Santander free forever bank account changes

ely_ellis

As I am self-employed, all I do with my bank is have money come in, then pay business related bills out. That's it.

There is nothing I can add about what Santader are doing that hasn't already been said over the 77 odd pages of postings.
I have made my complaint with Santander and judging by other complaints I have made in the past, they always work around regardless of the Ombudsman ruling (This happend several times).

Even if at the last minute, they make a U-turn, how can I trust them anymore, they will just find another way, so maybe time to jump ship.

If there is no resolution by Mondy 22nd September 2025, then I will be moving my Business account, with that I will also be moving my personal current account, my joint current account and several connected savings accounts to another provider.

I will also be advising my son to do the same with his current and savings accounts, which I am sure will be worth more than the £120 per year Santander would charge.

But, I have a request.

Maybe we can post advice on the best alternative options available. I don't think there are many, but it would be nice to see what others think and recomend. Just for business accounts as other accounts can be moved anywhere.

Thanks

Martin

Futuristic

ely_ellis said:

But, I have a request.

Maybe we can post advice on the best alternative options available. I don't think there are many, but it would be nice to see what others think and recomend. Just for business accounts as other accounts can be moved anywhere.

Thanks

Martin

There are many free alternatives (if not handling cash), mostly recommended is Mettle (by Natwest) then Monzo, HSBC/Starling/Virgin M

eskbanker

Renfrewman said:

Who is And? Given some of the posts and there daft reasonings a two day response time is three weeks more than it should have been given.

Could you clarify what this means?

Section62

born_again said:

RichardStevensons said:

born_again said:

Given the number of complaints on this subject, they will have a standard rejection letter. They will not need to investigate each complaint on the same matter.

But sending out a one-size-fits all response means that they aren't treating each complaint individually.  My complaint had more information than covered in their response, as did my MP's, as did press articles.  Santander are failing to address the complaints and firing out hyperbole hoping it will do. 

In my case, I would say their response has covered one part of around seven in my complaint.  When does the rest get dealt with? 

Have you asked them?
Have they said that the complaint is now resolved & your options going forward.

If you raised a complaint on the ending of "Free" then that is their company line response. They already know that FOS are sitting on the complaint, as FOS can not do anything till charging starts.
Even then it could be months before they issue a response to them.

Not making any judgement on the rights or wrongs of the change.

Is there a source for the bit in bold?

amyfairweather

ely_ellis said:

As I am self-employed, all I do with my bank is have money come in, then pay business related bills out. That's it.

There is nothing I can add about what Santader are doing that hasn't already been said over the 77 odd pages of postings.
I have made my complaint with Santander and judging by other complaints I have made in the past, they always work around regardless of the Ombudsman ruling (This happend several times).

Even if at the last minute, they make a U-turn, how can I trust them anymore, they will just find another way, so maybe time to jump ship.

If there is no resolution by Mondy 22nd September 2025, then I will be moving my Business account, with that I will also be moving my personal current account, my joint current account and several connected savings accounts to another provider.

I will also be advising my son to do the same with his current and savings accounts, which I am sure will be worth more than the £120 per year Santander would charge.

But, I have a request.

Maybe we can post advice on the best alternative options available. I don't think there are many, but it would be nice to see what others think and recomend. Just for business accounts as other accounts can be moved anywhere.

Thanks

Martin

Another example of an “unprofitable” profitable customer who is now, most certainly, unprofitable.

ely_ellis

Futuristic said:

ely_ellis said:

But, I have a request.

Maybe we can post advice on the best alternative options available. I don't think there are many, but it would be nice to see what others think and recomend. Just for business accounts as other accounts can be moved anywhere.

Thanks

Martin

There are many free alternatives (if not handling cash), mostly recommended is Mettle (by Natwest) then Monzo, HSBC/Starling/Virgin M

Wow, first go and looks like you nailed it.
I have never heard of 'Mettle' even though I already have an account with Natwest. 
It looks to be exactly what I want.
Thanks Futuristic!

solidpro

amyfairweather said:

 Another example of an “unprofitable” profitable customer who is now, most certainly, unprofitable.

How on earth do you know it isn't profitable? I have had a free forever account for 17 years and never realised a single penny in interest - for business accounts holding cash reserves this may have been extremely profitable for Santander to just process a few payments each month.

