Santander 123 account - 4% cashback

maggiesoup

eskbanker said:

maggiesoup said:

Yes, surely £250?  That's what I've reduced it to.

Why reduce it?  £250 also hits the cap exactly when this temporary incentive isn't running, so if your bill is normally above that then there's no reason to do anything differently during the next two months....

Yes, given that my bills will be horrendous (living in Scotland doesn't help either) I will keep it at that.

k_man

As highlighted by @RG2015

RG2015 said:

maggiesoup said:

Hi,
Am I right in thinking that if I vastly increase my monthly payments to my utility supplier for the months of Sept & October only then reduce it again from November, I benefit from 4% cashback (as advertised)  Am I missing a trick?
Thanks.

Make sure you get the correct month for the DD.

Depending on your statement date your double cashback may be for DDs in October and November. See the table on the link below.

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


Furthermore this may be affected by the Government energy rebates of £66 in each October and November.

Remember that many suppliers are deducting £66 from the DD amount for the next few months, so the £250 may become only £184.

happybagger

I had an email from British Gas telling me they were taking the normal DD then paying £66 or £67 back as a separate credit. Other supplier may have different options.

Audaxer

happybagger said:

I had an email from British Gas telling me they were taking the normal DD then paying £66 or £67 back as a separate credit. Other supplier may have different options.

That's interesting, so if you pay £250, and they send you £66 back in a separate credit, presumably your bill will still show as you having paid £250 towards the cost of the energy used.

I had thought they were going to do it a different way, in that if you had used say £300 worth of energy that month, your bill would show an automatic credit of £66, to effectively reduce your monthly energy usage to £234. If you were then still paying £250 by direct debit, that would then show you as £16 in credit with the supplier. However if British Gas are doing it the way you describe, presumably the other suppliers will also do it that way?  

Section62

Audaxer said:

However if British Gas are doing it the way you describe, presumably the other suppliers will also do it that way?  

Suppliers have the option of reducing the DD, or refunding the £66/£67.  Which they opt for probably depends on how easy it would be for them to adjust everyone's DD payments.  (the refund option is there because some suppliers said adjusting DD's was too complicated/problematic)

On balance I think the refund option is possibly better for consumers, because it reduces the risk of 'bill shock' when the DD would otherwise have to be restored to the new (higher) level from month 7 onwards.

fletcher1985

i received this message about the 4% but mine has just gone through and its not even showing the two percent that i should have got?

Audaxer

Section62 said:

Audaxer said:

However if British Gas are doing it the way you describe, presumably the other suppliers will also do it that way?  

Suppliers have the option of reducing the DD, or refunding the £66/£67.  

Fair enough, but I thought rather than these two options, they would apply the £66 credit to directly reduce your monthly energy bill, but you would still be paying the same amount by Direct Debit. Without these credits, users would have to increase their Direct Debits to keep up with the increased bills. We would probably still have to increase the DDs, but not by as much if the credit wasn't applied directly.

Just a different way of doing it, but I thought that would be better as your bill would be automatically reduced. 

MX5huggy

fletcher1985 said:

i received this message about the 4% but mine has just gone through and its not even showing the two percent that i should have got?

Cash back is credited once a month, not after each transaction. 

fletcher1985

MX5huggy said:

fletcher1985 said:

i received this message about the 4% but mine has just gone through and its not even showing the two percent that i should have got?

Cash back is credited once a month, not after each transaction. 

yes i know but i already got the 1% and the 3% this month but not the 2% for energy. i normally get all three the same day on my statement. 

artyboy

Daliah said:

london21 said:

I closed down my Santander 123 account a while back, was just breaking even the fees and interest earned after a while.

Was nice when they paid 3% on £20k

Those were the days, when you still were allowed multiple 'full fat' 123s, too! Many people went from the 3% 123 to the 123 Lite, which doesn't pay interest but pays the same cashback as the full fat one, and it costs just £2 a month. Depending on the size of your bills, it's still a profitable account for many. I generally keep a very low balance in my 123 Lite, only upping it from an instant access account on an as required basis, and I average £5 net a month. That's £60 a year that no other current account would pay me for my bills.

Ahhh, a wave of nostalgia just flooded over me 

Yes, Santander was extremely profitable for me for several years, and the multiple 123 accounts were barely the tip of the iceberg. They still give you a running total of your 123 earnings, sadly mine go up very very slowly these days...