Santander announces current account changes

• From 27 October Santander will change the cashback categories on its 1I2I3, 1I2I3 Lite, Private and Select Current Accounts¹
• At the same time, the fee for the 1I2I3 Lite account will be increased from £1 to £2 per month
• The changes are being made to address the increasing cost of cashback and will ensure four million 1I2I3 customers continue to benefit from cashback on household bills
• The 1I2I3 Current Account remains the only current account on the market to offer both cashback and in credit interest – providing returns of up to £299.60 per annum

From 27 October Santander will change two household bills categories where customers receive cashback on bills paid from the 1I2I3, 1I2I3 Lite, Private and Select Current Accounts.  Customers paying bills via direct debit from their Santander account will see water bills moved from cashback of 1% to 3% and communications bills (phones/broadband/TV packages) moved from cashback of 3% to 1%.  Cashback on other household bills paid from these accounts (such as gas, electricity, council tax, etc.) will remain unchanged.

The monthly fee for the Santander 1I2I3 Lite account will be increased from £1 to £2 per month on the same date. The fee for the 1I2I3 Current Account will remain at £5 per month.

The cost of providing cashback has increased significantly since it was first introduced in 2012 and Santander is making these changes in order to continue giving customers cashback on household bills they pay in the current climate.

In recent months there has been a number of challenging factors impacting the banking industry, including historically low interest rates, the COVID19 pandemic and ongoing regulatory changes.

Despite the changes, Santander’s 1I2I3, Private and Select Current Accounts remain the only accounts on the market to offer customers both interest and cashback. Customers can benefit from 0.60% interest on in-credit balances of up to £20,000, totalling £119.60 per year, plus up to £180 per year in cashback on bills most customers need to pay anyway - an overall benefit of up to £299.60 per annum for an annual fee of £60.

Santander 1I2I3 Lite customers can earn up to £180 per annum in cashback on their everyday household bill spending, for an annual fee of £24.

All 1I2I3 customers continue to have access to other account benefits including preferential rates on other Santander products and additional cashback of up to 15% on debit card spending at a range of retailers.²

Susan Allen, Head of Retail Banking at Santander, said: “It has been a very difficult decision to make these changes to our popular 1I2I3 accounts but both the 1I2I3 and 1I2I3 Lite Current Accounts will continue to be good options for the large majority of our customers with the value they still offer. 1I2I3 is the only account on the market offering both in-credit interest and cashback, while both 1I2I3 and 1I2I3 Lite accounts give cashback on essential household bills paid by direct debit.”

Santander will be writing to all customers during July and August 2020 to explain the changes including information on how to make the most of cashback benefits and alternative account options for the minority of customers for whom the changes mean the returns on their account will not meet the monthly fee.  

Details of changes will also be included in monthly statements and on Santander’s website. Customers can see how much cashback and interest they currently earn on their current account by logging in to online or mobile banking or via their monthly account statement. The 1I2I3 calculator on Santander.co.uk will be updated from 22 July for customers to see what they will earn under the new pricing.

 
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Notes to Editors
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2) More detail on Santander Retail Offers can be found here.

Santander UK is a financial services provider in the UK that offers a wide range of personal and commercial financial products and services. At 30 December 2019, the bank had around 23,500 employees and serves around 14 million active customers, via a nationwide branch network, telephone, mobile and online banking. Santander UK is subject to the full supervision of the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) and the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) in the UK. Santander UK plc customers’ eligible deposits are protected by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) in the UK.

Banco Santander (SAN SM, STD US, BNC LN) is a leading retail and commercial bank, founded in 1857 and headquartered in Spain. It has a meaningful presence in 10 core markets in Europe and the Americas, and is one of the largest banks in the world by market capitalization. Its purpose is to help people and businesses prosper in a simple, personal and fair way. Santander is building a more responsible bank and has made a number of commitments to support this objective, including raising over €120 billion in green financing between 2019 and 2025, as well as financially empowering more than 10 million people over the same period. At the end of the first quarter of 2020, Banco Santander had a trillion euros in total funds, 146 million customers, of which 21.3 million are loyal and 38.3 million are digital, 11,900 branches and 195,000 employees. Banco Santander made underlying profit of €1,977 million in the first quarter of 2020, an increase of 1% compared to the same period of last year.