Santander 123 still best savings account ?

Options
1…5681011…13

Comments

  • soulsaver
    soulsaver Posts: 5,975 Forumite
    Name Dropper First Anniversary First Post
    Options
    arrowmaker wrote: »

    I don't understand why people are hesitant to make the switch.

    I don't understand why anyone wants to go over this again... not for the first time.
    Top Easy Access acs Ranked by rate: Top of The Pots - **No Chat** — MoneySavingExpert Forum
  • karlie88
    karlie88 Posts: 9,114 Forumite
    First Anniversary Name Dropper First Post
    Options
    soulsaver wrote: »
    I don't understand why anyone wants to go over this again... not for the first time.

    Don't understand - can you please explain?
    :grouphug: :D Official MSE canny forumite and HUKD VIP badge member :D :grouphug:
  • hubb
    hubb Posts: 2,482 Forumite
    First Anniversary Name Dropper First Post Combo Breaker
    Options
    If I have to leave some of the money in a 123 lite account just to pay bills and earn cashback, then I won't be earning the full interest in a Marcus account because some of it will have to hang around in the lite account earning nothing. And the Marcus will drop it's 0.15% after a year.

    I already earn £2 cashback a month at my Halifax account, which added to the £3 I make in the 123 full account to just over £5 so in effect I get my £5 fee back one way or another.
  • EachPenny
    EachPenny Posts: 12,239 Forumite
    First Post Combo Breaker
    Options
    hubb wrote: »
    If I have to leave some of the money in a 123 lite account just to pay bills and earn cashback, then I won't be earning the full interest in a Marcus account because some of it will have to hang around in the lite account earning nothing. And the Marcus will drop it's 0.15% after a year.
    The amount of interest you'll lose if done properly is trivial though.

    And we can almost certainly expect the Marcus rate to drop in a year's time. But as 94 different people have already said on this thread, the 1.5% in the 123 account is also not a certainty.
    hubb wrote: »
    I already earn £2 cashback a month at my Halifax account, which added to the £3 I make in the 123 full account to just over £5 so in effect I get my £5 fee back one way or another.
    The Halifax £2 has absolutley nothing to do with the 123 account though. This bit of justification for the £5 fee is nonsensical. Using the same logic I could argue that the interest earned in any of my accounts pays the £5 123 fee.

    But whatever agrument is put forward, the fact remains that if you keep a full 123 account then you are paying £4x12=£48/year more for your banking than you need to.
    "In the future, everyone will be rich for 15 minutes"
  • polymaff
    polymaff Posts: 3,904 Forumite
    First Anniversary Name Dropper First Post
    Options
    ... and that is £48 out of your nett income !
  • Zero_Sum
    Zero_Sum Posts: 1,567 Forumite
    Options
    hubb wrote: »
    If I have to leave some of the money in a 123 lite account just to pay bills and earn cashback, then I won't be earning the full interest in a Marcus account because some of it will have to hang around in the lite account earning nothing. And the Marcus will drop it's 0.15% after a year.

    I already earn £2 cashback a month at my Halifax account, which added to the £3 I make in the 123 full account to just over £5 so in effect I get my £5 fee back one way or another.

    The interest problem will always be there regardless. As after payments are made, you'll have less cash in bank which means your effective rate is reduced as the fee is fixed. The only way to avoid it is to have more than £20k but then youre not getting interest on balances over £20k.

    Just keep about £20 in for emergencies & transfer the funds from savings a couple of days before. That way at most you'll lose a few coppers in interest.

    Even after Marcus drops its 0.15% bonus rate, at 1.35% the net benefit is still better than full fat 123
  • eschaton
    eschaton Posts: 2,024 Forumite
    First Post First Anniversary Combo Breaker
    edited 17 October 2018 at 4:27PM
    Options
    What I can’t get my head around is people not getting a simple calculation that shows downgrading to Lite is the best option.

    I’ve been considering downgrading for nearly a year. What held me back was where to put the £20k. I was considering a fixed 1 year rate of around 2% but didn’t commit as I may have needed access to it.

    My Birmingham Midshires was paying 1.45% but it’s a slow process to log into with my phone. I opened a Marcus account on Monday and logging in is super quick. I’ve just emptied the BM account into Marcus today (had to leave £1) and will be downgrading my S123 to Lite tonight, and moving the £20k at the same time to Marcus.

    My S123 is the account that funds all my other accounts anyway, so it’ll just take an extra payment from Marcus as and when required.

    Next year I’ll just move the money to the best rate at that time or upgrade S123 again. I currently get around £3.50 in cash back so will now get a true 1.5% rate and a profit on the Lite account fee.
  • eschaton
    eschaton Posts: 2,024 Forumite
    First Post First Anniversary Combo Breaker
    edited 17 October 2018 at 8:30PM
    Options
    hubb wrote: »

    I already earn £2 cashback a month at my Halifax account, which added to the £3 I make in the 123 full account to just over £5 so in effect I get my £5 fee back one way or another.

    That’s great logic.

    So you are funding and having 2 DD’s in your Halifax account for nothing.
  • roadblock15
    roadblock15 Posts: 29 Forumite
    edited 18 October 2018 at 8:29AM
    Options
    In recent years the 123 product line has got rave reviews for rewards and rates for interest, and how all the products tie together. I’m aware these rates and perks have somewhat diminished in recent times but is Santander and the 123 range still competitive against the other offerings?

    (Text removed by MSE Forum Team)
  • Kendall80
    Kendall80 Posts: 965 Forumite
    First Anniversary Name Dropper First Post
    Options
    With the current UK inflation figure at 2.7% isnt any balance held in these 1.5% accounts diminishing in real terms anyway?
This discussion has been closed.
★ ★ ★ Meet your Ambassadors

Categories

  • All Categories
  • 343.2K Banking & Borrowing
  • 250.1K Reduce Debt & Boost Income
  • 449.7K Spending & Discounts
  • 235.3K Work, Benefits & Business
  • 608.1K Mortgages, Homes & Bills
  • 173.1K Life & Family
  • 247.9K Travel & Transport
  • 1.5M Hobbies & Leisure
  • 15.9K Discuss & Feedback
  • 15.1K Coronavirus Support Boards