Santander's online offering is stagnant and full of holes. It hasn't really evolved since 2008. This lack of R&D, closing all their branches and ramping up charges seems to be the opposite of "innovating to better serve our customers in the future.”  Anyone using their online banking can easily spot the broken 'pay an existing payee' functionality which screams mess of a 2008 software architect but being unravelleable by a 2025 team of software engineers. They can't do it properly so they slap a 'oh try this other way instead' note on the portal.

Remember 'free forever' customers are not allowed to use a counter services and have tight restrictions on what they can do each month. It's a very very bare-bones account and will not cost Santander very much at all to furnish each month with a repository for a company's cash reserves.

On the current trajectory their decision to do this will be an easy sum loss for them once I switch and close everything besides.

Some people who post their own two-penneth worth without skin in the game seem to think 'free forever' customers were lavished with high interest payments on balances, red carpet treatment, unlimited service and free bi-monthly BBQs at one of Santander's 'work cafes'.  You really shouldn't be so jealous, because the terms really weren't all that.

RichardStevensons

solidpro said:

Some people who post their own two-penneth worth without skin in the game seem to think 'free forever' customers were lavished with high interest payments on balances, red carpet treatment, unlimited service and free bi-monthly BBQs at one of Santander's 'work cafes'.  You really shouldn't be so jealous, because the terms really weren't all that.

Hyperbolic nail on the proverbial head....

• We shaped our business financial processes around the lifetime guarantee, accepting the limitations (no counter service, postal cheque deposits, reduced interest ) that other banks didn’t impose.
  
  
• We also actively discounted alternative banking products with other banks because the promise was clear, permanent, and written.
  
  
• We didn’t just commit our business banking to Santander, we also committed our personal finances too. Out of loyalty and to keep everything “in one house”, we moved or opened (when the time came) our personal current accounts, mortgage, and even our children’s savings accounts with Santander.
  
  
• In doing so, Santander has profited significantly from our household over the past 15 years, which all began with that original promise. We didn’t hold a Santander account at all until after we opened the business account.

Santander have made a good amount of money out of us based on this promise…

The cost (or more their gain from us) of “free” banking, personally, far outweighs the proposed fees they are introducing.  To then dress it up as beneficial to us as we receive “free” coaching, mentoring and networking opportunities is totally disingenuous – we would be paying for those (unrequested and unwanted) services through a monthly subscription.

flickadee001

ely_ellis said:

As I am self-employed, all I do with my bank is have money come in, then pay business related bills out. That's it.

There is nothing I can add about what Santader are doing that hasn't already been said over the 77 odd pages of postings.
I have made my complaint with Santander and judging by other complaints I have made in the past, they always work around regardless of the Ombudsman ruling (This happend several times).

Even if at the last minute, they make a U-turn, how can I trust them anymore, they will just find another way, so maybe time to jump ship.

If there is no resolution by Mondy 22nd September 2025, then I will be moving my Business account, with that I will also be moving my personal current account, my joint current account and several connected savings accounts to another provider.

I will also be advising my son to do the same with his current and savings accounts, which I am sure will be worth more than the £120 per year Santander would charge.

But, I have a request.

Maybe we can post advice on the best alternative options available. I don't think there are many, but it would be nice to see what others think and recomend. Just for business accounts as other accounts can be moved anywhere.

Thanks

Martin

I am in exactly the same boat, and all I do with my bank is have money come in, then pay business related bills out. That's it too.

I have opened a Monzo account via the App, and have now moved my DD's etc all across.

I can't see Santander going back on this, in the next week or two, so they have lost me i'm afraid after 22 years, and I am guessing many many more.

Switching things over for me was very simple, and it seems that Monzo, as one of the newer internet/app based Business Banks, seems very simple with a lot more you can do, than with Santander.

I think Santander might have done me a favour in all honesty, so will close my account in the next week or two once I've moved over the rest of my balance. 
I probably should have moved a while back, but Santander have forced my hand, so all 3 of my accounts will now be closed.

GeoffTF

Santander is rubbish and has been giving us nothing all these years. Now we have to move. We are very annoyed about it and want compensation for all this nothing we have been receiving.

I hope the complaints handlers have a sense of humour.