Santander ‘Edge Up’ launching today

TheBanker

pridehappy said:

The fact you have to pay for the interest and fee-free withdrawals which Virgin Money provides for free, and the NatWest Reward with £3 a month just for having 2 direct debits and mobile app makes the new Santander accounts feel line they aren’t spectacular and just going for the larger spenders. If Nationwide continue with the Fairer Share payments like they said they were, you’d get £100/£200 a year, great savings, and a possible free overdraft/5% makes it feel more rewarding than Santander with no effort or ties, as long as you meet simple criteria which you would with your main bank account and as an addition, great service. Plus, I like having the security of 2 accounts. 

I wouldn't compare the Santander account with Nationwide. Their account only pays 5% on the first £1,500 and only for the first year. The Fair Share bonus is not guaranteed, and I'd hardly describe their savings rates as 'great'.

The same for the Natwest account - if you keep a reasonable balance in your current account and have largeish bills, the Edge Up will generate more cashback, even with the higher fee.

The Edge Up is obviously aimed at higher earners/spenders. For lower earners they have the original Edge account. I see the Edge as being aimed at younger people whose earnings are lower and bills are lower. The Edge Up is probably more aimed at families with higher bills/more food shopping. 

WillPS

pridehappy said:

The fact you have to pay for the interest and fee-free withdrawals which Virgin Money provides for free, and the NatWest Reward with £3 a month just for having 2 direct debits and mobile app makes the new Santander accounts feel line they aren’t spectacular and just going for the larger spenders. If Nationwide continue with the Fairer Share payments like they said they were, you’d get £100/£200 a year, great savings, and a possible free overdraft/5% makes it feel more rewarding than Santander with no effort or ties, as long as you meet simple criteria which you would with your main bank account and as an addition, great service. Plus, I like having the security of 2 accounts. 

Why stop at 2 accounts? You can have a Santander account of some variety for (genuine) bill DD, then do whatever neccessary to minimally meet the reward/incentive payout conditions with Natwest, RBS, Halifax, Lloyds using the other (non Santander cashback earning) DDs.

It's a bit of a punt going for Nationwide since there's nothing to assure they'll make such a significant profit again, and even if they do there's no guarantee they'd dish it out in the same way.

GeoffTF

I have run through the numbers. My 123 Lite has a lower fee and pays more cashback on my DD's. My average balance looks well short of £1,000. I do have big sums that come in and out the same day, and one could get delayed. Nonetheless, 123 Lite wins here.

I use a Barclaycard Rewards Visa card with 0.25% cashback. I earn more than 3.5% on the free loan accumulating during each month there. I like to have active MasterCard and Visa cards with two separate banks, and do not want lots of small transactions cluttering up my bank statement. I could gain a few pounds a year on the debit card cashback by constantly logging in and moving in small sums to cover the payments, but it is not worth the trouble.

No new Select accounts. My statements give me a "dedicated Select customer service number". It does not say that I get a premium service. If I am, I do not expect that will last.

I have not had any big problems with Santander. I soon learned how to get large payments to go out smoothly. My account is the nominated account for to many other accounts to make moving it a realistic option.

Wyndham

Hmm.... so I've been doing some maths.... I have a large house so big gas/electric bills and high council tax. And I'm struggling to get to the maximum £15 cashback, even with those big figures. I suspect that's a 'headline' and very, very, very few people will actually get it.

And at the moment, on the 123 Lite, I get £5 for bills, and £5 for my Santander mortgage. With a lower monthly fee....

I'm not convinced!

Catplan

Wyndham said:

Hmm.... so I've been doing some maths.... I have a large house so big gas/electric bills and high council tax. And I'm struggling to get to the maximum £15 cashback, even with those big figures. I suspect that's a 'headline' and very, very, very few people will actually get it.

And at the moment, on the 123 Lite, I get £5 for bills, and £5 for my Santander mortgage. With a lower monthly fee....

I'm not convinced!

Did you use the calculator?

I was rather surprised tbh.

Wyndham

Catplan said:

Wyndham said:

Hmm.... so I've been doing some maths.... I have a large house so big gas/electric bills and high council tax. And I'm struggling to get to the maximum £15 cashback, even with those big figures. I suspect that's a 'headline' and very, very, very few people will actually get it.

And at the moment, on the 123 Lite, I get £5 for bills, and £5 for my Santander mortgage. With a lower monthly fee....

I'm not convinced!

Did you use the calculator?

I was rather surprised tbh.

Yes, I did. Forgot to mention the offset mortgage savings though - which (as rates have gone up) beats what they are offering on the linked savings hands down.

sandy700

Do you get cashback from Amazon, my wife is forever buying books and stuff from them?

spock007

I have a question re the Edge Plus account. 

I currently have £25k sitting in a 123 Lite account.
Edge Plus yuo need to have £1500 going in every month. 
I sacrifice a large part of my salary to put into pension, so my net is less than £1500 a month going in. 
--> Is there any way around this? 
--> E.g. Can partner do a direct debit into my account every month and then I transfer back out? 

spock007

I also have a TSB account but I'm not sure if this would work. 
Put a float of £2k in TSB account. 
Every month, move £2k from TSB to Edge Up then back again.

WillPS

spock007 said:

I have a question re the Edge Plus account. 

I currently have £25k sitting in a 123 Lite account.
Edge Plus yuo need to have £1500 going in every month. 
I sacrifice a large part of my salary to put into pension, so my net is less than £1500 a month going in. 
--> Is there any way around this? 
--> E.g. Can partner do a direct debit into my account every month and then I transfer back out? 

Open an account with any other bank (Starling/Monzo are quick and simple). Transfer £1500 to Monzo, transfer £1500 immediately back.

Also consider not changing from 123 Lite but simply move the balance to an a savings or higher paying savings account - then benefit from both interest on that balance and higher cashback.