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I opened both by post by contacting a local branch and have recently got a Maturity letter for both Cheshire and Derbyshire from Head Office. I hadn't realised the branch I opened the Derbyshire one with closed in October, rang HO and was told they can't help me, I must try a branch nearby. Was told at the branch, you have to come in. Said I live 100 miles away, wasn't told at the time I couldn't let it mature by post, same way I opened it. Because they could see who authorised the opening of the account and the staff member had been rebased, they contacted the same woman and I was given "special" permission to close mine by post, provided I sent a covering a letter and photocopy of my passport, but otherwise strict rules, that noone can close by post. I haven't yet tackled the Cheshire one!

Chadsman wrote: »

Did they say if funds could be withdrawn by post?

No mention of that in the letter.

There are 2 branches of the Cheshire within a 8mile radius of my house, so we planned to go into the local banch.

Any fellow Skiptonites who opened a Skipton Special Edition Regular Saver (5% AER) in February 2012 should be receiving a letter to say what will happen on maturity in February 2013 (in my case).

They are putting my maturity proceeds into a Matured Funds Account (0.5% AER).

You can extract the money by cash or cheque (subject to their withdrawal limits) or by transfer to another Skipton account (if the conditions of that account allow).

The gross interest showing in their letter of £83.13 is about right (if you have paid in £250 every month for 12 months you should have a similar figure give or take a few pounds)

arsenalboy wrote: »

although you opened by post, is your postal address within their catchment area?

No. North of the wall.

arsenalboy wrote: »

Did you just pick a branch at random?

Yes. I opened four of those accounts with the Cheshire and three with the Derbyshire until they pulled the plug on postal applications.

nomorekids wrote: »

Can anyone tell me what interest I would earn on say £100 per month in Ipswich smart save. The way I read it is only 1/2 % on £100 in first month, 1/2 % on £100 + (£100 x 1/2 %) on second month etc plus 3% on 12 lots of £100 only, this is very different and I suspect less than 3 1/2% calculated on daily balance.

What is the real rate of interest?

The way you describe it, it would be worth over 6%. But I suspect the 3 1/2% is what you get, i.e. the 3% bonus will be calculated on the daily balance, not on the final balance.