Is ICICI Bank safer than Anglo Irish Bank....?

dan2097

In my opinion I think the Anglo Irish bank is more dodgy to be with than ICICI encase Irish residents receive preferential treatment and the pot isn't big enough.

I personally believe however that ING is significantly safer than either though. The Netherlands has a far larger economy than Ireland (and more than an order of magnitude larger than Iceland's) and ING is not in danger of collapse with the cash injection they moderately recently recieved as far as I'm aware.

Andrew64

The ICICI bank you would be dealing with is legally a UK bank and covered by the FSCS. It even has some physical branches in the UK (12, I think). So, if ICICI did go down you would get your money back, no problem. But, as you said, there is the aggro of having to wait 2 or 3 months to get it back. Anglo Irish is counted as a foreign bank and the issue of the deposit guarantee is unclear. You could consider ICICI, but I don't think Anglo Irish is a good idea. But for no worries, NS&I is the best. Whatever you do, you had better be quick, before the rates go down again.

msquandary

Hi there,

Thanks for all your comments. I think I'm going to go for National Savings - the difference between that and the next best rate ICICI (now 4.65% - went down while I slept!) is £235 pa before tax. I've decided that's a price worth paying for keeping it all in the same place, and the flexibility of being able to get it out in the unlikely event I need to (and unlikely events have been plentiful this year.....!!). Not to mention the customer service factor - I did ring ICICI with a couple of queries about their bond and it was hard going to say the least!

Will just do it for this year which I think is 'supersafe' year for me!

Appreciate all your comments though, particularly the pointer towards Julian Hodge, and the comments about ICICI which did reassure me about security - in the end it was the no early withdrawal and the customer service wot did it!

Froglet

I have just applied for a bond with Chelsea at 4.4% to end Jan next year but as you will see in a post i just made,it closes tomorrow.Long as you get the funds there by 21st jan you are ok.Chap on phone when i rang very helpful.

Not been with Chelsea before but have read posts praising them.

msquandary

Froglet wrote: »

I have just applied for a bond with Chelsea at 4.4% to end Jan next year but as you will see in a post i just made,it closes tomorrow.Long as you get the funds there by 21st jan you are ok.Chap on phone when i rang very helpful.

Not been with Chelsea before but have read posts praising them.

Ah, Froglet, I read your post too late! Just got back from the Post Office where I paid in my cheque to secure the rate so don't need to worry about a race against time if the rate comes down today.... but the Chelsea looks like it would have been ideal. On the whole though I'm happy just to have a fix at above 4% for the coming year.

msquandary

A last word - following this discussion about ICICI, although I decided to put my fixed term lump sum into NS&I, I am also a mature student currently funding myself through college - although not without the help of a part-time job soon I pray! The funds for the studies have been floating about between Nationwide and Barclays e-savings account for ages. Have just decided, prompted by this discussion threat, to move it all into ICICI Hisave Savings account - online banking, instant access.

My experience setting it up has promted me to come back to comment on their customer service especially after my earlier concerns. I have just had to call them twice during the set up process because of blips processing my application online and they were fantastic. So I currently also have no concerns about having a reasonable sum with them, especially in a more flexible instant access account (although not out of the woods yet in terms of account set up). So thanks for all the input.

(I'm also a complete Indiaphile, constantly dreaming about moving out there permanently so taking issues of risk and rate out of the equation I'm simply happy to be banking with an Indian bank...!)

MZ_RIDER

Attended Barclays branch in Penrith on 31st December as advised by Martin to open a Regular Saver Fixed Rate Account with them (already a Barclays customer) and they refused to open it at 7.75% and stated categorically thet the rate was 6.0%

Optimist

ICICI have just lowered their fixed rate account again which is rather irritating as I was just transferring money in to open another one. Oh well I guess 4.65% is better than nothing

juicyjude

Hi Optimist, just love your little ditty at the bottom of your post!! We could do with more humour, well done

cocktail

msquandary wrote: »

A last word - following this discussion about ICICI, although I decided to put my fixed term lump sum into NS&I, I am also a mature student currently funding myself through college - although not without the help of a part-time job soon I pray! The funds for the studies have been floating about between Nationwide and Barclays e-savings account for ages. Have just decided, prompted by this discussion threat, to move it all into ICICI Hisave Savings account - online banking, instant access.

My experience setting it up has promted me to come back to comment on their customer service especially after my earlier concerns. I have just had to call them twice during the set up process because of blips processing my application online and they were fantastic. So I currently also have no concerns about having a reasonable sum with them, especially in a more flexible instant access account (although not out of the woods yet in terms of account set up). So thanks for all the input.

(I'm also a complete Indiaphile, constantly dreaming about moving out there permanently so taking issues of risk and rate out of the equation I'm simply happy to be banking with an Indian bank...!)

for all that has been written about ICICI hiccups, i should say that i have had no problems at all in the set up process. i think they have a decent website and money transfer in and out of the account has not been a issue.
i have had more problems with Tesco savings setup.
As long as the bank has FSCS regulation, i think going for the better rate will be a wise decision.