santander bank paying intrest straight away on 12000 invested

article in sunday times last week suggests it's not the best value over time

Why would a bank associate it's advertising campaign to a sport that is controlled by a big man, in a little body?

I would guess that they were indoctrinated into some form of Christianity and therefore they believe in David beating Goliath.

Its just a gimmick. No different than just investing 11,000 at a better rate then going out and spending the 1000 you didn't invest. They must think people are stupid.

it's all about the gimmicks - everything is gimmicky -too many daft folk out there who believe far too much

"Its just a gimmick. No different than just investing 11,000 at a better rate then going out and spending the 1000 you didn't invest. They must think people are stupid."

Go out and meet the British public. They are more stupid than you could possibly imagine.

sounds a bit like the halifax current account gimmick. "giving you" a £5  present every month for depositing £1000.

I have a halifax account and get that £5 every month.  Genuine question is there a better deal for me than that at the moment?  I have £2600 in the bank because I've just got paid, I'll probably have less than a grand when I next get paid.

Bearing in mind I charge £20/hour for time spent researching and filling in forms and going to banks with passport etc during my lunch break..  This post has already cost me about a quid, ffs that's 6 days of my halifax bonus already up the swanny.

Since loan companies are obliged by law to state on their ads the rate of interest they charge, I think banks should be forced to show the rate of interest they pay once RPI is deducted. They would not be able to sucker nearly so many punters in if they were forced to say '10K invested with us for a year will cost you 200 quid in real terms'.

I opened a local halifax account as the bank I do my main business with, do not have a convenient local bank for me to stop at to bank cheques. I set up direct debits from my main account and the hfx one. A grand gets transferred into the hfx bank and then in a few days bounces back. Five minutes to set the transactions up for £60 a year seems like a fair deal. btw I don't need the money!

Well if you can get £60 a year for doing nothing then why not. Just make sure you don't ever accidentally go 1p overdrawn in which case they will probably claw the money back in unauthorised overdraft fees or something like that.

My point was really that in the wider scheme of things it's just impossible to get any kind of decent return on capital with interest rates set as they are. The prudent are subsiding the imprudent by stealth. I keep any cash I am holding just in my current account with instant access so at least I can take advantage of any decent investment opportunities if they pop up. With interest rates so pitiful I don't even bother to compare different banks.

How exactly do you think the prudent are subsidising the imprudent?

I don't think it's prudent to have more than 3-6 months of living expenses as cash in a saving account, unless it's a temporary solution. It's a p!ss poor investment.

The prudent are subsiding the imprudent because interest rates are being kept low relative to what is needed to keep inflation below 2%. This has the effect of cushioning those in debt (eg those who imprudently bought property at the top of the market) at the expense of those prudent savers who have no debt and are trying to make a risk-free income from cash.

Cash is obviously a poor investment as such but if the stock market were to crash you need something to use to snap up over-sold or undervalued equities. I only hold about 1-2% of my wealth in cash.

I think it's a good thing though, as it encourages active investment.

If interest eventually skyrockets, house prices will likely come crashing down and the situation will reverse.

My grandparents live off interest and rent. When I hear things like they bought a holiday home and paid off the mortgage from rent received in 5 years, I just can't understand why they didn't go on to buy 10 or 20 of them. Now they are being squeezed by low interest.