Who do you bank with ? Considering moving to Santander 123
Discussion
Hi All,
I'm currently a very happy First Direct account holder. Our joint accounts are with them, as our our ISAs and regular savings accounts.
Plus points are UK call centres - never, ever again will I go with a bank with overseas call centres - and the fact that I can call them any time day or night and get things done. I also don't ever have to wait for them to answer the phone, and I have no options to press. I have, to this point, been very, very happy.
The downside is, the interest rates on our savings isn't great. Well, its ok on the regular saving account (we both have one of those accounts, and save the full £300PCM each month), but the money in our two ISA's isn't getting much interest. I think its barely over 1%
I'm considering switching, and to make life easy, I really would like to try and do everything with one company. Unless there is significant benefit (to the tune of 10's and 10's of £'s per month, I just don't find it worth the hassle of having 50 different passwords, 12 different credit cards and 3 different internet banking tools to use. Call me stupid on that one, but my time has a 'value' also.
So, I've seen this Santander 123 account. The cash back on bills feels like it is a bit of a gimmick, I think it would be worth a few £'s to us each month, and the calculator suggests circa £50 per year, which at just about £5 PCM doesn't feel like its worth the effort to change from the good service we have.
However, the 3% interest on deposits of up to £20,000 is very appealing. Having it all the current account obviously makes it easier to use the money. The cash back on their credit card also looks pretty decent also. We shop in several supermarkets, but always get fuel from Shell. Could be pretty useful really.
A friend who used First Direct has moved to Santander and he things the extra hassle is worth it for the cash they make on their savings.
Does anyone here recommend any other accounts before I look to potentially switch. Any horror stories for Santander? (I'm sure I heard they weren't the best) or any other accounts people suggest?
Our situation is currently saving for our first home, and have a decent house deposit saved up. We will be looking to buy a property in the next 12-18-24 months.
I'm currently a very happy First Direct account holder. Our joint accounts are with them, as our our ISAs and regular savings accounts.
Plus points are UK call centres - never, ever again will I go with a bank with overseas call centres - and the fact that I can call them any time day or night and get things done. I also don't ever have to wait for them to answer the phone, and I have no options to press. I have, to this point, been very, very happy.
The downside is, the interest rates on our savings isn't great. Well, its ok on the regular saving account (we both have one of those accounts, and save the full £300PCM each month), but the money in our two ISA's isn't getting much interest. I think its barely over 1%
I'm considering switching, and to make life easy, I really would like to try and do everything with one company. Unless there is significant benefit (to the tune of 10's and 10's of £'s per month, I just don't find it worth the hassle of having 50 different passwords, 12 different credit cards and 3 different internet banking tools to use. Call me stupid on that one, but my time has a 'value' also.
So, I've seen this Santander 123 account. The cash back on bills feels like it is a bit of a gimmick, I think it would be worth a few £'s to us each month, and the calculator suggests circa £50 per year, which at just about £5 PCM doesn't feel like its worth the effort to change from the good service we have.
However, the 3% interest on deposits of up to £20,000 is very appealing. Having it all the current account obviously makes it easier to use the money. The cash back on their credit card also looks pretty decent also. We shop in several supermarkets, but always get fuel from Shell. Could be pretty useful really.
A friend who used First Direct has moved to Santander and he things the extra hassle is worth it for the cash they make on their savings.
Does anyone here recommend any other accounts before I look to potentially switch. Any horror stories for Santander? (I'm sure I heard they weren't the best) or any other accounts people suggest?
Our situation is currently saving for our first home, and have a decent house deposit saved up. We will be looking to buy a property in the next 12-18-24 months.
I mentioned in another thread about current accounts that I use FD for main banking but then have a Santander 123 which we pay in a set amount each month and then use this to pay dd's for all credit cards, mortgage, household bills etc. We earn about £20+ month in cash back.
Terrible customer service but important stuff we use FD so it doesn't matter.
Terrible customer service but important stuff we use FD so it doesn't matter.
jogon said:
I mentioned in another thread about current accounts that I use FD for main banking but then have a Santander 123 which we pay in a set amount each month and then use this to pay dd's for all credit cards, mortgage, household bills etc. We earn about £20+ month in cash back.
Terrible customer service but important stuff we use FD so it doesn't matter.
And that is what worries me Terrible customer service but important stuff we use FD so it doesn't matter.
I use a 123 account and credit card and have to say it works really well. 3% on savings is good and cashback on bills/fuel etc does add up fairly quickly as well.
If you have a decent branch near you then customer service shouldn't be too much of an issue, the only small issue I had was resolved very quickly by my local branch.
