Santander 123 still best savings account ?

1235713

Comments

  • hubb
    hubb Posts: 2,482
    First Anniversary Name Dropper First Post Combo Breaker
    Forumite
    tg99 wrote: »
    I have various sizeable outgoings each month eg loads of Reg savers plus into shares/funds etc which I also like to be able to do opportunistically which cannot do if money is tied up in fixed accounts. I already have all the current accounts paying good interest like Tesco, TSB etc.

    Sounds like you are loaded :money:
  • No_6
    No_6 Posts: 835
    First Anniversary Combo Breaker
    Forumite
    IF !!!
    you all ready have ALL the accounts paying....
    the TOP rates....
    then why would anyone close a Santander
    account for 1.5% on £20k
  • Zero_Sum
    Zero_Sum Posts: 1,567 Forumite
    No_6 wrote: »
    IF !!!
    you all ready have ALL the accounts paying....
    the TOP rates....
    then why would anyone close a Santander
    account for 1.5% on £20k

    Because youre not getting 1.5%
    You're getting 1.26% infact if you have 2, then the 2nd is only paying 1.2%
  • soulsaver
    soulsaver Posts: 5,872
    Name Dropper First Anniversary First Post
    Forumite
    edited 10 October 2018 at 12:12AM
    tg99 wrote: »
    I’ve got two 123 accounts each with £20k, one of which is used as my main banking hub for everything and the second purely for savings.

    Only thing making me think twice about closing the second one is the terms and conditions preventing customers from having more than one (I opened the second one not long before they introduced this restriction).

    If Santander react to the rate increases elsewhere by increasing the rate from 1.5% or cutting the £5pm fee then in theory I would not be able to open a second one again (presuming they actually adhere to the restriction though!).

    Not convinced this is terribly likely however, at least until rates get high enough that there is a more significant difference between the effective net rate from Santander and that earned from the best paying easy access accounts.

    And even then it’s questionable whether they would act unless they had significant numbers of customers leaving.

    I could wait until say early in 2019 and if nothing has changed then remove the second account at that point.

    Then again I think I might just get on with doing it now as even if say Santander scrapped the £5 fee entirely (unlikely) then the 1.5% is still no better than Marcus and Bank of Cyprus.

    If you make the account 123 lite you can reverse it back to full fat.

    I have several 123s recently Lited just in case..
  • tg99
    tg99 Posts: 1,194
    First Post First Anniversary Name Dropper
    Forumite
    soulsaver wrote: »
    If you make the account 123 lite you can reverse it back to full fat.

    I have several 123s recently Lited just in case..

    And that’s without paying the £1pm fee since you’re not using the account for DD, cashback etc? How did you find out that you are able to reverse it back to full fat (assuming you mean you can reverse it even if you already have the one permitted existing full fat account)? Thanks.
  • soulsaver
    soulsaver Posts: 5,872
    Name Dropper First Anniversary First Post
    Forumite
    edited 10 October 2018 at 1:10PM
    tg99 wrote: »
    And that’s without paying the £1pm fee since you’re not using the account for DD, cashback etc? How did you find out that you are able to reverse it back to full fat (assuming you mean you can reverse it even if you already have the one permitted existing full fat account)? Thanks.

    Phoned & asked their CS.. Went through security - she could see all my 123 accounts...

    I would think there are quite a few MSEers that have/had more than 2; it was legal to have as many as you like some years ago - and AFAIK they've never insisted any were closed.
  • tg99
    tg99 Posts: 1,194
    First Post First Anniversary Name Dropper
    Forumite
    From what I can see for 123 Lite, you only start getting charged the monthly fee once you start receiving cashback though subsequently you still pay the fee in months when no cashback is received. Hence as I think someone else has stated in a different thread (can’t find now), as long as you don’t activate cashback then esssentially 123 Lite is a fee free account like the Everyday account.

    One thought here though: I currently have DD set up and receive cashback on both my full fat 123 accounts. Hence if I downgrade one to a Lite (and move the DD to the other full fat account), given the sort code and account number etc stay the same then will it class me as already having been in receipt of cashback pre the downgrade and thus charge me the £1pm fee even if I don’t start receiving cashback post downgrade?

    And am I correct that the £500 pm funding requirement for the Lite is only to qualify for cashback rather than needing to do so to keep the account open?
  • I was in the position of (last year) holding the full 123 with DDs and a little cashback. I also held the RS.

    It became apparent that I wasn't getting a good deal so I downgraded to the Select early this year - cancelling all DDs. The advisor stated i would retain the higher rate of RS until it matured four months ago.

    After the RS matured i then renewed it so am currently mid term on it.

    I wonder if, as it stands, I could change my Select CA into a lite and take out the next RS.

    It looks likely that I'd get away with no monthly charge.
  • No_6
    No_6 Posts: 835
    First Anniversary Combo Breaker
    Forumite
    @ zero summy
    so I am only getting 1.26 instead of 1.5 with fee's
    from Santander on £20k

    but ALLLLLLLLL: my other accounts are MAXXXXXXXed

    I;m happy with 1.26
  • Zero_Sum
    Zero_Sum Posts: 1,567 Forumite
    No_6 wrote: »
    @ zero summy
    so I am only getting 1.26 instead of 1.5 with fee's
    from Santander on £20k

    but ALLLLLLLLL: my other accounts are MAXXXXXXXed

    I;m happy with 1.26


    Well thats ok then. As ive said previously 1.26% is an ok-ish rate, but lets not pretend you're actually getting 1.5% cos youre not. Too many have fallen for it & think they are.
This discussion has been closed.
Meet your Ambassadors

Categories

  • All Categories
  • 342.5K Banking & Borrowing
  • 249.9K Reduce Debt & Boost Income
  • 449.4K Spending & Discounts
  • 234.6K Work, Benefits & Business
  • 607.1K Mortgages, Homes & Bills
  • 172.8K Life & Family
  • 247.4K Travel & Transport
  • 1.5M Hobbies & Leisure
  • 15.8K Discuss & Feedback
  • 15.1K Coronavirus Support Boards