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

GeoffTF

I have just got an email telling me that I have an important new document...

Mr_Mean

I had the message today saying they are converting 123 lite to everyday.
we do have the option to convert to edge but the account only offers £10 max Cashback per month so better to leave it until the cut off date.
they are not allowing a conversion to the Edge plus or whatever else it’s called because that’s for new customers only. The edge fee is £3 for a max £10 Cashback so still a gain so long as you’re direct debits generate enough Cashback. 

Plenty of banks willing to pay you to switch.
I only use Santander for its DD Cashback, so despite getting huffy with them earlier, I’ll probably convert to the edge in August. Santander rep suggested I do it today - Why would I want to pay you an extra £1 and lose £5 Cashback?!

Mr_Mean

Section62 said:

Sea_Shell said:

We were considering a move away from Santander, this might just be the deciding factor.

I'd been thinking about moving my direct debits away - I'm now only just covering the fee with cashback, and with useful SMS alerts being stopped soon the risk of a DD failing due to low balance will increase going forward. As the charge for one failed DD could wipe out more than a year's net profit on the cashback the 123 (/Lite) account doesn't look anything like as worthwhile as it did in the old days.

I thought they were still supposed to send out “insufficient fund” messages
However its strange other banks seem to be increasing communication and Santander are doing the opposite.

Lumiona

I'm gutted to lose this account, I'll be going from net £10pm to under £3 if I switch to Edge. I missed the original MSE notice so only just got the letter.

I'm in 2 minds whether to move all the DDs to Edge or to my normal account. I've earned £727 in cashback since I opened it in 2018, which isn't too bad

Ghostcrawler

Anyone knows if cashback is credited for the same month's DDs paid or for previous month?  My DDs go out between 1st to 5th of every month and I get cashback 13th of the month.  If I time it correctly, I can close or change the account type to Edge after 13th Aug (if cashback is paid same month for DDs paid).

35har1old

myth123 said:

Unfortunately a move to the Edge account would leave me slightly worse off after the fee. So I'll be leaving my current account as the free Everyday account when the transfer happens. Not many alternatives for direct debit cash back on bills

Stay where you are open a Edge account and don't setup any direct debits no fee payable.
Then take the benefit of the Edge Saver

35har1old

fergie_ said:

The amount of cash back more than halves for me on the Edge account compared to 123. The 6% saver almost makes its worth it, but that's a 'bonus' rate for 12m.

The comparison tool under the calculator tab still lists the 123 lite account:

https://www.santander.co.uk/personal/current-accounts/santander-edge-current-account

Close and reopen saver account to continue with the 6%

35har1old

Birdman2015 said:

My best plan will be to pay my Council Tax and energy bills with the Edge credit card to max out the cashback on that now that my introductory period has ended.

Have you paid any of these before and received cash back?
Will you have to phone your council to pay the council tax?
Does your energy provider except credit card payments mine doesn't 

Lumiona

35har1old said:

Birdman2015 said:

My best plan will be to pay my Council Tax and energy bills with the Edge credit card to max out the cashback on that now that my introductory period has ended.

Have you paid any of these before and received cash back?
Will you have to phone your council to pay the council tax?
Does your energy provider except credit card payments mine doesn't 

I can pay Octopus energy with CC

badger09

friolento said:

badger09 said:

RedImp_2 said:

Well I’ve now had official notification of this , it was a document saved in my statements & documents which I saw when I went to look at my statement ( I note rubbing it in it said I’d had £3,300 cashback since account opening).
I’ll probably switch to the Edge which will at least give me some small benefit.

Just checked & my notification dated 10 June is there. 

I think this is poor customer service from Santander. They manage to email me every month to tell me a statement is available but don’t bother informing me of an important change to my current account. 

The documents often appear online before we get an email to tell us there are documents. They still have several days before we enter the 2 month notice period.

Spot on. Email 19.32 announcing Notice of variation.