Cahoot savings rate reduction

oldagetraveller

Cahoot are dropping their savings account rate from 4.85% aer to 4.55% aer from 28th April. Looks like they're all going to have similar rates soon?
Apologies if this has been posted elsewhere.

santana-mx3

I got the email this morning about the introductory rate going down on 28 April from 5% AER to 4.55% AER.

Oh well - we had a good run with this. Time to move it to A&L.

Dear Mr

I am writing to let you know that we will be changing the rate on your cahoot savings account to 4.55% AER on 28 April 2006*. Since we launched the introductory rate savings account, it has been one of the best in the UK. In fact, we were able to maintain this market-leading rate for over 20 months, despite a rate guarantee of only 12 months and the reduction in the Bank of England base rate in August of 2005.

Although it's never good news to hear when we reduce our rates, a cahoot savings account continues to be highly competitive, offering a higher rate than the Bank of England base rate and many other banks, including ING, Halifax, Lloyds TSB, Natwest, Egg, and Alliance & Leicester.

Bank AER
cahoot 4.55%
Alliance & Leicester 4.25%
Egg 4.50%
Halifax 4.50%
ING 4.50%
Intelligent Finance 4.40%
Lloyds TSB 4.25%
Natwest 4.20%
Rates taken from competitors websites and are correct as of 10 April 2006.

Additionally, a cahoot savings account gives you instant access to your money. This means that, unlike some other accounts, you will not be penalised for transferring money in or out of your account. Remember, you can switch money between your cahoot accounts instantly.

This change is outside of a Bank of England base rate change. The Bank of England base rate is currently 4.50%, and last changed in August 2005 when it was previously 4.75%.

If you want to check you are making the most of your savings with cahoot, please give us a call on 0844 900 9070.

If you have any questions about these changes, please call us on 0844 900 9070 or email us through 'contact us' from your personal homepage. Messages sent from here are secure and will be responded to as a priority.

Yours sincerely,


John Goddard
Managing Director, cahoot


*The introductory savings account interest rate from 28 April 2006 will be:
Account balance GBP Gross p.a. /AER
Up to 50,000 4.55%
50,000 to 250,000 4.05%
250,000 + 4.00%

The introductory savings account interest rate as at 22 March 2006 were:
Account balance GBP Gross p.a. /AER
Up to 50,000 5.00%
50,000 to 250,000 4.50%
250,000 + 4.00%

Snapelover

santana-mx3 wrote:

I got the email this morning about the introductory rate going down on 28 April from 5% AER to 4.55% AER.

Oh well - we had a good run with this. Time to move it to A&L.

I too got the email today.

What's the A & L account you mentioned? I want the best for my money and am willing to move it if necessary.

YorkshireBoy

Snapelover wrote:

What's the A & L account you mentioned? I want the best for my money and am willing to move it if necessary.

It sounds like the Online Saver 2 account - which pays 5.15% to those opening their accounts prior to the removal of the 0.90% bonus. The account now pays a 4.25% variable rate.

Snapelover

So, any advice on the next best thing? Don't fancy the ICICI though. ?

Stompa

Snapelover wrote:

So, any advice on the next best thing? Don't fancy the ICICI though. ?

I'm going for the Coventry First account.

http://www.coventrybuildingsociety.co.uk/

at 5.1% AER (includes a bonus of 0.85% AER for the first year).

However: "To earn the advertised rate of interest including the bonus and guarantee you need to deposit at least £1,000 each month, (excludes transfers from other Coventry accounts). Otherwise, the interest rate earned on your entire balance will be nominal. This rate is currently 0.95% AER/gross p.a. monthly, which includes 0.85% AER/gross p.a. interest rate bonus for the first year."

The £1000 a month thing is a bit of an annoyance, and of course who knows how long before they drop this rate.

Stompa

Snapelover

Stompa wrote:

However: "To earn the advertised rate of interest including the bonus and guarantee you need to deposit at least £1,000 each month,

Unfortunately, cannot always put £1000 a month in.

santana-mx3

Snapelover wrote:

I too got the email today.

What's the A & L account you mentioned? I want the best for my money and am willing to move it if necessary.

YorkshireBoy wrote:

It sounds like the Online Saver 2 account - which pays 5.15% to those opening their accounts prior to the removal of the 0.90% bonus. The account now pays a 4.25% variable rate.

It is indeed the Online Saver 2 which I opened while the bonus was included (though I didn't actually realise there was a bonus involved at the time - I just saw the quoted 5.15% - unlike their ISA where the inclusion of a bonus within the quoted rate was very clear).

alared

http://www.mhbs.co.uk/asp/article.asp?sectionid=43&articleid=1279

4.75% from only £1 up,can`t be beaten.

purplepatch

I've moved my balance to first direct esavings account which has 5% AER.

Not sure whether to close the cahoot account or just leave it open in case it becomes more competitive in the future. Can anyone offer any advice? Just thinking that if I leave it open and they offer a special introductory rate in the future (my reason for opening the account) I won't be able to take advantage of it.

Swipe

purplepatch wrote:

I've moved my balance to first direct esavings account which has 5% AER.

Not sure whether to close the cahoot account or just leave it open in case it becomes more competitive in the future. Can anyone offer any advice? Just thinking that if I leave it open and they offer a special introductory rate in the future (my reason for opening the account) I won't be able to take advantage of it.

I'm going to leave mine open with a small balance just to see what happens. If any new cahoot introductory accounts appear later in the year I will then close my online saver, wait a few days and then open the new one.

I'd love to know how much money will be transferred out of cahoot over the next few weeks after their rate reduction.