direct debit management of savings?

artha

I've been looking closer to home for best internet savings (i.e not KE etc)

Both Birmingham Midshires & B&B appear to be amongst the top payers (at the moment)

Have checked these sites but both appear to require management of money transfer by direct debit. Not sure what this means in practice. I've been used to transferring money by single payment set up (Nationwide). i.e i choose how much and when money is transferred

How does direct debit work?

YorkshireBoy

artha wrote: »

How does direct debit work?

You tell the DD originator (BM or B&B in this case) to 'pull' money in from your nominated current account, rather than 'push' money in yourself from the external account. You initiate the transfer from the savings account on day 1, and the transfer takes place on day 3 as a simultaneous debit/credit.

More details at:

www.directdebit.com
http://www.bacs.co.uk/BACS/Consumers/Direct+Debit/

There is a subtle difference in the two accounts you mention though...with BM you can also 'push' money in via a BACS transfer or standing order (effectively a repeating BACS transfer) from ANY external account, whereas with B&B you cannot 'push' money in because the account doesn't have a standard 6-digit sort code and 8-digit account number.

Joe65_2

artha wrote: »

How does direct debit work?

It gives them carte blanche to take unspecified amounts out of your account whenever they feel like it - leaving you to argue the toss about whether it was a mistake or not.

The Direct Debit Guarantee - fine , if you can agree it was a mistake.

Stay in control & avoid banks who insist on a Direct Debit mandate.

meggsy

artha wrote: »

I've been looking closer to home for best internet savings (i.e not KE etc)

Both Birmingham Midshires & B&B appear to be amongst the top payers (at the moment)

Have checked these sites but both appear to require management of money transfer by direct debit. Not sure what this means in practice. I've been used to transferring money by single payment set up (Nationwide). i.e i choose how much and when money is transferred

How does direct debit work?

I've had an account with BM for years and not had a problem with it, I choose how much and when money is transferred and have never set up a regular monthly payment. Hope this helps.

YorkshireBoy

Joe65 wrote: »

It gives them carte blanche to take unspecified amounts out of your account whenever they feel like it - leaving you to argue the toss about whether it was a mistake or not.

The Direct Debit Guarantee - fine , if you can agree it was a mistake.

Stay in control & avoid banks who insist on a Direct Debit mandate.

And are you still with ICICI? :rotfl:

Not all banks are the same.

artha

meggsy wrote: »

I've had an account with BM for years and not had a problem with it, I choose how much and when money is transferred and have never set up a regular monthly payment. Hope this helps.

I don't want to set up a regular payment (as the direct debit route appears to indicate) I just want to choose when and how much I transfer (back and forth) athe "touch of a button" without waiting for clearance or a second party to act

Can you do this?

slopemaster

YorkshireBoy wrote: »

with B&B you cannot 'push' money in because the account doesn't have a standard 6-digit sort code and 8-digit account number.

actually, you can, though they don't publicise it.
I contacted them because my bank were being funny about a direct debit (RBS said it was "over the limit" but couldn't/wouldn't tell me what the limit was!)
In desperation I contacted B&B, who said they could give me the details for a BACS transfer.

But anyway, generally the direct debit system works fine for me.

slopemaster

artha wrote: »

I don't want to set up a regular payment (as the direct debit route appears to indicate) I just want to choose when and how much I transfer (back and forth) athe "touch of a button" without waiting for clearance or a second party to act

Can you do this?

Yes, you can

Joe65_2

YorkshireBoy wrote: »

And are you still with ICICI? :rotfl:

Not all banks are the same.

Not, until they get short of a bit of cash perhaps.

Richard_Cocks

Direct debit doesn't have to be a regular thing, you set it up without a regular payment from it and then when you want you can pull money across it.

YorkshireBoy

slopemaster wrote: »

In desperation I contacted B&B, who said they could give me the details for a BACS transfer.

Thanks for that slopemaster. I got my information from another MSE member who'd asked and was told "no can do".

You say they said they "could" give you the details...did they, and have you successfully used them for a large transfer?