HSBC Online Saver - Vs - Bonus Saver - Which is better?

WilliamB

Can some one please offer some advice , I have a HSBC online saver account , and I keep getting advised to move to the HSBC online Bonus saver account , Can some one comment on why HSBC would have Two similar products , and in your view which is over all the better account ?

Thanks

Baldur

If this article applies to your account, the Online Saver pays no interest in any month when a withdrawal is made.

Case in point is the HSBC Bank's new version of its Online Saver Account which pays a healthy 5.75% gross a year for deposits of between £1 and £50,000. But, it comes with a 30 day loss of interest penalty when withdrawals are made. BUT there’s a very nasty sting to all of this – ALL savings suffer a loss of interest for the month. So have £10,000 deposited in the account, withdraw £1,000 and the balance of £9,000 receives no interest for the month.

The Bonus Saver is (slightly) better, as far as the interest element is concerned, as it pays 2.25% AER in any month when a withdrawal is made.

Both accounts look pretty poor in comparison with other offerings on the market.

WilliamB

Thanks for the reply, I was told by a friend that with the Bonus account even if you make a withdrawal in any one Month, you still received interest on your account balance for that Month, but at a lesser rate of interest than normal, where as with the Online saver account if you make a withdrawal in any one Month you do not receive any interest at all , but ive not been able to confirm that any where yet, have you seen this any where .. Thanks

Aegis

WilliamB wrote: »

Thanks for the reply, I was told by a friend that with the Bonus account even if you make a withdrawal in any one Month, you still received interest on your account balance for that Month, but at a lesser rate of interest than normal, where as with the Online saver account if you make a withdrawal in any one Month you do not receive any interest at all , but ive not been able to confirm that any where yet, have you seen this any where .. Thanks

That's correct. The Online saver was replaced by the online bonus saver some time ago, though there are still loads of customers out there still using the old account despite the worse terms and lower interest rate.

Baldur

WilliamB wrote: »

Thanks for the reply, I was told by a friend that with the Bonus account even if you make a withdrawal in any one Month, you still received interest on your account balance for that Month, but at a lesser rate of interest than normal, where as with the Online saver account if you make a withdrawal in any one Month you do not receive any interest at all , but ive not been able to confirm that any where yet, have you seen this any where

I gave a link to the old account details above, the Bonus Saver details can be found at http://www.hsbc.co.uk/1/2/personal/savings/online-bonus-saver;jsessionid=0000Bzs2f8yj3PSW2HMeFW9L1DT:11j74lld0

WilliamB

Hi , and thanks for your comment, I can't understand why HSBC has
what seems Two products that look nearly the same , at the same time ?, .

Baldur

They aren't available at the same time, the Online Saver is no longer available to new applicants - if you check the HSBC website, to which I linked above.

Jonbvn

Aegis wrote: »

That's correct. The Online saver was replaced by the online bonus saver some time ago, though there are still loads of customers out there still using the old account despite the worse terms and lower interest rate.

It is not so clear cut.

The Online Bonus Saver currently pays 4.75% AER.
The Online Saver (opened before 5 Feb 2007) pays 4.25% AER.
The Online Saver (opened after 5 Feb 2007) pays 4.85% AER.
(talk about muddying the waters!)

Therefore, if you have an online saver opened before 5 Feb 2007, it would be better to use the Online Bonus Saver.

PauliPauli

open a bonus saver, but keep the online saver, then if you need to remove any monies during any month, remove the monies on the first and transfer remaining monies to the other account (instantly online) leaving £1 in the account

although I now only have the accounts with £1 in each account, as I opened a 6.5% tesco savings account and transffered all my saving there.

Transferring monies IN/OUT of my tesco savings account to my hsbc accounts takes SECONDS to show up as cleared funds, identical to transferring between hsbc accounts!

WilliamB

Thanks, now I see that you cannot open an Online Saver account any more ,

Any thoughts on the following ...

I have just made a withdrawal from my HSBC online saver account, if I want to make a second withdrawal in this same Month , do you think there would be a further penalty of any kind for making Two withdrawals in One Month ..?

Does any one know the current interest % paid for the online saver account and the online Bonus saver account .? , so I can compare them both -- sorry for the questions but where I live I only have a short time internet access option Thanks

Baldur

WilliamB wrote: »

Does any one know the current interest % paid for the online saver account and the online Bonus saver account .? , so I can compare them both

Rates for both can be found on http://www.hsbc.co.uk/1/2/personal/savings/interest-rates#maincontent