# Santander 123 account....anybody?



## GMJ (Jun 24, 2014)

Hi

I am thinking about doing a bank account change after many years with Barclays across to the Santander 123 account. Whilst it charges £6 per month from January 2016, I have worked out that we will be 'quids in' (literally :smile2 with the interest that they pay on 'stuff' plus cashback.

Have any of you folks undergone the 7 days switch in recent times? If so how did it go?

Do any of you folks have one of these 123 accounts?

If so could you advise how the interest works? Do you have to nominate which DD's etc are paying for council tax/broadband/energy supplies etc or do they automatically know this?

Also - a similar question on groceries? presumably you have to use your debit card to buy them? Also do you nominate the retailer or again, do they automatically pick it up?

TIA

Graham:smile2:


----------



## worky (Dec 30, 2005)

hya Graham - we switched over to the 123 account some time ago and it all seemed to go smoothly, one minor hiccup which was soon sorted and they gave us £45 for the trouble. They know which DDs are for each individual utility so that's taken care of for you. As for cash back on groceries, that you don't get, it only applies to the 123 credit card.

cheers

Clyde


----------



## Kirbz73 (Nov 22, 2015)

I switched a year ago from the Halifax as the charges were killing me and looked at Santander but went with nationwide in the end and I have to say they have been great, proper customer service and very helpful.

I got my overdraft free for a year and even after the. It's about £80 a month cheaper and just moved my mortgage over and got a silly rate due to having my account with them so highly recommended


----------



## GEMMY (Jun 19, 2006)

Kirbz73 said:


> I switched a year ago from the Halifax as the charges were killing me and looked at Santander but went with nationwide in the end and I have to say they have been great, proper customer service and very helpful.
> 
> I got my overdraft free for a year and even after the. It's about £80 a month cheaper and just moved my mortgage over and got a silly rate due to having my account with them so highly recommended


I'll second that, the Flexi plus account is excellent with its breakdown/health/ etc plus interest earned.

tony


----------



## peribro (Sep 6, 2009)

I've has a Santander 123 account for about 3 years and it's wonderful - money for old rope! They calculate the interest and cashbacks for DD payments automatically and credit them to your account. In the 12 months to October this year I earned just under £600 in interest, £140 in cashbacks on DD payments and the account fee was just £24, although unsurprisingly it's now going up.

The transfer of the DD's from Barclays was seamless - no problems at all.

The few times I've had to phone Santander about something their customer service has been excellent.


----------



## emmbeedee (Oct 31, 2008)

GMJ said:


> Hi
> 
> I am thinking about doing a bank account change after many years with Barclays across to the Santander 123 account. Whilst it charges £6 per month from January 2016, I have worked out that we will be 'quids in' (literally :smile2 with the interest that they pay on 'stuff' plus cashback.
> 
> Graham:smile2:


I did this switch (Barclays-Santander) early this year & can only recommend it. Switch went very smoothly, apart from one transaction which clashed with the switch. They tried again the next day & it went through OK. I was notified by post later.
The only thing which isn't as good, IMHO, is the internet banking access. Barclays use a small number generating device, like a calculator that you insert your debit card into, which is very good. Santander use passwords which is a nuisance as I have to have them written down to remember them.
I've earned a few hundred pounds in interest since switching as I moved my ISA over to the 123 account as well.:grin2:


----------



## H1-GBV (Feb 28, 2006)

Barbara and I have a joint 123 account plus an individual 123 account each. Rather than "pay off" the mortgage when I retired, we placed £20k in each account and have earned over £1000 pa: you can't do much better than that! Add to that, the mortgage interest is 1.25%, so we are laughing :wink2:

We have had no problems whatsoever, apart from when I tried to change my password and user ID. It transpired (after many tries and a couple of phone calls) that I needed to call my password = ID and ID = password PLUS where I used lowercase, they wanted upper case and vice versa!!! :crying: AND, I had to change one, get it updated (which wasn't instant) then change the other. Since then, I think they have sorted this out. :nerd:

My Nationwide FlexPlus account has £2.5k in it (max they pay interest [also 3%] on) but costs £10pm to operate. The interest (after tax) comes to £5 so that account costs £5pm and gives me free European breakdown cover (inc home start) with LV=Britannia Rescue [MH upto 8m long, 7.5T], worldwide travel insurance, phone cover, extended warranty etc.

Depending on how much cash you can free up, I would happily recommend either. In fact, if you allow me to recommend you for a Nationwide account, we would both get £100! PM me if you wish to go down that route :kiss:

Gordon


----------



## GMJ (Jun 24, 2014)

Thanks all - great info

We dont have a mortgage so no need for that; or indeed an overdraft facility as we are fortunate to remain in credit with some savings (we term it the 'slush fund'). 

Looks like I'll be 123'ing after Xmas then:grin2:

Cheers again

Graham:smile2:


----------



## IanA (Oct 30, 2010)

Santander are very good taking the money, lousy at giving it back, especially if, like me, you have Power of Attorney. They are the most awkward bank going, demanding that each individual account is registered, but when a Bond expires they change the account number - so I can't do anything with it for up to a week while they register the POA. They don't give a card to POAs, and I can't pay a bill on the day that I set it up, it has to be the next day. Other banks - Barclays, Nationwide - are fine.
Worth remembering if you have anybody set up to act as POA.


----------



## fatbuddha (Aug 7, 2006)

we have 3 Santander 123 accounts - 2 personal and one for business purposes. even with the increase in monthly fees, it's still a no brainer having 3% interest and cashback on paying utility bills - but you have to be disciplined to keep it topped up to £20k to get the best return.

the personal accounts are not our main bank ones - we are reluctant to give up our joint First Direct account after many years so we tend to treat the Santander ones as savings accounts not as everyday accounts


----------



## dovtrams (Aug 18, 2009)

We switched from RBS in March of this year; the switching process was easy and I cannot believe I have not been with Santander 123 ac for years. As someone else says, it is money for old rope, where else do you get 3% interest and even though the charges are going up to £5 a month in the New Year, it is still worthwhile.

Santander internet banking and branches are all excellent in our experience of using them for the past 9 months - go for it.

Dave


----------



## Mrplodd (Mar 4, 2008)

Had a 123 for a good few years, deal with it all online, never had any problem, yes that are increasing the charges in January BUT with 3% on whatever's in your account up to max of £20K its VASTLY better than the paltry 0.5% you can get on an ISA, so that's where all my dosh resides. It's not an account for everyone, but it works for me. I likewise have a Nationwide account for my foreign travels alongside a Caxton pre loaded one as well. Lots of baskets to put the eggs in!!! 

Also with Nationwide you get free worldwide travel for 30 days at a time that you can increase to 60 for a small premium. ALSO for a one off payment of less than a fiver you can do away with the policy excess completely, I was unaware until a pal told me and I can confirm that is definitely the case 'cos I've done it!!! Bargain or what??

I know others say Santander customer service is crap, but I have had no problems at all. 

Just remember to use banks to YOUR advantage not theirs. To get the insurance with Nationwide you have to put at least £750 a month in. My 750 goes in on the first and back out on the third (both via DD's) Work the system guys, I do!!!

Banks will give you an umbrella when the sun shines, take it away at the first sign of rain, and neglect to tell you it was never their umbrella in the first place! 

Andy


----------



## Landyman (Apr 3, 2010)

Had a Santander 123 A/c for ages and can't fault them.
I do just about everything on-line and it really couldn't be easier.


----------

