Barclays Monthly Saver

TomsMom

savetilibleed wrote: »

I see that interest is paid on the first working day of the month. But I can't seem to find whether it is paid back into the account or if it is paid out (or if there is that option).

From the Ts & Cs on Barclays website

Interest

9. Interest is calculated on the daily statement balance of the account, and is payable monthly on the first working day of the month and at the end of the term. Interest can only be paid to the account.

TomsMom

poppy3 wrote: »

When I got home I realised that she has put yesterdays date as the date account opened. As the term is 12 months from opening date I will lose a days interest and in fact would not earn any interest until standing order takes effect. I am now wondering whether to pay in any money at all.

Did you give a cheque as your first payment and was it for £250?

I wouldn't worry about losing a day's interest. My account was opened with a cheque on 7 October and interest started from 8 October to 3 November on £250 was £1.07 net so one day's interest is £1.07 / 26 days = 4.11p. If your cheque was for less than £250 then it's really not worth worry about.

TomsMom

Toastie wrote: »

I'm fairly curious on this, before i open one up and stand in a very long line tomorrow, are you only able to pay the standing order amount in to the account or can you 'top it up' from week to week?

I'm interested because i get £30ALG per week, and on top of that i get paid four weekly, for me i will be able to add bits per week but i can't guarantee a 'large amount' per month.

Otherwise this might not be for me, as i will only be able to put in 30quid a month, pretty worthless really.

Thank you :money:

From their Ts & Cs

5. Monthly deposits of between £20 and £250 inclusive can be made to the account each month thereafter. Such deposits can only be made by way of standing order. A maximum of 12 deposits can be made to the account during the term of the account. You can change the amount of the monthly deposit providing it is between £20 and £250. You can also choose not to make a deposit in any month but if you do so, you will still be limited to the maximum deposit of £250 in any other month.

You can change your amount but only one deposit each month can be made, so no topping up.

wombler

This MIGHT be helpful to anyone who isn't an existing customer of Barclays and can't or doesn't want to go to a branch to open the account, and / or wants to monitor their Monthly Savings account online without opening a current account.

First the story: I went to my local Barclays branch last week to open a Monthly Savings account and turned down the offer of opening a current account at the same time. It was only at the end when I discovered that this meant I wouldn't have access to Barclays online banking services.

Having thought this over I decided that I should open a current account just to get the online banking details so that I could keep track of the balance of my Monthly Savings online as I do with all my other banking. I noticed you can apply for a current account online, but I wanted to check that if I applied for it this way rather than in branch that I'd definitely be able to view the transactions of my Monthly Savings as well, so I called up Barclays. When I did that, a very helpful guy said something along the lines of:

"Oh, don't bother opening a current account, just open an e-savings Reward account and stick £1 in it, then you'll get access to online banking and will be able to view your Monthly Savings as well."

So this is essentially two small loopholes:

Firstly - if you can't or don't want to go to the branch to get a Monthly Savings account, just open an e-savings Reward account online first, get your online banking details and then you'll be able to apply for the Monthly Savings online as an existing customer.

Second - if you want to be able to view the details of your Monthly Savings online without opening an un-needed current account, again just open the same e-savings account.

I should add that I haven't yet received my online banking details, so I can't 100% confirm that this definitely works. Thanks also due to the refreshingly honest guy at Barclays customer service who actively helped me avoid getting their current account!

jimbow25

wombler wrote: »

This MIGHT be helpful to anyone who isn't an existing customer of Barclays and can't or doesn't want to go to a branch to open the account, and / or wants to monitor their Monthly Savings account online without opening a current account.

First the story: I went to my local Barclays branch last week to open a Monthly Savings account and turned down the offer of opening a current account at the same time. It was only at the end when I discovered that this meant I wouldn't have access to Barclays online banking services.

Having thought this over I decided that I should open a current account just to get the online banking details so that I could keep track of the balance of my Monthly Savings online as I do with all my other banking. I noticed you can apply for a current account online, but I wanted to check that if I applied for it this way rather than in branch that I'd definitely be able to view the transactions of my Monthly Savings as well, so I called up Barclays. When I did that, a very helpful guy said something along the lines of:

"Oh, don't bother opening a current account, just open an e-savings Reward account and stick £1 in it, then you'll get access to online banking and will be able to view your Monthly Savings as well."

