Santander should i stay or go..........

friolento

Rob5342 said:

My recommendation is always Monzo or Starling as they have the best apps by far and put the other banks to shame (especially Nationwide eho are stuck in the stone age) . Opening and switching accounts is a trivial task these days so just give different banks a try, switch if you like then and try somewhere else if you don't. 

It’s personal choice but I am unlikely to give up my 123 Lite cashback or my Santander Edge Saver for the functionality of the Monzo or Starling or any other banking app. I do have Monzo and Starling accounts, too, but only use these very occasionally. 

I can’t say what I would do if I were the OP as I don’t have enough information about their accounts 

Nasqueron

NorwichMan said:

Also maybe consider that average age of accounts is apparently a factor that credit providers consider when assessing applications for new products. If Santander is your oldest or one of your oldest bank accounts (and you say 25 years+) then it might be worth keeping it open just for this reason.

It's largely immaterial for a current account if it's not credit (e.g. overdraft), it shows some stability but there are other factors which are more important like any credit accounts

Nasqueron

NotRichAtAll said:

TheBanker said:

If you're paying £2 per month, it will be a 123 Lite account.

If your cashback is more than £2 you might as well keep it, although the 'profit' is likely to be negligible.

If you are earning less than £2 a month you could change it to an Everyday Account which is free, but doesn't offer the cashback. 

Why don't you use Kroo as your slush fund instead of Natwest? That way you'd earn interest on the balance, and you could use the Kroo debit card for your spending. 

yeah thats what the account was a 123 lite that was rebranded in 2022 my cash back as you say is negligible am probably in pocket by 66p

You kind of lost me by suggesting using kroo as the slush fund, do you mean put the natwest funds that are not earning any interest into the kroo account, got to say i never even thought of that.

Storing money in an account that pays interest (ideally monthly like Kroo) and moving it in just before bills are due is no bad thing. I was using Kroo but I switched to using Nationwide's FlexDirect Account that pays 5% up to £1500 and then Santander Edge account that pays 6% on the linked saver up to £4000. Both allow you to move money in and out and pay interest once a month

where_are_we

I have a 123 Santander Lite and get cashback on DD utility bills of about £6 each month making a £4 gain each month.

With utility bills increasing in April my cashback will only increase as long as Santander do not reduce the benefits. Are you maximising your cashback? 123 Lite is no longer available and I for one would lament it being pulled.

Also having the 123 lite enables you to have a Santander Regular Saver paying 5% Fixed on £200 a month savings with easy access.

Why do you have a few k in your 123lite earning zero interest? I have very little in my 123 lite and move money from interest bearing accounts into it to cover DD`s and SO`s etc. You have a Marcus paying 4.3% which allows easy access where you could park your 123 lite money until needed.

Pmatt

My biggest problem with Santander is the way they have cut your ability to contact them except by telephone or using their laughable chatbot. They used to have a secure messaging option and, although this still exists at the top if their website it now contains only messages sent or received a few years ago. They, of course, can send you an email but you cannot send a reply nor can you send one to their Customer Service team. The Chatbot is simply a digitise form of FAQ and usually spews out irrelevant garbage. It will transfer you eventually to a Customer Service advisor who can run out stock answers. The main problem with this approach is that you have no printed record of anything that has been said nor advice given and you have to go through the process again when you, inevitably, have to call again. 
I have recently received an email asking me to review whether my present 123 Credit Card is worth having and following their suggestion to consider an Edge Card. I asked Customer Services if I could simply convert my account. No, they said, I must open a new one and then close the old account. Tedious I thought, but I went ahead and a week later I was asked to provide evidence of my identity even though I have been a Santander Customer with a current account and a 123 card account. I pointed out that I live in a rural location and my nearest branch to present these documents is 20 miles away and the return bus journey would take the best part of a day. 
They suggested sending the documents by post, but the DVLA says you should not photocopy your driver's license nor allow anyone else to do so. The other document would be a bank statement, which I would simply print off from the Santander website or get the branch to do that for me. 
Why, these days, can we not use the secure login to confirm our identity and complete the online application with biometric verification? Or could we not send any documents by a secure message, but of course Santander closed that option some time ago.

GeoffTF

Pmatt said:

I have recently received an email asking me to review whether my present 123 Credit Card is worth having and following their suggestion to consider an Edge Card.

The 123 Lite is certainly worth keeping. Why do you want a credit card with the same bank? If the bank has an outage, you potentially lose access to both your current account and the credit card. Similarly for savings accounts.

Olenna

GeoffTF said:

Pmatt said:

I have recently received an email asking me to review whether my present 123 Credit Card is worth having and following their suggestion to consider an Edge Card.

The 123 Lite is certainly worth keeping. Why do you want a credit card with the same bank? If the bank has an outage, you potentially lose access to both your current account and the credit card. Similarly for savings accounts.

They appear to be referring to the 123 Credit Card which isn't worth keeping in all instances. With an effective £36 annual fee to offset against (capped) cashback on fuel/trains/TFL, department store and supermarket spend.