Sainsbury's Internet Saver - guaranteed BofE + 2%

Special_Saver2

Hi Folks,

I don't think anybody has mentioned this account yet. If you have £5,000+ then you can open this account and get Bank of England base rate + 2% guaranteed for 12 months.

I have highlighted the catches in bold font below.

SS2




Sainsbury's Internet Saver

Open an Internet Saver account and you will receive a variable rate of 3% AER. Although the rate can change it is guaranteed to be at least 2% above Bank of England base rate for 12 months from your initial deposit.
Simply open your account with an initial deposit between £5,000 and £100,000.
Make the most of your money

• It's quick and easy to apply and you can access your account online
• Open and make an initial deposit by 17th March 2009 to receive your Limited Offer rate
• Limited Offer rate is guaranteed to be at least 2% above Bank of England base rate for 12 months from initial deposit
• Interest paid annually
• Recognised with Moneyfacts Trust It status for a consistent rate over 36 months

If you withdraw from your account during the 12 month period, you will then only receive our standard Internet Saver rate from that date.

Edit: I just applied online. I have an old Sainsbury's Bank Internet Saver with £1 in it. There is an abbreviated application procedure for existing customers. The application only took me about 2-3 minutes and I have a sort code and account number plus the account is showing up immediately in my online banking (along with my old account). Even if you are not an existing customer, it will give you the sort code and account number immediately.

Further edit: If you are not an existing Sainsbury's Bank customer then the following information will interest you. This is quoted from a page that you will see once you have made your application.

Please be aware that any initial deposit you make can only be withdrawn once your identity has been verified.

To comply with Money Laundering regulations, we are required to verify your identity. This means we will, in the first instance, attempt to electronically confirm your name and address. Where this is unsuccessful, we will ask you to send us specific documents. Either way, we will send you a letter detailing what we need you to do.

If this account gets heavily subscribed then it might take them some time to do the manual confirmation of ID documents. This might leave you no access to your money for a little while if you have to wait for them to send you a letter asking for ID, send off the ID, and wait for them to verify it.

dorsetlass

I have been a Sainsburys on-line savings account holder for quite some time - like Special Saver 2 I kept £1 in an account when the rates went down) but at the moment I get the following message when I try to apply for the new account on line:

customer pending We're sorry, but we cannot process your application at the moment. If you have registered to use our online service
within the last 48 hours, then we may still be updating our records.

Please try again later."

This was happening to me yesterday too, so I phoned them this morning and was told that they are aware of the problem, and that they were looking into it. Is it worth me waiting until this glitch is fixed or should I pretend I'm not already an on-line user and apply as a new person?

toom

Apparently they're running about 7 days behind on the confirmation of IDs/account validations.

But I think so long as you open and account and transfer in the money before the March 17th shut-off date, you'll still get the 3% AER rate. At least that's what the woman I spoke to told me...

SnowMan

Thanks. Useful info.

I have opened one myself and have put 5K in although it has not yet arrived in the account as it is a BACS transfer. My account is currently showing as "awaiting authorisation".

When I rang them up this morning they said this didn't mean I had failed the electronic ID verification as this is only done when some money has gone in.
Note the offer has now been extended to 7 April.

Be careful that they seemed to say the money has to CLEAR by 7 April so if you make a BACS transfer just before and it has not cleared (there are other ways to deposit of course such as sending a cheque) you may not meet the requirements for the 3% rate.

I imagine that because the offer has been extended to 7 April the 3% rate will remain until then (even though the guarantee is currently 0.5% + 2% = 2.5%). If base rate + 2% became a top rate within the year then this could be a REALLY useful account, as further deposits are allowed.

(Update 16/3/09: subsequently money credited to the account and I was electronically verified and account up and running 3 hours after the funds arrived)

SnowMan

Sainsburys have introduced today a new version of this account see here (available to 8 June). Offers a very similar bank base rate + 2% conditional guarantee for a year (only real difference is the maximum balance of 500K, and the 12 months applies from account opening not from the date of the initial deposit, and obviously the qualification dates are different). Current rate is 2.6% (so currently just above this guarantee).

Logging into my account opened under the original offer between 27 February 2009 and 7 April 2009, which was the original 3% account with the similar base rate + 2% guarantee for a year, the rate is still showing as 3% but I wonder if that will decrease shortly because of this new account.

SnowMan

For anyone unlikely to need access to their money (although of course account can be completely closed without penalty if needed) and who likes the base rate + 2% guarantee this new Sainsbury internet saver 2.6% offer may be worth looking at.

So just shamelessly bumping it up.

sheslookinhot

SnowMan wrote: »

For anyone unlikely to need access to their money (although of course account can be completely closed without penalty if needed) and who likes the base rate + 2% guarantee this new Sainsbury internet saver 2.6% offer may be worth looking at.

So just shamelessly bumping it up.

Why bank here when TESCO do at least 3%.

I had a 5 figure sum in Sainsbury, but would not give them business as they dropped the rate to less than 1%. Cheerio Sainsbury.

Steve_xx

sheslookinhot wrote: »

Why bank here when TESCO do at least 3%.

I had a 5 figure sum in Sainsbury, but would not give them business as they dropped the rate to less than 1%. Cheerio Sainsbury.

Tesco don't do 3% - they do 2.5%. Sainsbury's account is 2.6% but you need to deposit a minimum of £5k and if you make a withdrawal in the first year the rate drops to 0.75%. Tesco, on the other hand only require £1 deposit and there are no limits to withdrawals.

SnowMan

The reason I quite like the Sainsbury account is because of the base rate + 2% guarantee. Base rate + 2% is an extremely good guarantee. And further deposits are allowed.

So by depositing the minimum 5K there is the option to switch money in later in the year if base rate + 2% is better than any other instant access account later in the year.

The Sainsbury account is not for everyone but is definitely worth considering.

Steve_xx

SnowMan wrote: »

The reason I quite like the Sainsbury account is because of the base rate + 2% guarantee. Base rate + 2% is an extremely good guarantee. And further deposits are allowed.

So by depositing the minimum 5K there is the option to switch money in later in the year if base rate + 2% is better than any other instant access account later in the year.

The Sainsbury account is not for everyone but is definitely worth considering.

Yes I see. But why not go for the West Bromwich BS 4.3% Bond? You've got a hell of a way to go before you get to 4.3% from 2.6%. You may as well have 4.3% in the bag for at least some savings.

Here's a link:

http://www.westbrom.co.uk/westbrom/home

SnowMan

Steve_xx wrote: »

Yes I see. But why not go for the West Bromwich BS 4.3% Bond? You've got a hell of a way to go before you get to 4.3% from 2.6%. You may as well have 4.3% in the bag for at least some savings.

Here's a link:

http://www.westbrom.co.uk/westbrom/home

I'd agree with you there about the West Brom 4.3%. See this post :rotfl:

But I like to have a bit of money which I can immediately access should I need to and the Sainsbury internet saver allows immediate access (i.e. by closing the account) as do my instant access accounts with Nat West and Tesco.