Tesco Savings DDs

Can you have multiple DDs setup in the Scottish Widows Internet Saver (like Tesco)?

adindas wrote: »

Indeed no need to spend exactly £1 because you could spend as low as 1p if you do not need item to buy

...But as has been pointed out numerous times already, some (all?) credit card companies don't bother collecting DD's for very small amounts.

So if this applies to the card you have then feel free to only spend 1p per month on the card, but don't get upset if the card company don't provide you with the monthly DD 'service' which is what you are actually after. That is a really good example of how trying to be clever can backfire.

Spend five or ten quid (or more) on things that you would be buying anyway and you can be sure the DD will be taken, and at zero real cost to you.

Rich2808 wrote: »

Scottish widows have two accounts that can be funded by DD - the internet saver and instant saver 2 accounts. However you need to set up DDs by sending in a form by post - and enclose a bank statement or cancelled cheque for your current account with the DD form (unless your opening investment is via a cheque from that current account). The internet saver (openeable online) has a £1 minimum balance requirement - the instant saver (can only be opened by post) needs £100. Post opening both can be operated by phone or online - but the DD account can only be changed by filling out another form and sending it by post with the bank statement.

I opened a SW Internet Saver account on Wednesday. Completion of the direct debit mandate was done during the online application process. They say "If we don’t need additional documentation, the process for setting up your Direct Debit Mandate and adding your initial deposit to your new account is already underway".

adindas wrote: »

Meh
1p just an extreme example. What about 75p which is not exactly £1

I think most people who know how to use their credit card, do not need to be told that they could use CC for daily spending especially if they do not have any better alternative.

BUT
What about if they have cashback credit card paying 5% such as Amex platinum everyday ?. If they are buying gadget, purchase ticket costing you £300 (say) people will normally use their cashback credit card.

If they have 8CC (say) not many people need 8 tiny price items costed £5 each or less to buy each month. You do your weekly shopping, although some items cost less than £5 but in total could amount £100 or more. You do not want to annoy people in the queue, the shop assistance by splitting your shopping in the same shop into four separate section. You do not want to spend extra time and money to go to other supermarkets which might sell the same item at higher price.

Of course you don't need to split your shopping into separate transactions. The point is that most people will make several credit card transactions over the course of a month, so just use each credit card in turn until you have used them all.

So:

Week 1 groceries -> card 1
Week 1 petrol -> card 2
Week 2 coffee -> card 3
Week 3 round of drinks in pub -> card 4
Week 4 cinema tickets -> card 5
Week 4 takeaway -> card 6

(I know, I know, true MSE'ers never buy coffee or takeaways :A)

And so on. Even if card 1 is a cashback card and you want to put your big purchases like groceries on that one each week, just cycle through the others for any smaller things that you'd be buying anyway. Say it's an Amex and you're getting 5% cashback and you desperately don't want to miss that - well not everywhere takes Amex so almost everybody is going to have a couple of other small spends in a month that they need to put on another card anyway!

It isn't that hard. If you need to remember which you've used, at the start of the month put them all in one section of your wallet then as you use each one put it away in another section so you know you've definitely used it.

Even if you get to the end of the month and you haven't used one yet, pop in to the supermarket as you're passing and buy a bar of chocolate or (more MSE) something small that you'll need for next week's groceries. If you still really really need to use two cards, then yes buy two things but use the self service checkouts where nobody will see or care that you're doing separate transactions. But I genuinely can't imagine most people don't do at least six purchases of anything in a month so why would it come to that?

pearl123 wrote: »

How much does a charity get charged if you pay a pound every month to them?

It very much depends on what you've managed to negotiate with your direct debit supplier.

I volunteer as the treasurer of a small charity and I've looked into us taking direct debits (currently most of our members pay by standing order) though ended up putting it on the back burner. The fees are very variable but most include a flat fee element so relatively speaking quite a bit out of a £1 DD.

I can't remember every one I looked at but for example Go Cardless advertise to us that they charge 1% for DDs BUT when you read the small print it is actually a minimum 20p flat fee plus the 1%. So if we did that, 21p would be lost for a £1 DD. We'd also have to factor in our single employee's time (or mine) to do whatever's necessary each month to claim the DDs; I don't know if that can be automated but it isn't "free" when he is flat-out busy with other tasks already and I can only do things as and when I have some spare time from the day job.

Before anyone asks, it therefore wouldn't be worth it for me to set my charity up with a DD function just to take effectively 79p less our time costs from a bunch of MSE'ers, and definitely not within our charity's remit!