So this is essentially two small loopholes:

Firstly - if you can't or don't want to go to the branch to get a Monthly Savings account, just open an e-savings Reward account online first, get your online banking details and then you'll be able to apply for the Monthly Savings online as an existing customer.

Second - if you want to be able to view the details of your Monthly Savings online without opening an un-needed current account, again just open the same e-savings account.

I should add that I haven't yet received my online banking details, so I can't 100% confirm that this definitely works. Thanks also due to the refreshingly honest guy at Barclays customer service who actively helped me avoid getting their current account!

Thanks a lot I'm in the same position as you and that's really helpful!

I now have an ISA and monthly savings and preferred not to have to open a current account just to check my balances online. (They couldn't even give me an ISA statement that went back more than a month in the branch so it'd be useful to be able to keep an eye on it each month).

So do you just register as a "new" customer online and they tie all the accounts together? Or does it ask you for details of the other accounts you hold?

wombler

jimbow25 wrote: »

So do you just register as a "new" customer online and they tie all the accounts together? Or does it ask you for details of the other accounts you hold?

I asked the guy on the phone about that and he said that since I was an existing Barclays customer it would automatically tie the accounts together in online banking. But when I set up the e-savings I had to apply as a new customer (because you can only apply as an "existing customer" if you already use online banking or have a cash/debit card of some description with them) and going through the application process it didn't ask me for details of any existing accounts. So I'm not really sure if it will happen automatically or if I'll have to call them up later to get my Monthly Savings added - we'll see!

Tony2009_2

Tony2009 wrote: »

I just visited the Barclays branch in Rumney, Cardiff to open one of these monthly savers, but there was just one member of staff present - a cashier with a queue of 14 people!

I'll give another branch a try early next week - I hope they are not all like that!

Just an update - I have now successfully opened a monthly saver account at the Canton, Cardiff branch.

After about 2 minutes queuing, the cashier whisked me away to see Karen the personal banker. In all, it took her about 10 to 15 minutes to open the account for me. The only ID I provided was my passport.

I was asked a couple of questions such as my annual gross salary and my monthly net salary, but not too much. A current account was mentioned, but there was no hard sell. I did make it clear at the outset that I was only looking at opening the monthly saver today.

Because I am not a current Barclays account holder, I do not have online access. To withdraw money, I was told I would have to come to the branch. No big deal for me as I'll only do that in an emergency or when I find a better account.

She told me I should be able to transfer my first payment from my (Lloyds) current account into the monthly saver with standing order almost immediately. She said the main banks have a system where standing orders between them can be set-up and cash transferred on the same day. I tried this online with Lloyds with todays date as the transfer date, but it complained today was in the past?! So I've set it up to transfer tomorrow.

So in summary, I'm happy with the way my application was handled.

I'll post an update on here if have anything else to add - hopefully it will continue to go smoothly.

Toastie

I also set mine up today.

I actually bank with Barclay's, took about 20mins (their system was playing up)

I was told the earliest the money could go in on was the 28th (so i'd loose 12days interest + however long it took for it to transfer as the 28th is saturday) I asked about the standing order, i was told that i could change it online, i just need to maintain a regular amount going in to the account. (She said there had to be one per month .. yet on MSE it says you can skip a month )

Just came online and i've transfered my £250 today, no standing order was set up (On my account screen it said to set up a standing order today for the Monthly Saver).

So now i have my money in my account. Not sure why i was told about the 28th but the money has transfered ok. Hopefully everything goes smoothly.

TomsMom

Toastie wrote: »

(She said there had to be one per month .. yet on MSE it says you can skip a month )

See post #24 above where the Ts & Cs from their website say

5. Monthly deposits of between £20 and £250 inclusive can be made to the account each month thereafter. Such deposits can only be made by way of standing order. A maximum of 12 deposits can be made to the account during the term of the account. You can change the amount of the monthly deposit providing it is between £20 and £250. You can also choose not to make a deposit in any month but if you do so, you will still be limited to the maximum deposit of £250 in any other month.

verynewmoneysaver

I tried to set mine up on line a few days ago. They said they'd get back to me but haven't done so yet.