Fron past experiences, I’m never going to believe a business when they say they are committed to a country. Many have said that but then left shortly after.
However, I don’t think the article about it was that strong. It isn’t rare for businesses to review their operations in different countries which essentially what this seemed to boil down to.
I think it’s pretty clear though that Santander group isn’t fully happy with how the UK is performing, especially now the UK boss is stepping down.
I think they’d operate with a fairly similar product offering and leadership structure for a while even if they were sold/floated
Either way I’m fickle so only likely to get a good 2 years use out of them (bar maybe the investment which could be transferred) so should work out for me
True. Even the two that have been bought recently (Virgin Money and Co-Op) don’t seem to be changing much for the next few years at least.
My first account in the UK was a basic account from Santander. Was handy as we had a branch in the university. Hated the account, app was awful, and didn’t like being forced to use an ATM card and a prepaid debit card. Closed it a year after opening it, and moved to HSBC.
Have Barclays for the Avios. FD for using money abroad (and a switch offer). Revolut for paying and getting paid in Ireland. Monzo I don’t know, don’t use the account at all.
I also think the Santander app is one of the best of the legacy banks. It feels nice to be paid cashback on money that has to be spent on utility bills in any case, though I’m going to review it at the end of this month and see how much I’m actually making from them once you deduct the £3 fee. (I do miss the warning Monzo gives of upcoming DDs.)
I actually only have the everyday account. My household bills are in an account the other person wouldn’t want to move.
But I do use the edge credit card for cashback. Mainly on travel spend and the odd bit of domestic to top it up.
What if one of you is earning nothing for a period? Do you default on the mortgage because you can only pay in what the lower earner can afford?
What about if your partner is on 20k a year and you are on 200k a year - you would rather live in a tiny rented flat for the rest of your life than buy a house that’s appropriate for the size of your family and other things that you need, just to keep it so that you’ve split everything 50/50?
Just a couple of examples of scenarios where 50/50 might not make sense. Obviously it’s still anyone’s prerogative to do it if that’s what they want and what works for them. No judgement here. But I think the vast majority of people would not choose the above options.
Also worth bearing in mind that divorce divisions are not necessarily about what you’ve each spent. You can’t just say well we both spent the same so everything is even and we just split jointly owned things and nothing else. It’s about future planning, all of the big life and financial decisions made during the relationship, which have been made based on the idea that you’ll be together for life, and now you aren’t.
I can’t resonate with this enough. When I was dating my ex-husband, it wasn’t 50-50 as we were living in my home country where he was earning expat salary while I was in Uni.
It became bitter quickly when we started doing 50-50 as a married couple while I had to navigate a new life in the UK and couldn’t land in better paid jobs. Understandably life in the UK is expensive, but it lead to a constant fear that if I lose the ability to earn money due to pregnancy etc., I can’t rely on him. So we eventually got divorced, because it felt like a business partnership where I constantly get nagged that I’m failing to earn as much as my husband while contributing more % of my earnings into our joint expenses, rather than a loving relationship.
Now that I know better, 50-50 isn’t for me, as it means entering the relationship preparing to leave at any point. Life has its ups and down, both parties need to be ready for any change of lifestyle according to our earnings, otherwise what’s the difference between that and getting a housemate? I get that for couples who definitely don’t want kids it makes sense to go 50-50 however.
Should I get into another commitment, I would still keep the set up of 1 joint account for joint expenses and separate sole accounts for salaries and other non-joint guilt-free spending.
With this constantly at the back of your mind, don’t ever get married/Civil Partnership, because you will soon find out the court won’t split your asset according to your contributions.
I’m glad you’re doing better now.
This place has taught me that people do their finances in the most weird and wonderful ways. But the thought of adding everything to a shared tab and splitting it all the time would mean we really aren’t compatible!
Here is my UK financial setup:
Nationwide FlexDirect - Spending Account
Nationwide Flex Instant Saver - Main Savings
Nationwide Instant Access Saver - Other Savings Account
Nationwide Flex Regular Saver- Regular Savings at 6.5%
Metro Bank - Bills Account
Metro Bank - Instant Access Savings (I put the next lot of Bills in the Account for next month)
HSBC UK Bank Account - Other Account and Holds International Credit Score
HSBC Global Money - International Spending
HSBC UK Regular Saver
Wise - Currency Transfer Account
Just looking for a UK Credit Card now. Have been looking at Capital One, Barclays and Virgin Money.
Here is my financial setup currently: -
Nationwide Building Society (Will be closing these accounts and transferring them within the next few months to Monzo)
Nationwide FlexDirect - Main Account
Nationwide Flex ISA- Savings Account
Monzo
Monzo Perks Account: Main Account
Will be opening a Monzo ISA or similar within the next few months and putting my money into this instead and Monzo will become my main bank and savings accounts
As you’re new to the UK, have you considered using HSBC for this as you have done with their bank account?
Virgin money and Barclays have lower APR than Capital One. Free overseas use plus cashback if you pick the Virgin Cashback card or Barclays rewards.
I really wouldn’t be comparing Capital One to the likes of Barclays and Virgin.
Unlike in the US where it’s a reputable issuer, in the UK I’m pretty sure Capital One is a sub-prime issuer? Or at least it used to be.
If you are eligible for Barclays or Virgin, you certainly wouldn’t choose Capital One.
I could be wrong, it has been known.
Their websites makes them seem like credit builder type cards. Low starting limits.
I’ve seen a Capital One £50 limit in a previous job
It is generally subprime, but I used to have a limit over £10k with them i.e. it’s not just low limits on offer. Both Barclays and Virgin have subprime offerings too.
Capital one here is nothing like the US.
I’m sure, as most lenders do.
But if you were eligible for a sub-prime product from a prime lender, you’d probably choose it over a sub-prime product from an exclusively sub-prime lender like Capital One, who appear to only target bad credit, no credit and delinquency.
Hilariously, when I first moved here from the US 7.5 years ago, I applied for a Capital One UK credit card since I already had a Capital One US card with an $18k limit and was turned down… Then I applied for a NatWest credit card a few months later (we’ve had NatWest accounts since we went to uni here in 2011) and was accepted with a limit over £10k… 