Santander doubling energy cashback for 2 months

Section62

RG2015 said:

As above. Santander is increasing energy cashback for 2 months, September and October.

There appears to be a bit of a catch in the details - the extra cashback isn't for the calendar months of September and October, but instead appears to be the individual's statement months which commence in September and October.

On this link -

https://www.santander.co.uk/landing/current-accounts/campaign

- there is a table explaining how and when the additonal cashback gets paid.

For example, if your statement date is the 30th of the month then the first (of the two) payments will be for "Direct Debits between 30/09/22 to 29/10/22".

My understanding of that is that if your statement date is after the date the energy direct debit is taken, the September DD won't earn the additional cashback.  But instead you'll get the double cashback for the October and November DD's.

So anyone increasing their DD to get extra cashback needs to work out whether their September DD will be eligible, or if they should delay to make October the first increased one.

For a lot of people this won't matter much, but for those planning a big increase (I'm going to attempt quadrupling my DD amount) the timing may be more important.

Also, the same link says -

Please note that at times Direct Debit collection dates may vary, which can lead to your Direct Debit being collected outside of your statement period (for example where a Direct Debit collection date falls on a Saturday or Sunday).  In this instance, this may impact the amount of double cashback you earn due to the cap being applied the following month.

So for anyone whose DD and statement dates are close together, and fall on/near a weekend, they need to work out whether they could be affected by getting a double DD in one statement period and thereby exceeding the cap.

molerat

Yep, that is how I read it.  Double cash back will be on DDs taken after your September and October statement dates and paid, as usual, in your October and November statements.

Just worked out my masterplan.  Up electric from Sept to max out 2%, which is slightly above my estimated October EAC/12,  then in Oct up gas by £67 to cancel out the electric rebate.  Gas DD is already slightly below my own calculated current EAC/12 so will make a dent in the new estimate.  Always have the option of reducing electric DD by 10% with a click of the mouse on line if needed.

inspectorperez

Section62 said:

RG2015 said:

As above. Santander is increasing energy cashback for 2 months, September and October.

There appears to be a bit of a catch in the details - the extra cashback isn't for the calendar months of September and October, but instead appears to be the individual's statement months which commence in September and October.

On this link -

https://www.santander.co.uk/landing/current-accounts/campaign

- there is a table explaining how and when the additonal cashback gets paid.

For example, if your statement date is the 30th of the month then the first (of the two) payments will be for "Direct Debits between 30/09/22 to 29/10/22".

My understanding of that is that if your statement date is after the date the energy direct debit is taken, the September DD won't earn the additional cashback.  But instead you'll get the double cashback for the October and November DD's.

So anyone increasing their DD to get extra cashback needs to work out whether their September DD will be eligible, or if they should delay to make October the first increased one.

For a lot of people this won't matter much, but for those planning a big increase (I'm going to attempt quadrupling my DD amount) the timing may be more important.

Also, the same link says -

Please note that at times Direct Debit collection dates may vary, which can lead to your Direct Debit being collected outside of your statement period (for example where a Direct Debit collection date falls on a Saturday or Sunday).  In this instance, this may impact the amount of double cashback you earn due to the cap being applied the following month.

So for anyone whose DD and statement dates are close together, and fall on/near a weekend, they need to work out whether they could be affected by getting a double DD in one statement period and thereby exceeding the cap.

Wow!

Thanks for flagging up the small print on the Santander link.

My supplier EDF only issues 6 monthly statements, next one due October, but two year fix finishes on 31 December.

Think I'm just going to wing it and increase DDs at the end of this month to £250 per month and hope that EDF don't repay the resulting credit balance at end of the calendar year 2022 as it will be a useful buffer moving in to 2023 with the inevitable increased supply costs, (assuming I stay with EDF of course).

Section62

inspectorperez said:

Think I'm just going to wing it and increase DDs at the end of this month to £250 per month and hope that EDF don't repay the resulting credit balance at end of the calendar year 2022 as it will be a useful buffer moving in to 2023 with the inevitable increased supply costs, (assuming I stay with EDF of course).

The thing that concerns me (with a late-month statement date) is that a large DD payment in early September would move me into significant credit from my current position, so the supplier may review the DD and reduce it right down again by the time the October payment is due.

(Also bearing in mind the £400 payment will start being applied to my energy account in October)

I'm not convinced I'd be able to persuade the supplier to then accept a higher DD for October and November as the credit-building might be deemed excessive (I believe they may anticipate I'd be asking for the credit to be refunded in due course rather than leaving it with them).

So I'm going to hope I can stick with the usual lower amount for September, then ramp up for October and November.

After that I'll be considering downgrading my 123Lite as the £400 energy payment will make a significant dent in my cashback, unless the energy co let me keep building credit.

AndyPK

I can’t see suppliers wanting to refund you lol 

having read the Eon next site. I think it said it would reduce the DD by about £66 for 6 months. 

gyreandgimble

Daliah said:

For those who do not have a Santander current account: Santander have also launched a £160 switch offer. Sadly nothing for existing customers this time. Tell your friends.

Yes, it looks as though the information given on this site is incorrect. I went into my Santander branch yesterday hoping to get £160 for changing my existing 123 account to the 123 Lite but was told it was only for new customers.

northwalesd

gyreandgimble said:

 Yes, it looks as though the information given on this site is incorrect. I went into my Santander branch yesterday hoping to get £160 for changing my existing 123 account to the 123 Lite but was told it was only for new customers.

No, the £160 is to switch an account from another bank into either a new or existing Santander account, not changing an existing Santander account to another account type. And *is* available to new and existing customers.

phillw

gyreandgimble said:
Yes, it looks as though the information given on this site is incorrect. I went into my Santander branch yesterday hoping to get £160 for changing my existing 123 account to the 123 Lite but was told it was only for new customers.

You have to use the current account switching service to switch from a non santander bank account.

Upgrading/downgrading your account type will not net you £160.

huw01

Slightly off topic, I notice my Santander Select Account is now paying 1.0% interest, gone up from 0.75%

Daliah

huw01 said:

Slightly off topic, I notice my Santander Select Account is now paying 1.0% interest, gone up from 0.75%

You could get a lot better interest for easy access elsewhere. Even Chase pay 1.5%, without a monthly charge, and you can set up SOs and DDs on their savings account. But much better instant access rates are now available - 1.9% is currently tops, and I guess it will get over 2% before long. You could also still get the Santander cashback with the 123 Lite, which costs just £2 a month.

I ditched my Select for the 123 Lite   years ago and saved/earned buckets since. The downgrade is done in less than a minute online. I have not noticed any reduction in Santander service. I even still have a Select debit card, and ring the Select number if I need to talk to them.