NatWest Fixed Rate ISA.s- Nice try!

Options
SallySunshine
SallySunshine Posts: 813 Forumite
First Anniversary First Post
in ISAs & tax-free savings
I see in the Best Mini-Isa thread a post about NatWest with an offer of fixed rate ISAs.

Trying their usual trick of having you apply in February, keeping your money in a low rate ISA (0.05-2.00%) until other starts on 4th April.

Do they never give up:mad:
«13

Comments

  • bluu2k
    bluu2k Posts: 127 Forumite
    Name Dropper First Post First Anniversary Combo Breaker
    Options
    SallySunshine wrote: »
    I see in the Best Mini-Isa thread a post about NatWest with an offer of fixed rate ISAs.

    Trying their usual trick of having you apply in February, keeping your money in a low rate ISA (0.05-2.00%) until other starts on 4th April.

    Do they never give up:mad:

    Agreed with you, SSS.

    I just got off the phone with Natwest and they confirmed that:

    1. You can have only one fixed ISA a/c with them although you transfer your previous years' allowance. I.e, you can't have a 1 year fixed, plus a 2 years fixed, and/or a 3 years fixed, even if the monies to each a/c would not be within this year's allowance.

    2. Once transferred the amount is fixed, you can't top it up at a later date.

    3. "Start date: 4 April 2012" stated on their site means your money will received corrensponding rate from that date only.

    The chap from Natwest admits that the 30 days window is the maximum period that a bank need to comply to transfer ISA to another bank, but in practice it might be done in much less time, (Natwest deadline to submit transfer-in form is 29/2) :mad:

    I am not happy with point 3 at all :mad:
  • savingmore
    savingmore Posts: 658 Forumite
    First Post Name Dropper First Anniversary
    Options
    don't get me started on this organisation. hubby and me went in to open 2 isas in january...they told me we couldn't without opening another account (its law they say - yeh right) and we had to have one of their financial advisors talking to us for an hour....we told them we didn't want this we just wanted to open 2 isas. they told us we needed their advice to make sure that was our best option.

    gosh, do they think we are stupid???? so i walked straight into another provider, and opened 2 isas within 20 minutes and they were SO helpful.

    so NW you just lost 2 new customers!!!!
  • MoneySaverLog
    MoneySaverLog Posts: 3,232 Forumite
    Options
    I know what you mean about those "financial reviews" I have my back up bank account with NatWest and whenever I go to the counter they ask if I've had a review or not. I tell them I'm on lunch and don't have time right now but it does get anoying after a while.

    I know they have a job to do but I know what I want to do with my money without someone in branch trying to sell me the next flavour of the month.
  • studentsaver88
    studentsaver88 Posts: 7 Forumite
    Options
    SallySunshine wrote: »
    I see in the Best Mini-Isa thread a post about NatWest with an offer of fixed rate ISAs.

    Trying their usual trick of having you apply in February, keeping your money in a low rate ISA (0.05-2.00%) until other starts on 4th April.

    Do they never give up:mad:
    i had a look into the natwest fixed isa's and even though they have a variable rate for 30 days they still work out a higher rate than any others after the 2 or 3 year fix even if the others give you a higher rate in your first month.
  • rb10
    rb10 Posts: 6,334 Forumite
    Options
    studentsaver88 wrote: »
    i had a look into the natwest fixed isa's and even though they have a variable rate for 30 days they still work out a higher rate than any others after the 2 or 3 year fix even if the others give you a higher rate in your first month.

    Er ... not quite ... if you have under £9k and open the account today, then it's equivalent to a 2.95% AER over the 14 months. Better 1 year fixes are available.

    It's slightly better if you have a higher balance, but not by much.

    [Calculation: Assume £1000, you earn 0.5% until 4th April (£0.81) and then 3.35% for the next year (£33.50) so total of £34.31. Divide by (365 + number of days from today until 4th April) and multiply by 365 to get the interest scaled to 1 year (£29.53). This is 2.95% AER.]
  • badger09
    badger09 Posts: 11,247 Forumite
    First Post First Anniversary Name Dropper
    Options
    SallySunshine wrote: »
    I see in the Best Mini-Isa thread a post about NatWest with an offer of fixed rate ISAs.

    Trying their usual trick of having you apply in February, keeping your money in a low rate ISA (0.05-2.00%) until other starts on 4th April.

    Do they never give up:mad:

    First of all, I'm not a big fan of Natwest, especially after the fiasco with their esavings account which I opened in October 2010.

    However, I've just received the ISA xfer forms as I'm considering xfering £50k (currently in Nationwide @ 3.1% until 31/7/12 then 1.75%) into their Preferential rate 3 year fix @ 4.2%.

    The next best 3 year fix is currently Aldermore @ 3.8%, so worst case scenario - I lose 50k x 1.1% x 45/365 = approx £68 but gain 50k x 0.4% = £200 in 1st year alone.

    Anyone see this as a bad move -apart from the caveats about Natwest in general?

    Anyone with a good crystal ball who thinks there might be better deals on the horizon?
  • opinions4u
    opinions4u Posts: 19,411 Forumite
    Options
    badger09 wrote: »
    Anyone with a good crystal ball who thinks there might be better deals on the horizon?
    The best deals usually appear in March.

    Nat West pull these deals at some point between now and 29th Feb.

    I'd wait.
  • shirehorse78
    shirehorse78 Posts: 8 Forumite
    Options
    These days I search on MSE for a product to find the flaws before applying for it. If there are major catches someone has usually found them before I read the T&Cs in detail myself - saves a lot of effort :-)
  • badger09
    badger09 Posts: 11,247 Forumite
    First Post First Anniversary Name Dropper
    Options
    opinions4u wrote: »
    The best deals usually appear in March.

    Nat West pull these deals at some point between now and 29th Feb.

    I'd wait.

    I decided to take the plunge :eek: Time will tell if I've made the right decision, but 2% for around 5 weeks followed by 4.2% for 3 years is the best currently available ;)
  • studentsaver88
    studentsaver88 Posts: 7 Forumite
    Options
    rb10 wrote: »
    Er ... not quite ... if you have under £9k and open the account today, then it's equivalent to a 2.95% AER over the 14 months. Better 1 year fixes are available.

    It's slightly better if you have a higher balance, but not by much.

    [Calculation: Assume £1000, you earn 0.5% until 4th April (£0.81) and then 3.35% for the next year (£33.50) so total of £34.31. Divide by (365 + number of days from today until 4th April) and multiply by 365 to get the interest scaled to 1 year (£29.53). This is 2.95% AER.]
    i agree the 1 year fix is a bit of a disappointment but as I said the 2 and 3 year are the best if you apply at the end of the month so u only have 30 days at 0.5% at worst (if you have a low balance)
This discussion has been closed.
★ ★ ★ Meet your Ambassadors

Categories

  • All Categories
  • 343.6K Banking & Borrowing
  • 250.2K Reduce Debt & Boost Income
  • 449.9K Spending & Discounts
  • 235.8K Work, Benefits & Business
  • 608.8K Mortgages, Homes & Bills
  • 173.3K Life & Family
  • 248.4K Travel & Transport
  • 1.5M Hobbies & Leisure
  • 15.9K Discuss & Feedback
  • 15.1K Coronavirus Support Boards