Santander 123 - Back to Being Worth it?

B0bbyEwing

Ah fair enough. 

Easy when you know isn't it  

RG2015

B0bbyEwing said:

Ah fair enough. 

Easy when you know isn't it  

We all go through the learning curve process but sometimes they don't make it easy for us.

[Deleted User]

Thanks to OP for starting this useful thread. Due to a change in my personal circumstances, I am now paying all household bills (plus mobile phone) by DD from my Santander Everyday current account, so I have just completed an online form to upgrade it to 123 Lite. After the fee I should make around £2 per month in cashback, or £24 per year. Took all of 2 minutes to complete the form. As a well-known supermarket says, every penny counts.

[Deleted User]

Just noticed  that Santander are increasing the 123 cashback on gas and electricity bills from 2% to 4% for two months from September. This includes 123 Lite. The monthly cashback cap on the energy category goes up from £5 to £10 for this period.

RG2015

Deleted_User said:

Just noticed  that Santander are increasing the 123 cashback on gas and electricity bills from 2% to 4% for two months from September. This includes 123 Lite. The monthly cashback cap on the energy category goes up from £5 to £10 for this period.

There is more information on the thread on the link below. In particular, depending on their statement date, many people will get the double cashback in October and November rather than September and October.

Also some are considering increasing their direct debits for the double months. Bear in mind also that some energy companies may be reducing direct debits by the £66 rebate in October and November.

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6376391/santander-doubling-energy-cashback-for-2-months/p1

Section62

ColdIron said:

k_man said:

ColdIron said:

The full fat 123 ceased being worth it for me and I downgraded in 2018. I keep the Lite account as the cashback pays a few quid to me after the fee but I wouldn't beat a path to their door for that if I didn't have it. The main reason I keep it is the Regular saver

I wouldn't use it as a bill payment account as there are better accounts around

As the cashback is on bill payments, doesn't that mean it does need to be used as a bill payment account?

Good point

What I meant was I use other accounts for non utility bills that don't attract cashback

Ditto for me - any DD's that wouldn't earn cashback from my 123Lite are on other accounts for interest/perks eligibility purposes, and any other spending (which doesn't go on a credit card) comes from a current account which pays interest, to help minimise the amount of cash kept in the 123Lite and earning 0%.

Katiehound

PRAISETHESUN said:

 

And also a FYI for everyone, the Santander RS doesn't specifically require a 123 account anymore - almost any Santander current account will do.

Thanks for the heads up: yes you are right. before it was limited to certain accounts- which I don't have ! Sorted.

ZeroSum

B0bbyEwing said:

Daliah said:

The Santander 123 interest rate is abysmal, even before you take into account the monthly fee of £4. There are lots and lots of savings accounts, countless ones you can hold in joint names, which pay massively better rates. https://moneyfacts.co.uk/savings-accounts/. Note that Chase is now not even in the top 30 any longer.

The 123 Lite might be worth having, depending on how much cashback you get every month. In my case, it is worth it, and I have held the 123 Lite ever since the interest rate on the full fat 123 plummeted, and the monthly fee went up. Obviously it is not suitable as a savings account, and my balance is near zero for most of the month.

Santander do have a nice regular saver account. You can pay in £200 max a month, and it pays 2.5% which is currently still a good rate. Whether it will still be a good rate in a couple of weeks remains to be seen,

How accurate is that link?

I had a look at it & looking in the easy access you're right - I don't see Chase, but interestingly, I don't even see them listed in the 1.50% bracket which is what I'm getting?

So I looked at the regular saver. Top one being Natwest at 3.82%, so it says. So I go to the Natwest website, click on the regular saver & it lists it as 3.25% / 3.30%.

Think the top RS is YBS at 5%

RG2015

ZeroSum said:

B0bbyEwing said:

Daliah said:

The Santander 123 interest rate is abysmal, even before you take into account the monthly fee of £4. There are lots and lots of savings accounts, countless ones you can hold in joint names, which pay massively better rates. https://moneyfacts.co.uk/savings-accounts/. Note that Chase is now not even in the top 30 any longer.

The 123 Lite might be worth having, depending on how much cashback you get every month. In my case, it is worth it, and I have held the 123 Lite ever since the interest rate on the full fat 123 plummeted, and the monthly fee went up. Obviously it is not suitable as a savings account, and my balance is near zero for most of the month.

Santander do have a nice regular saver account. You can pay in £200 max a month, and it pays 2.5% which is currently still a good rate. Whether it will still be a good rate in a couple of weeks remains to be seen,

How accurate is that link?

I had a look at it & looking in the easy access you're right - I don't see Chase, but interestingly, I don't even see them listed in the 1.50% bracket which is what I'm getting?

So I looked at the regular saver. Top one being Natwest at 3.82%, so it says. So I go to the Natwest website, click on the regular saver & it lists it as 3.25% / 3.30%.

Think the top RS is YBS at 5%

Agreed, but only for YBS members with more than 12 months membership.

anotheruser

So people use savings accounts as current accounts?

I think the full fat 123 would have netted us about £60 for the year, the lite was perhaps a little less but I lothe paying for a bank account.  Banks started charging, people paid, so they carry that on, while not giving decent interest rates, depsite what the bank of England are doing.

Just feeling like Lloyds isn't that great any more, especially as the free magazine has very limited options (all other options are useless for us).