Santander seem to have come a long way since I was last with them 4 years ago.
If you have a decent branch near you then customer service shouldn't be too much of an issue, the only small issue I had was resolved very quickly by my local branch.
Santander seem to have come a long way since I was last with them 4 years ago.
I have had Santander as my main account for a year now and many of their other products for longer than that.
In that time I have never had a problem. They also seem to open the majority of their branches on Saturday afternoons as well which is a bonus compared to their competitors.
£50 for opening one via Quidco as well.
In that time I have never had a problem. They also seem to open the majority of their branches on Saturday afternoons as well which is a bonus compared to their competitors.
£50 for opening one via Quidco as well.
First of all let's get one thing straight.
First Direct are great. First rate service both online and at the end of the phone.
On the other hand Santander are a bunch of f
kwits. No, actually they're a bunch of s. They really are a piss poor excuse of a complete and utter fking joke of a bank.
I'm with First Direct:yes I'm also with Santander
Why? The answer is simple. 3% interest
My DD's are with Santander and I pay in enough money a month to pay them. my regular savers are maxed out at FD and whatever is left is pushed over to Santander.
DO NOT SWITCH BANKS. Merely open an account at Santander to use the benefits. If you do switch then when, and yes I did say when, it all goes wrong don't come here crying
First Direct are great. First rate service both online and at the end of the phone.
On the other hand Santander are a bunch of f
kwits. No, actually they're a bunch of s. They really are a piss poor excuse of a complete and utter fking joke of a bank.I'm with First Direct:yes I'm also with Santander
Why? The answer is simple. 3% interest
My DD's are with Santander and I pay in enough money a month to pay them. my regular savers are maxed out at FD and whatever is left is pushed over to Santander.
DO NOT SWITCH BANKS. Merely open an account at Santander to use the benefits. If you do switch then when, and yes I did say when, it all goes wrong don't come here crying
jogon said:
I mentioned in another thread about current accounts that I use FD for main banking but then have a Santander 123 which we pay in a set amount each month and then use this to pay dd's for all credit cards, mortgage, household bills etc. We earn about £20+ month in cash back.
Terrible customer service but important stuff we use FD so it doesn't matter.
This. Only need one direct debit to open the 123 account. Once it's open just use it like a savings account. Terrible customer service but important stuff we use FD so it doesn't matter.
But need a minimum of two direct debits to get cash back for them.
I have a santander mortgage as well so get 1% on all payments
I get around £13 on average per month from it plus 3% on any balance above 3k in the account
It does cost £2 a month but i feel it is worth it
Also have the 123 credit card and all other purchases go throught that and get around £15 a month cash back
I dont know how they fund it but for now Im happy.
I see llyods are starting to do the same thing now with the cash back, I have my main account with them so might get even more in cash back soon
Bullit
I have a santander mortgage as well so get 1% on all payments
I get around £13 on average per month from it plus 3% on any balance above 3k in the account
It does cost £2 a month but i feel it is worth it
Also have the 123 credit card and all other purchases go throught that and get around £15 a month cash back
I dont know how they fund it but for now Im happy.
I see llyods are starting to do the same thing now with the cash back, I have my main account with them so might get even more in cash back soon
Bullit
I have a 123 Account & credit card. All the fuel goes on the card, I pay every bill via DD so I get money back on all of them.
I have the mortgage and other accounts with them and have never had a problem with customer service - I phone up, ask a question or ask them to do something and it gets sorted, never needed to call back ever. UK call centres too.
I have the mortgage and other accounts with them and have never had a problem with customer service - I phone up, ask a question or ask them to do something and it gets sorted, never needed to call back ever. UK call centres too.
OP, do you use a cashback credit card? Would that help offset things a bit and mean you could stick with FD?
Everything we buy goes on to a cashback credit card and we pay it off every month. At the end of the year you can get a tidy sum back which you don't get taxed on like bank interest.
Everything we buy goes on to a cashback credit card and we pay it off every month. At the end of the year you can get a tidy sum back which you don't get taxed on like bank interest.
RicksAlfas said:
OP, do you use a cashback credit card? Would that help offset things a bit and mean you could stick with FD?
Everything we buy goes on to a cashback credit card and we pay it off every month. At the end of the year you can get a tidy sum back which you don't get taxed on like bank interest.
I'm quite ashamed of my credit card choice. I've just got a John Lewis Partnership card as we shop in Waitrose quite a bit, and it gives us John Lewis vouchers. I'm sure it is far from the best choice. Everything we buy goes on to a cashback credit card and we pay it off every month. At the end of the year you can get a tidy sum back which you don't get taxed on like bank interest.
