emails accordingly.

 

And lastly, we all make mistakes, but your website and emails are great. Great public service, well done!

 

Regards,

 

Oleg Star.

eskbanker

olegstar said:

*** important correction to your bank switch bribes info RE monthly payins ***

Hi,

Just wanted to make it clear that when you publish bank switch bribes terms where a monthly paying is required, it may mean either per calendar month or monthly anniversary after account opening/transfer.

Simply stating per month amounts is therefore not clear enough and can lead to your readers missing out on bribes.

It's not an "important correction" - the onus is always on the reader to check the full offer Ts & Cs (and the account terms themselves of course) as published by the banks themselves, not the heavily summarised version on a third party website such as this one.  Anyone failing to make such basic checks only has themselves to blame, rather than trying to pin it on someone else.

olegstar said:

For example, I just switched to Santander Lite 123 a few days ago and paid in £1000 today. If I assume I am done for October paying and now pay in next in November, I shall miss out on the bribe as the account was open end of September.

If you'd read Santander's terms, you'd know that there isn't a monthly pay-in needed for the 123 Lite, so your point is both wrong and moot.

Having said that, the MSE bank account article does imply that a minimum monthly pay-in is needed for all Santander accounts qualifying for this incentive, which definitely isn't accurate....

Nick_C

eskbanker said:

If you'd read Santander's terms, you'd know that there isn't a monthly pay-in needed for the 123 Lite, so your point is both wrong and moot.

Having said that, the MSE bank account article does imply that a minimum monthly pay-in is needed for all Santander accounts qualifying for this incentive, which definitely isn't accurate....

Strictly speaking you are right.  There is no requirement to pay in a minimum monthly amount to 123 Lite.

But this account has a £2 monthly fee.   For most people, the fee is more than covered by cashback on Direct Debits.  However, to get the cashback, you need to pay in £500 a month and have two active direct debits.

If you are not paying in £500 a month and getting the cashback on your DDs, then this is not the account for you.

https://www.santander.co.uk/personal/current-accounts/123-lite-current-account

ccdorset

Not a great start for me with my switch to Santander. The switch date was meant to be yesterday 30/9, however nothing happened. My old account is still open and the credit balance hasn't moved across.

I called Santander today and they said that the switch didn't go through due to a technical error, but they would request it again over the phone for me today. Not sure what the technical error was, but the advisor didn't seem phased by it so I'm not sure if it's a regular occurrence.

New switch date is 11th October, so will see if it's second time lucky!

tempus_fugit

Alex9384 said:

tempus_fugit said:

Never had any problems applying for Santander accounts myself. This time the Everyday accounts were created almost straight away and appeared in mobile/online banking immediately as well.

But it's your second account, isn't it? I've never had any account with Santander. This is the first one.

True, although I don't remember any problems with the first one either, although that was a few years ago now so I could be wrong.

twiglet98

I have been with Santander for years.  My old Alliance & Leicester current account became a Santander Premier Account when they took over. I opened a Santander Everyday Current Account and then switched the Premier Account to Yorkshire Bank when it offered a switching incentive about three years ago.  I've had a Santander credit card for many years, presently a £6000 limit, zero balance and they're always sending me 0% balance transfer offers, which I don't need (at the moment, anyway).  My Everyday Current Account has a small overdraft facility which has been used only once to the tune of just under £2.  They can reasonably think of me as an established customer.

However, I've just opened a 123 Lite account which will service all my domestic direct debits.  They emailed to say they think I appear to have other accounts with them and in order to link them together for online banking they need formal ID - a copy of my passport is enough, and they don't need verification of my address.

Lloyds also requested my passport, which I took into my local branch today for certification, but they had already let me set up online banking in the app, and have already paid the switching incentive.

Belt and braces...!

ischris85

binaryuniverse said:

Alex9384 said:

Geez, that was an exhausting application. Almost like HSBC. In some respects maybe even worse.

I thought I will get an instant decision but I only received an email saying they will look at my application.

There wasn't even a spinning wheel or anything resembling credit check...  Is this how it normally works with Santander?

Edit: actually, there was a spinning wheel for 2 seconds. Then "Thank you, we received your application". But nothing about being approved or declined.

I got an email saying they were looking at my application. That was almost 3 weeks ago. I've heard nothing since.

I've got to say this has been the slowest bank account opening I think I've ever had. Account applied for: Sep 14th. Card received Sep 21st and still waiting for the internet banking login details

adindas

After getting referred waiting for sometimes. My Santander Eveyday account is finally got approved. They even do not contact me for vefification. The switching is on the way.

From switching t&c

2.3 Within 60 days of you instructing us to start the switch to the Qualifying Account, you will also need to have:
2.3.1 successfully completed the switch, which includes closing the account not held with us;
2.3.2 at least two active Direct Debits in place on the Qualifying Account;
2.3.3 funded your Qualifying Account with at least £1,000 (either by one or more deposits); and
2.3.4 logged onto Santander Online or Mobile Banking at least once.

Regarding 2.3.3 It will need to come from external account and it does not need to stay in that AC until the switching bonus is paid, is my understanding correct ? thx