Cahoot savings rate reduction

Anon

Stompa wrote:

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

I am currently looking at that as well - once you are in, they guarantee that the rate will be 0.6% above the Bank of England base rate for the first year. A pain with the £1000 per month needed but you have access to your money as it is a current account as well, operated by Internet, phone or branch (including Visa card, standing orders etc - easy enough to get the money out again). Interest is paid monthly as well, which is nice to see it grow!

I had a Birmingham Midshires before opening a Cahoot bonus - BM dropped their rates 2 times in a short period if I recall which makes me a little wary of them (though includes a bonus of 0.6%, doesn't seem to indicate this is guaranteed), plus you could only access your money through one nominated linked account which proved to be a pain when I wanted to access the money.

Anon

Anon

dang wrote:

"From what I can see the First Direct Account @ 5% looks the best. Can anyone beat this?"

For rates alone this one seems to beat them all -

http://www.icicibank.co.uk/index.html

They are offering 5.15%.

However i dont know what the service is like,ive just applied to open my account today.

According to other threads on this board, there are + and - for this account. The high rate is good but it can apparently be a faff trying to get money out if you have a large balance (something to do with the limits on £10,000 per transaction and how many they will group together to process them, with delays of 4-5 days before other transactions can be processed). I also see you need to link it to an account with a cheque book (you need to send a cheque for £1 to open the account from the nominated linked current account - so scuppered if you don't have a cheque book with your online banking account!). It may suit some people - check out their site and other threads on this board (and elsewhere) before making your decision - Martin recommends them in his article, so they must be fairly reliable.

Anon

sloughflint

This is a daft question I know but do I have to put any money in? Applied a few days ago via quidco to get the £20 and was impressed with the rate until I heard here of the drop. Can I leave the account empty until the quidco cashback arrives or put £1 in?

alared

I would guess that the latest round of interest rate cuts are the banks getting ready for what the BoEngland does later in the year.

If it cuts (which is very unlikely) it will give them another chance to chop rates and blame the BoE.

If the BoE raises rates (which is highly likely) the providers will only have to put them back to where they were before the lastest cut.

In many caes they won`t even put them up by the same amount as the BoE!

Snapelover

I contacted Cahoot yesterday regarding the closure of my account in the near future and part of their reply was:


'I can confirm that as we calculate interest daily, you will earn this up to the day of closure of the account. The interest would normally then be sent to you in the form of a cheque.'

So I'm going to close mine on the 29th April.

sloughflint

sloughflint wrote:

This is a daft question I know but do I have to put any money in? Applied a few days ago via quidco to get the £20 and was impressed with the rate until I heard here of the drop. Can I leave the account empty until the quidco cashback arrives or put £1 in?

Well I'm just answering my own question.
Paperwork says minimum investment £0. So will just wait and see if I get the £20 from Quidco.

alared

Snapelover
As you know I feel the same about this as you.
On the 28th April you would have to transfer all the money from Cahoot to another account.
Then on the 29th April close the account and wait for the interest to arrive in the form of a cheque

---

is this the way you see it?

After thinking about this,I might just let the account run to the anniversary date (24th July in my case) when the interest is added and then transfer and close the account.
At least that way I`ll have all my capital and interest together.

Snapelover

alared wrote:

On the 28th April you would have to transfer all the money from Cahoot to another account.

Wouldn't I lose a days interest if I took it all out on 28th? Should I not transfer on 29th?

After thinking about this,I might just let the account run to the anniversary date (24th July in my case) when the interest is added and then transfer and close the account.
At least that way I`ll have all my capital and interest together.

I've found an account at the Birmingham Midshires paying 4.9% so I'm transferring straight away.

alared

The new rate starts on the 28th and they don`t pay interest on the day you transfer.
So if you do it on the 28th you would get the current rate right up to the cut.

Don`t forget BMS carries a bonus of 0.60% for the first year

Snapelover

alared wrote:

The new rate starts on the 28th and they don`t pay interest on the day you transfer.
So if you do it on the 28th you would get the current rate right up to the cut.

Ok - ten days to go then!