Opening an online only account

Trollop

I am thinking of opening an online only bank account as the interest rates seem to be much higher than the high street bank accounts.

I was looking at the following:
http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/savings/savings-accounts-best-interest

I am keen on opening an 1 year fixed rate account with ICICI Bank who are offering 7.1% AER. I was reading through their terms and conditions along with other online only banks and they seem to want the money to be initially deposited to the account via a cheque. However, I feel uncomfortable doing this. (I guess its the fear of the cheque getting lost or in the wrong hands) Is this how everyone else does it?

Sending a check of a few grand by post just doesn't sit well with me. With the ICICI account I was thinking about opening, they seem to want the whole sum in one go? Is it just me or do other people feel uncomfortable doing this?

I apologise in advance if this is considered a dumb question, I'm new to all of this and have never opened an online only bank account.

bjorn_again

Trollop wrote: »

I am thinking of opening an online only bank account as the interest rates seem to be much higher than the high street bank accounts.

I was looking at the following:
http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/savings/savings-accounts-best-interest

I am keen on opening an 1 year fixed rate account with ICICI Bank who are offering 7.1% AER. I was reading through their terms and conditions along with other online only banks and they seem to want the money to be initially deposited to the account via a cheque. However, I feel uncomfortable doing this. (I guess its the fear of the cheque getting lost or in the wrong hands) Is this how everyone else does it?



Sending a check of a few grand by post just doesn't sit well with me. With the ICICI account I was thinking about opening, they seem to want the whole sum in one go? Is it just me or do other people feel uncomfortable doing this?

I apologise in advance if this is considered a dumb question, I'm new to all of this and have never opened an online only bank account.

Why does sending a cheque through the post make you feel uncomfortable?
As long as it is a bog standard "crossed A/C Payee only" cheque what can go wrong. Millions of pounds worth of cheques go through the post every day. Many accounts are opened by an initial cheque deposit.

Mikeyorks

Trollop wrote: »

Is this how everyone else does it?

If it's an Institution you have no track record with - it's often the required way ... in particular with a fixed term deposit. The cheque forms part of the ID check they're required to perform.

NumbersGuy_2

This is how the majority of transactions were done in the "old days" (pre PayPal)! Posting a cheque isn't the same as posting cash! It will be written to pay your name and a/c payee so nobody else would be able to pay it in.

halight

Hi mate try not to worry its safe. Bussness seed money in the post evry day. At times for large amounts as long as you are not seeding cash then its ok.
Good luck with your new account

agsnu

I was under the impression that with ICICI's fixed rate deposits you needed to have one of their instant access accounts too. In which case, you can open your instant access account for £1 and then transfer the rest in via BACS, then request a fixed term deposit using the funds cleared in your instant access account. Of course, they might have changed the process...

Trollop

OK, so it looks like I'm worrying over nothing then and sending a cheque by post is not that big of a deal. Is it worth sending it through recorded delivery or would the bog standard first class delivery suffice? How would you go about doing it?

Btw thanks for the responses so far.

Baldur

Trollop wrote: »

OK, so it looks like I'm worrying over nothing then and sending a cheque by post is not that big of a deal. Is it worth sending it through recorded delivery or would the bog standard first class delivery suffice? How would you go about doing it?

I've sent cheques made out to myself to (and received cheques from) savings institutions for many thousands of Pounds via the ordinary postal service with no problems - it's your choice, really.

Trollop

agsnu wrote: »

I was under the impression that with ICICI's fixed rate deposits you needed to have one of their instant access accounts too. In which case, you can open your instant access account for £1 and then transfer the rest in via BACS, then request a fixed term deposit using the funds cleared in your instant access account. Of course, they might have changed the process...

As far as I know, you do not need to hold an existing account with them to open the HiSave Fixed Rate Account.

However the idea is quite good actually, and it does ease the initial worry I had of sending a cheque via post.

Trollop

bjorn_again wrote: »

Why does sending a cheque through the post make you feel uncomfortable?
As long as it is a bog standard "crossed A/C Payee only" cheque what can go wrong. Millions of pounds worth of cheques go through the post every day. Many accounts are opened by an initial cheque deposit.

Worried if the cheque gets into the wrong hands, that it could be tampered with.. maybe it's just me being a bit paranoid.

bjorn_again

Trollop wrote: »

OK, so it looks like I'm worrying over nothing then and sending a cheque by post is not that big of a deal. Is it worth sending it through recorded delivery or would the bog standard first class delivery suffice? How would you go about doing it?

Btw thanks for the responses so far.

I sent a cheque for £10k to a savings account on Friday plain old first class. I feel sure that my Bank would not clear this if there were any sign of tampering at all. Recorded delivery is a cheap option if you want to feel a little more secure. It does appear to concern you so why not go for this method, you can check on line time and date of delivery.