A&L Online Saver Issue 4 - 3%

Special_Saver2

Hi folks,

Just a quick message to make you aware that Alliance and Leicester have launched Online Saver Issue 4 which is paying 3%. This will be of interest to you if you have some money sitting in an older account which is now paying less interest than this. There are no penalties for withdrawals. The only catch is that it includes a bonus of 1% payable until 5th April 2010 but this hardly seems a problem - we will all be switching our cash into Online Saver Issue 7 or 8 by then anyway!

I am going to keep my A&L Online Tracker account open with £1 as that account has an interest rate guarantee (Bank of England base rate + 1.75% until 4th January 2010) and there are no interest rate guarantees on the Online Saver Issue 4.

I can tell you from past experience that switching to a new issue of an A&L account is pretty easy. The online application takes about 5 minutes to complete, then within 1 working day you get an e-mail telling you that your application has been approved and that you will get a letter in the post with all the details. If you are lucky, then the new account appears on your online banking automatically without you having to do anything (before the letter arrived in my case!). You can then switch all your money from your old A&L savings account into your linked account and then into this one. If you have an A&L current account as the linked account then this whole procedure takes less than a minute.

I hope this information helps somebody out there!

SS2

tanith

Thanks for that info, I kept meaning to look again at my savings with A & L but you know how it is...:rolleyes: I'm away with the fairies most of the time... anyway I just filled in the application and hope to shift my money over quickly..

treecity

Seems that all the good rates are now offering annual interest only. The saver getting screwed yet again for attempting to live off their savings...

Moneyking

I opened one of these the other day, but it's a bit of a con as the headline 3% rates is only available with £250,000+ !!:eek:
See rates page "Online Saver Issue 4 (accounts beginning with 183)":
http://www.alliance-leicester.co.uk/savings/interest-rates.aspx

So the Variable rates (with bonus) is currently only
- £1 - £24,999 2.00% gross p.a.
- £25,000 - £49,999 2.25% gross p.a.
- £250,000+ 3.00% gross p.a.

Special_Saver2

Thanks for that Moneyking.

The interest rate page that you have linked to says:

Online Saver Issue 4 (accounts beginning with 183)

Rates effective from 27 February 2009. Rate includes a bonus payable until 5 April 2010. Variable rate without bonus currently £1 - £24,999 1.00% gross p.a., £25,000 - £49,999 1.25% gross p.a., £250,000+ 2.00% gross p.a.

...however the main page with details on this product (in the right hand column in the middle of the page) says:

EARN 3.00% GROSS P.A./AER (variable) on balances between £1 and £2,000,000 including bonus payable until 5 April 2010.

This is all a bit confusing.

I think the answer lies in this paragraph (also in the right hand column in the middle of the main page):

On 6 April 2010, the rate reverts to teired variable interest rates depending on the balance held in the account.

So, I think we will get 3% on £1+ until 6th April 2010. Of course that interest rate is variable and could go down as low as 1% (the bonus interest) before then.

SS2

soulsaver

Special_Saver2 wrote: »

Thanks for that Moneyking.

I think the answer lies in this paragraph (also in the right hand column in the middle of the main page):

Quote:
On 6 April 2010, the rate reverts to teired variable interest rates depending on the balance held in the account.


SS2[/qote]
I know it is cut & pasted from the A&L webby:
'teired'... Spanglish for 'tiered'

Moneyking

I don't trust A&L anymore, but as you both say the "On 6 April 2010, the rate reverts to teired variable interest rates depending on the balance held in the account" should confirm it's 3.00% across the £1 - £2M range till 6 April 2010, very confusing why show the tiered values as they aren't valid till 6 April 2010 !!!

Maybe I should send them an Internet banking message and get them to confirm the rate, I did this for my 860 eSaver 3 account last week, when I signed up for this account it said "Free withdrawals" were in JULY only in my welcome letter and online, but the site now says February !

They replied and said its February, so I told them about the welcome letter date and they then changed they mind to JULY.

I tried to ring the Interest rates line: 0844 800 4321 and entered 183# and it doesn't accept this account type, so I tried 860 (eSaver 3) and the rate is different to the web site!

Regards,
Chris.