Natwest esaver extended bonus

D1zzy

nrsql wrote: »

My 2.1% bonus comes to and end at the end of this month,
Received a letter offering to give me a 1.4% bonus for an extended period of 16 months. That sounds like 16 months from 1 Oct this year.

They even sent a freepost envelope.

Doesn't seem like a standard offer on their website and couldn't see anything about this searching this forum. Just wondered if anyone else had received different offers.

Anyway it's 2.4% which will be enough to stop me moving the money away at the moment.

Just watch the dates - I have the same letter but my current bonus ends at the end of November and if I accept the new account starts 1st of October - so I would lose 2 months at 3.24% - Not much I know but I thought it was devious, so declined the offer and will move my savings to Egg or Tescos at the end of November. -sorry just read the full thread and see the point has already been made

nilrem_2

I have accepted the offer for the moment I shall then consider moving to a better account in my own time.

lolly5648

Kavanne wrote: »

The offer is only for randomly selected customers so if you do not have any letter by now it is likely you have not been selected. Sorry!

Can I ask how you know it is for randomly selected customers - my bonus ends at the end of October and I haven't received a letter but would be interested in the offer as I like the ease of transfer between my accounts

Kavanne

lolly5648 wrote: »

Can I ask how you know it is for randomly selected customers - my bonus ends at the end of October and I haven't received a letter but would be interested in the offer as I like the ease of transfer between my accounts

If you have not received a letter then you are not able to have the offer

ozzage

I have trouble thinking of any business case which would make them only offer this to randomly selected customers.

withnell

ozzage wrote: »

I have trouble thinking of any business case which would make them only offer this to randomly selected customers.

People who've kept a large balance in the account, effectively giving NatWest the funds for a year for a lower rate than a bond - its a similar reason why instant access ISAs (historically, not now though) paid higher than instant access savings - because people empty them before the ISA

SimonM_2

Did anyone here take up this Extend & Replace offer from Natwest?

It should have come in to effect on October 1st, but I called up yesterday to confirm this and they wern't able to check and asked me to call back today. I've just done so, and got passed to the Internet Helpdesk "because it's an online account", and they spent ages trying to find details of it and don't seem to be able to find any change processed on to my account - which I presume, but don't know, means I may still be getting the 3.14% rate. They did suggest that there may be a backlog and to call back next week.

But, what worries me is that the person I spoke to asked if I sent the form back, and suggested that you had to send the form back to get the offer - I phoned up, as the form clearly says you could do as one of the two options to get the offer, and did so to ensure that they definitely got my instructions rather than it getting lost in the post... As long as I'm getting 3.14% for a few days extra than expected and then they process it, then it's not a major problem, but if not and they've failed to do what I said, then I won't be very happy at all with Natwest. Has anyone else had it confirmed to them what their new interest rate is, or aware of problems with the offer starting? (the 0800 number in the letter is dead too, so can't even call that...)

nilrem_2

SimonM wrote: »

Did anyone here take up this Extend & Replace offer from Natwest?

I did but have not heard a thing since! Natwest always do seem a bit behind the times to me, they get things done in their own slow way, I would not describe them as 'cutting edge'!

SimonM_2

A week later and still the telephone helpline can't see anything on my E-Savings account, and have had to escelate it for investigation. Helpful Banking, or not!

laehc

ozzage wrote: »

I have trouble thinking of any business case which would make them only offer this to randomly selected customers.

I expect withnell is right and in this case it is not genuinely random. Randomised offers could be used to find which offers work best for the business. I read a small book on that kind of thing, but I don't think there were many examples in banking or finance.