I moved our household bill paying account to Santander, went via Topcashback and got £45 cashback for our troubles too.
Never had a problem with Santander, yet, and they've got my ISA plus one savings and one other current account.
We fund the 123 account and only use it to pay all monthly household bills plus the mortgage, plus we feed it via a standing order from another bank for £500/month that ensures we always pay in the amount required as per their Ts&Cs. That £500 comes back out after 1 day into the account it came from.
I've chucked several £K in savings so it's earning 3% interest, and we're getting about £19-£20/month cashback.
The Topcashback offer is still running, I'll happily share my referral link.
Never had a problem with Santander, yet, and they've got my ISA plus one savings and one other current account.
We fund the 123 account and only use it to pay all monthly household bills plus the mortgage, plus we feed it via a standing order from another bank for £500/month that ensures we always pay in the amount required as per their Ts&Cs. That £500 comes back out after 1 day into the account it came from.
I've chucked several £K in savings so it's earning 3% interest, and we're getting about £19-£20/month cashback.
The Topcashback offer is still running, I'll happily share my referral link.
As I said on another thread, their headline 3% seems to have some caveats? Though their website isn't very clear. Do they pay the interest in the discrete bands? So a £5000 balance earns nothing for the first £1000, 1% for the next £1000, 2% for the next £1000 plus 3% on the final £2000 up to the £5000 balance?
If so then that's £70 before tax. Equivalent to a straight 1.4%. And their small print mentions they take £2 a month for a fee? So annual interest would be £24 less. So only equivalent to 0.92%?!
Obviously with £20k on tap you'd earn more. But it's worth working out exactly what this will be. And if it is paid monthly or annually?
My son just switched his student account to Santander for a rail card offer. He got there after three months of errors, hassle and lost paperwork on their part. And that was dealing with a branch he could pop into. Repeatedly!
If so then that's £70 before tax. Equivalent to a straight 1.4%. And their small print mentions they take £2 a month for a fee? So annual interest would be £24 less. So only equivalent to 0.92%?!
Obviously with £20k on tap you'd earn more. But it's worth working out exactly what this will be. And if it is paid monthly or annually?
My son just switched his student account to Santander for a rail card offer. He got there after three months of errors, hassle and lost paperwork on their part. And that was dealing with a branch he could pop into. Repeatedly!
Interest is simple, it works on your balance:
less than £1k = 0%
between £1k & 2k = 1%
between £2k & 3k = 2%
between £3k & 20k = 3%
IIRC this is not stepped in terms of the interest earned, so lets say you have £5k in the account you get 3% of £5k.
Edit : the online calculator on their site shows a £5k balance earning £148 AER interest a year, which is about right I think ?
less than £1k = 0%
between £1k & 2k = 1%
between £2k & 3k = 2%
between £3k & 20k = 3%
IIRC this is not stepped in terms of the interest earned, so lets say you have £5k in the account you get 3% of £5k.
Edit : the online calculator on their site shows a £5k balance earning £148 AER interest a year, which is about right I think ?
Edited by Crafty_ on Sunday 15th December 23:22
Crafty_ said:
Interest is simple, it works on your balance:
less than £1k = 0%
between £1k & 2k = 1%
between £2k & 3k = 2%
between £3k & 20k = 3%
IIRC this is not stepped in terms of the interest earned, so lets say you have £5k in the account you get 3% of £5k.
Edit : the online calculator on their site shows a £5k balance earning £148 AER interest a year, which is about right I think ?
Correct.less than £1k = 0%
between £1k & 2k = 1%
between £2k & 3k = 2%
between £3k & 20k = 3%
IIRC this is not stepped in terms of the interest earned, so lets say you have £5k in the account you get 3% of £5k.
Edit : the online calculator on their site shows a £5k balance earning £148 AER interest a year, which is about right I think ?
I've just come to the end of an intro rate on a savings account, can't find anything that will touch 3% other than Santander that I can meet the criteria for (regular payments in plus DDs).
I had the same problem with all banks except FD being ste, but the interest rates were not very good at FD.
The way I got around that was to port my mortgages to them too and offset them. That way I get a much better rate than I would have got at most banks.
Clearly this only applies if you have a mortgage and the rate is higher than 2% ish and you can port it.
te, but the interest rates were not very good at FD. The way I got around that was to port my mortgages to them too and offset them. That way I get a much better rate than I would have got at most banks.
Clearly this only applies if you have a mortgage and the rate is higher than 2% ish and you can port it.
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