Birmingham Midshires Internet Fixed Rate Bonds

pizzagirl

I want to open one of these online bonds. If I were to open it today, am I given the option to request that money is taken from my linked current account as my opening deposit TODAY (even if it does take 10 days to setup).

Interest rates are due to drop tomorrow soI want today's interest rate, not the one available in 10 days' time. Thanks for any help

Stompa

pizzagirl wrote: »

I want to open one of these online bonds. If I were to open it today, am I given the option to request that money is taken from my linked current account as my opening deposit TODAY (even if it does take 10 days to setup).

I doubt it, it looks as though you have to set up another DD mandate.

pizzagirl wrote: »

Interest rates are due to drop tomorrow soI want today's interest rate, not the one available in 10 days' time. Thanks for any help

Me too. Do you know for a fact that BM will be dropping their rates tomorrow? (I realise that it's extremely likely, but I've not actually seen it in writing anywhere).

caveat_emptor

Stompa wrote: »

I'm thinking of opening a Birmingham Midshires Internet Fixed Rate Bond:

http://www.askbm.co.uk/savings/i/fixed/intro.asp

Now, I already have a BM eSaver account, so had expected to be able to open a Bond online then instantly fund it from my eSaver account.

However, on going through the application process it seems to imply that you can only fund it from a linked account (which will take 10 days to set up).

Does anybody know if it can be opened and funded from an existing account? And, if so, is it a quick process?

Thanks

I've recently opened a BM bond and when I applied it looked as though the only option was a cheque. When I got the acceptance it said that I could have transferred from an existing BM account. Pity they didn't tell me that to start with, BM work in mysterious ways.
Call them and tell them what you want to do before you go through the cheque palaver.

pizzagirl

Stompa wrote: »

I doubt it, it looks as though you have to set up another DD mandate.



.

That's my concern too.

Does anyone who has opened one of these bonds know , if immediately after opening one of these bonds or during the opening process, if you are asked for your opening deposit provisional to the direct debit being set up? I hope that makes sense. If you aren't asked for your deposit amount today I can't see how'll you'll get today's interest rate?

Stompa

pizzagirl wrote: »

Does anyone who has opened one of these bonds know , if immediately after opening one of these bonds or during the opening process, if you are asked for your opening deposit provisional to the direct debit being set up?

Try going through the online application yourself to find out. As long as you don't actually hit the final Submit button it should be safe enough.

pizzagirl wrote: »

If you aren't asked for your deposit amount today I can't see how'll you'll get today's interest rate?

But as I mentioned earlier, are you sure that the rate will fall tomorrow? For the yearly bonds it says "Interest rates effective from 17/11/2008", so those rates have only been in place for a couple of weeks (and they were set after the BoE 1.5% cut).

pizzagirl

I did go through the application process but before the end it actually sets up the direct debit. I don't want to do that unless I'm given the immediate option of depositing money. Does anyone who has set one up know if you can request a deposit be made immediately? (even if it isn't actually taken for 10 days)

I understand the Hailifax are dropping their interest rates tomorrow morning so I assumed BMids being part of the same group would be doing likewise. Or at least very shortly afterwards

gelato_cat

Not sure I understand your question, but I do have one of these bonds.

When I opened mine I had to set up a DD to link it to my current account for deposits and withdrawal at the end of the term. To fund the account from scratch I had to send a cheque from the DD account so they could verify that it was my account. Thereafter I could fund via DD until they closed the issue. This was all in the T&C.

IIRC the cheque took a while to clear and so did the first DD - this is normal as they need to establish the DD link - after the first DD goes through, subsequent ones are quicker.

I am not sure what rate of interest you will get, however my T&C said that the term of the account started on the date of the first deposit. So provided the issue is still open on the date of first deposit you should get the rate quoted.

The other thing is that this account is a fixed rate account. Therefore they are not going to change the rate. What they will do, if they wish to vary the rate, is withdraw this bond and issue a new one at a lower rate. They can withdraw issues at any time and therefore there is a danger they could withdraw it before you initiate your DD etc - or before you get all your money in (per my second paragraph re multiple deposits).

Hope that helps

Suze

pizzagirl wrote: »

Does anyone who has opened one of these bonds know , if immediately after opening one of these bonds or during the opening process, if you are asked for your opening deposit provisional to the direct debit being set up? I hope that makes sense. If you aren't asked for your deposit amount today I can't see how'll you'll get today's interest rate?

gelato_cat

I wasn't given that option - see my last post. I had to send a cheque first. Have a look at the current T&C and see what they say - although I doubt they will have removed this security feature.

Suze

pizzagirl wrote: »

I want to open one of these online bonds. If I were to open it today, am I given the option to request that money is taken from my linked current account as my opening deposit TODAY (even if it does take 10 days to setup).

Interest rates are due to drop tomorrow soI want today's interest rate, not the one available in 10 days' time. Thanks for any help

pizzagirl

Suzey wrote: »

What they will do, if they wish to vary the rate, is withdraw this bond and issue a new one at a lower rate. They can withdraw issues at any time and therefore there is a danger they could withdraw it before you initiate your DD etc - or before you get all your money in (per my second paragraph re multiple deposits).



Suze

Thanks. Yes, this is what I'm worried about. It sems like it will take sometime to set the account up and deposit money. In that time interest rates available will probably as the parent group HBOS are dropping interst rates tomorrow. Also the BOE meet shortly and they're likely to slash interest rates even further.

Stompa

Suzey wrote: »

When I opened mine I had to set up a DD to link it to my current account for deposits and withdrawal at the end of the term. To fund the account from scratch I had to send a cheque from the DD account so they could verify that it was my account. Thereafter I could fund via DD until they closed the issue. This was all in the T&C.

Yes, but did you already have another BM internet account prior to opening the bond? If so, then a DD would already have been in place to fund that account, which is why I'm puzzled by the requirement to set up another DD for the bond.