{help} best savings account & isa .

devilmen

hi, i have just recieved a decent amount of money and would be grateful if anyone could give advice on the best savings account and best isa {online or not}. I am currently with lloydstsb, there rates on savings and isa which i already have is not very competative, so am looking at different options. thanks in advance. dev :beer:

Former_MSE_Dan

Simple account - Halifax ISA Direct pays 5%.


Alternatively, First Direct ISA pays a short term bonus rate of 5.5% until February, so if you really want to maximise the interest, you could use this until then, and then switch.

If you have more than 3000, you can use Regular Savings Accounts or Basic ones to put the rest in - is this applicable to you?

devilmen

thanks, been looking at the halifax isa, and think i will go with that with max deposit. i have more than 3,000 and am looking to leave in a savings account for a long period and adding to it . are online savers better!

cadboll

Online saver accounts are very useful - most offer instant access with decent interest rates. It all depends how much money you have in addition to the £3,000.

There are a number of options:
(i) Halifax offer a Regular Saver's option for 7% Gross/AER. The snag is that you can only put a max of £250 (I think) in each month. If your additional sum is sitting in a on-line saver account, you could always drip-feed the Halifax Account while still earning decent interest on your money in the online saver.

(ii) Putting all your money in online saver accounts. Just keep a close eye on interest rate changes and on this site will mean you will always be aware of when rates change and which accounts are the best to switch to.

I sure there are probably some other options too, but this hopefully should give you a start.

System

Have you had a browse through this sub board at the top of the page? It may be of interest to you.

devilmen

thanks appreciate the guidance........will look into the halifax accounts. Any risks involved in using some ofthese unfamiliar name banks online accounts?

cadboll

If by unfamilar you mean banks like ICICI then there is an element of risk. Feedback on this site has been that this bank has poor customer service etc so probably best to steer clear of this one.

If unsure of a banks creditability, probably one of the best places of check it out is on this site - there are plenty of experts who will be able to give advice or people who have had experience with the bank involved.

Hope this is of help.