Santander 123 Lite - conversion to Everyday Account from 21 August 2025?

EssexHebridean

RedImp_2 said:

EssexHebridean said:

I've done the cashback calculator and as I suspected we will go from an approx £2 a month gain to a small loss, so it's definitely not for us. Ironically allowing that we originally went from Nationwide to Santander to open the 123 Lite I suspect we will now be transferring back the other way! That done, I'll also be closing all my other Santander accounts so it definitely won't have quite the effect they were hoping for in our case! 

Presumably if you just let events run their course you won’t get a loss.

No, we wouldn’t, as the default account to be transferred to is a flat no fee, no benefit current account. In hour case though the only reason we moved to Santander in the first place was for the 123 Lite account, so if that is no longer there, there is no draw to stay.

In the interest of ensuring that we get the switch bonus from Nationwide (wondering whether it might get pulled if they get an influx of unhappy Santander customers) we have pulled the plug and instructed the switch. Yes, we will lose a couple of months cashback, but we’ll gain far more in switch bonus, cashback on debit card spends and in-credit interest, so it’s a no brainer for us. 

harz99

daveoc22 said:

I posted this in a separate thread but it was suggested that I post it here as well:

I have a Santander 123 lite account and I had the email saying that in August it will convert to an everyday current account. My wife has what they call a 123 Current Account where she pays the monthly fee of £4 to get the benefits. She has not had any email---does anyone know if this account is also closing?.

From what I've read elsewhere the 123 full fat seemingly is unchanged, however for how much longer who knows. 

harz99

EssexHebridean said:

RedImp_2 said:

EssexHebridean said:

I've done the cashback calculator and as I suspected we will go from an approx £2 a month gain to a small loss, so it's definitely not for us. Ironically allowing that we originally went from Nationwide to Santander to open the 123 Lite I suspect we will now be transferring back the other way! That done, I'll also be closing all my other Santander accounts so it definitely won't have quite the effect they were hoping for in our case! 

Presumably if you just let events run their course you won’t get a loss.

No, we wouldn’t, as the default account to be transferred to is a flat no fee, no benefit current account. In hour case though the only reason we moved to Santander in the first place was for the 123 Lite account, so if that is no longer there, there is no draw to stay.

In the interest of ensuring that we get the switch bonus from Nationwide (wondering whether it might get pulled if they get an influx of unhappy Santander customers) we have pulled the plug and instructed the switch. Yes, we will lose a couple of months cashback, but we’ll gain far more in switch bonus, cashback on debit card spends and in-credit interest, so it’s a no brainer for us. 

You are already a Nationwide customer as per the T&Cs?

Our main joint bank account started off as a 123 in the good old days of interest on £20k, when that was removed we downgraded to the 123 lite which has been giving us £2-3 a month profit from the cashback.

Although we've both had a switch bonus as individuals from NW recently, we've not had one on a joint account.

I rang NW Customer Service and they confirmed that even though my wife isn't a member now, because I am we can open a new joint account and get 1 x £200 switch bonus subject to meeting the other offer T&Cs.

So a new joint NW ordinary Flex account is open, switch set for 4th July and away we go. 

Hopefully in a few months time Santander will be doing a Switch offer to move to an Edge account and we'll go back, cos I prefer the Santander app and website...😏

where_are_we

PloughmansLunch said:

If I understand correctly I can convert my joint 123 Lite into a joint Edge alongside my existing sole Edge, enabling the ability to hold 2 x Edge savers, is that right?

Correct. We already have a joint 123 lite which will be sadly missed. We also have 2 sole Edge CA`s and 1 joint Edge CA from which we manage to have 4 x Edge Savers (2 x Edge Savers each) with a total of £16,000 in savings.

EssexHebridean

@harz99 Yes - I’ve been with Nationwide for over 35 years, the current account I still have is my original one, MrEH still has a sole flex account as well, so we definitely qualify.

I confess I too will miss the Santander app functionality, especially when the N/W one demands that I use that damned card reader! 

friolento

EssexHebridean said:

@harz99 Yes - I’ve been with Nationwide for over 35 years, the current account I still have is my original one, MrEH still has a sole flex account as well, so we definitely qualify.

I confess I too will miss the Santander app functionality, especially when the N/W one demands that I use that damned card reader! 

You can now register for biometric identification and don't need the card reader any longer. 

If you would miss Santander, why give it up? 

EssexHebridean

It still asks for it on occasion, annoyingly. 

As for the “why” - because the bank itself is more important to me than the app. My OH doesn’t use the app that much anyway, tending to opt for standard online banking instead, and that is far easier for NW. I know my login for NW from memory so don’t need to look it up. NW offer far better savings options than Santander do. The NW account offers in-credit interest which Santander doesn’t.  We still have a lot of our savings “pots” with NW so returning to having our joint account there is going to make things far more seamless. I already have a sole current account with NW and so transferring money between that and the joint account as needed will be easier.  I could probably go on, to be honest, as said, the only reason we moved the joint account in the first place was for the switch bonus from Santander plus the cashback on the specific account. 

Olenna

EssexHebridean said:

RedImp_2 said:

EssexHebridean said:

I've done the cashback calculator and as I suspected we will go from an approx £2 a month gain to a small loss, so it's definitely not for us. Ironically allowing that we originally went from Nationwide to Santander to open the 123 Lite I suspect we will now be transferring back the other way! That done, I'll also be closing all my other Santander accounts so it definitely won't have quite the effect they were hoping for in our case! 

Presumably if you just let events run their course you won’t get a loss.

No, we wouldn’t, as the default account to be transferred to is a flat no fee, no benefit current account. In hour case though the only reason we moved to Santander in the first place was for the 123 Lite account, so if that is no longer there, there is no draw to stay.

In the interest of ensuring that we get the switch bonus from Nationwide (wondering whether it might get pulled if they get an influx of unhappy Santander customers) we have pulled the plug and instructed the switch. Yes, we will lose a couple of months cashback, but we’ll gain far more in switch bonus, cashback on debit card spends and in-credit interest, so it’s a no brainer for us. 

After the first year, the FlexDirect isn't that great - 1% credit interest on up to £1500 (£15 effectively) but no free access to Santander's worldwide ATM network and no Post Office deposits of any kind (my Nationwide app didn't offer cheque deposits last time I checked either) 

I've got a long-time FlexAccount than was converted to a FlexDirect and back again once the goodies were used up. It's fine for a secondary account with the recent bonuses but definitely nothing to write home about. 

My current go to would probably be either HSBC Premier, Lloyds Premier, Club Lloyds or First Direct.

EssexHebridean

The worldwide ATM network isn’t an important consideration for us. You’re right about the app not accept cheque deposits but fir the maybe once a year I need to pay in a cheque I can do it via my First Direct account and then transfer - not a big deal.


A lot of the preferences around banking are going to come down to lifestyle - so if yours relies on overseas cash withdrawals and thr ability to easily pay in cheques (and you don’t have a secondary account which lets you do that online) then sure, the Flexdirect probably wouldn’t be great for you. For us though, it will work just fine, and leaves us earning at least some interest on the money that is in the account through the month for bill paying etc. 

friolento

EssexHebridean said:

  NW offer far better savings options than Santander do. 

Are you sure? I am usually on top of the best savings options but Santander (plus Cahoot) appear to be superior to NW. So I have a bit of money in Nationwide but a lot more in Santander/Cahoot. Am I missing something?