Rachel Tilley Posted March 19, 2016 Share Posted March 19, 2016 For those of you about to return home and needing to open up a new bank account then one of the best deals around at the moment is the Santander 123 Account. They offer 3% interest on the first £20,000 of your savings which is better than any ISA or savings account in the UK at the moment. Also, from April 2016 you don't pay tax on your interest earned up to £1000. The Santander 123 Account pays the interest monthly. It also gives you cash back of 1,2 or 3% on some of your direct debit costs for your council tax, phone bills, water rates, electric/gas bills. To qualify for this account you have to pay in a minimum of £500 per month, have a minimum of two direct debits set up and there is a monthly fee of £5 - but that is easily offset against the interest earned if you have enough savings in there. Thought I'd share this as I've been looking to change my bank account recently due to the one I've had for over 30 years not giving me anything! After lots of searching I found that this was the best available and have just switched to it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marisawright Posted March 19, 2016 Share Posted March 19, 2016 (edited) It is a great account Rachel, but many returnees won't be eligible. It's only available to people with a good credit rating, and anyone who's been away for more than six years has no credit rating at all. Edited March 19, 2016 by Marisawright Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rachel Tilley Posted March 19, 2016 Author Share Posted March 19, 2016 That's a bummer :sad: I can't believe a bank would be willing to turn away a potential customer with £20,000 to deposit. Customers are able to have two accounts with them, one being a joint account, so perhaps a returning resident could be a named account holder with a trusted family member in order to get on the credit rating ladder, especially if they have a family member who already has an account with them?! Not sure how that would stand, but if you're coming back to the UK with a large sum of money from the sale of a house then that's the best place to put it at the moment. I didn't realise it was so hard to open a bank account as a British Citizen, thank God I kept mine going when I was away. I know my ex still has one here too with just a few pounds in it and he's been gone 12 years. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Patphillips47 Posted March 19, 2016 Share Posted March 19, 2016 Doesn't work having a joint account with a relative with credit rating unfortunately I had a joint account with my Mum for 7 years prior to coming back to the Uk in 2001 had no joy with credit though Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marisawright Posted March 19, 2016 Share Posted March 19, 2016 That's a bummer :sad: I can't believe a bank would be willing to turn away a potential customer with £20,000 to deposit. We had £30.000 to deposit - the answer was still no! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robswife Posted March 20, 2016 Share Posted March 20, 2016 what about this one? http://www.tsb.co.uk/plus-money-saving-expert/?WT.mc_id=1613487|122013894|294961544|0#Important Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chortlepuss Posted March 20, 2016 Share Posted March 20, 2016 We had £30.000 to deposit - the answer was still no! We've got £40k to deposit - looks like a great account but we've been referred so keeping fingers crossed! What I loved about Santander is that they have a branch in my local town (TSB closed theirs) and when we went in they gave us a card with the branch phone number and the name of someone who would be our local contact at the branch. I hope we pass muster. TSB Phonebank is very good, but it can't beat being able to chat to someone knowledgeable at your local branch. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marisawright Posted March 20, 2016 Share Posted March 20, 2016 We've got £40k to deposit - looks like a great account but we've been referred so keeping fingers crossed!What I loved about Santander is that they have a branch in my local town We offered to deposit as much as they needed (and we could've deposited a lot more than your figure) - they said it was immaterial how much money we had, we weren't eligible. The credit rating is what matters and we have none. So keep all your fingers and toes crossed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chortlepuss Posted March 21, 2016 Share Posted March 21, 2016 Well it doesn't bode well - they haven't exactly rushed to get back to us. Banks don't seem to care about large deposits - looks like I might be stuck with TSB and my 0.5%. I did ask TSB what kind of risk they thought a credit card with a 1k limit would pose. But the woman just giggled and said it would never be possible. I do wish interest rates could go up - would help savers and put a real break on people using spare cash to buy multiple homes and push house prices up. Of course now we have the situation that so many people would get stuffed if rates even rose a little, that it's politically untenable. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robswife Posted March 21, 2016 Share Posted March 21, 2016 I didn't realise it was so hard to open a bank account as a British Citizen, thank God I kept mine going when I was away. I know my ex still has one here too with just a few pounds in it and he's been gone 12 years. I still keep mine going too, and credit cards... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Patphillips47 Posted March 21, 2016 Share Posted March 21, 2016 We have gone to and fro a bit over the past few years and always keep our accounts open both sides of the pond - thankfully My UK MasterCard has no annual fee so I will keep it open too ,I have had the same Aussie credit card for years It's best never to slam the door on Oz because the door into the UK sometimes needs greasing as it sticks ! Dollar to puns very good today as our Centrelink pensions have just gone into our UK bank - well up on last month ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bristolman Posted March 21, 2016 Share Posted March 21, 2016 That's a bummer :sad: I can't believe a bank would be willing to turn away a potential customer with £20,000 to deposit. Customers are able to have two accounts with them, one being a joint account, so perhaps a returning resident could be a named account holder with a trusted family member in order to get on the credit rating ladder, especially if they have a family member who already has an account with them?! Not sure how that would stand, but if you're coming back to the UK with a large sum of money from the sale of a house then that's the best place to put it at the moment. I didn't realise it was so hard to open a bank account as a British Citizen, thank God I kept mine going when I was away. I know my ex still has one here too with just a few pounds in it and he's been gone 12 years. I very much doubt they would turn away a potential customer with £20,000 to be honest. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marisawright Posted March 21, 2016 Share Posted March 21, 2016 I very much doubt they would turn away a potential customer with £20,000 to be honest. Three banks turned us away and we had a lot more than £20,000. However as I said, they all offer a basic bank account with no credit card, no overdraft and no special features to anyone who can provide proof of a UK residential address. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chortlepuss Posted March 22, 2016 Share Posted March 22, 2016 Just been declined for 123 account. Bummer. Reason was that we had dropped off electoral roll. Got a top notch credit rating in UK too! Horses for courses. Will just have to be patient. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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