MSE News: Growing number of savers oblivious to interest paid 9 September 2009 at 5:36PM in Savings & Investments 17 replies 1.9K views

Former_MSE_Guy

This is the discussion thread for the following MSE News Story:

"A growing number of people do not know what return they are receiving on their savings, a survey shows today.

Roughly 36% of people admitted they had no idea what interest rate they were paid, up from 32% six months ago ..."

Read the full story:
Growing number of savers oblivious to interest paid

sabretoothtigger

The law needs to be changed so companies are obliged to state interest and any fees accrued everytime they issue a statement.
At present interest rates are hidden away from savers so its not surprising they dont know

hebron

My Birmingham midshire online account has it stated clearly just after you log in, all online account should be like that. With Passbook accounts you should be told on every transition.

john_s_2

On the other side of the coin, some providers might be able to pay higher interest rates to their more savvy savers cos they've got so many suckers stuck on low rates on older accounts.

Let's face it, we're not faithful to them, when they put the rate down, so why should they help us?

It's not like the rates are nowhere to be found.

RayWolfe

sabretoothtigger wrote: »

The law needs to be changed

Peoples attitude needs to be changed, not the law. If folk don't care, which clearly they don't, all the law changes in the world won't help.

frivolous_fay

I try to keep a handle on the rates I'm [EMAIL="I@getting"]getting[/EMAIL]... with approx 10 accounts to keep tabs on (of course I have to manage O/H's!) it's pretty hard. Providers like ICICI and smile used to send out interest rate updates, but I haven't seen one in a while. A&L make you hunt your account out from a list of about 50 different variations (issue what?) which is frustrating and time consuming.

I completely support the MSE campaign - and I believe current interest rates should be clearly displayed in your online banking, instead of having to hunt them down!

dwsjarcmcd

The only thing surprising about this survey is that anyone is surprised. Banks and building societies totally rely on customer intranginece to generate margin. If these customers didn't exist then they wouldn't be able put out the new products they do.

purch

interest paid

Interest Paid :eek: ???

.....as in receiving Interest on a Deposit ????

Wow that's a novel idea !!!

Can't see it ever catching on......

john_s_2

Ultimately this all boils down to making it as easy as possible for savers to ensure they're receiving the top rate of interest on their savings.

If this objective is taken to its logical conclusion then why not introduce a law whereby any savings account that wants to boast it is protected by the FSCS has to offer an opt-out scheme that transfers your deposit to any equivalent account that offers a higher interest rate.

This way no one will have to do all that awkward research and chasing around. And everyone will always receive the highest interest rate on the market. And even better, they won't have to lift a finger to do so.

As I say, it is opt-out, so for those that want to receive a lower rate or do their own research can merely tick the box on the application form - or opt-out at any point afterwards.

My tongue is firmly in my cheek. I've been reading Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand (nearly finished!) but I'm sure normal service will resume after I've finished it.

dwsjarcmcd

john_s wrote: »

Ultimately this all boils down to making it as easy as possible for savers to ensure they're receiving the top rate of interest on their savings.

If this objective is taken to its logical conclusion then why not introduce a law whereby any savings account that wants to boast it is protected by the FSCS has to offer an opt-out scheme that transfers your deposit to any equivalent account that offers a higher interest rate.

This way no one will have to do all that awkward research and chasing around. And everyone will always receive the highest interest rate on the market. And even better, they won't have to lift a finger to do so.

As I say, it is opt-out, so for those that want to receive a lower rate or do their own research can merely tick the box on the application form - or opt-out at any point afterwards.

My tongue is firmly in my cheek. I've been reading Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand (nearly finished!) but I'm sure normal service will resume after I've finished it.

Probably because all the institutions will go bust!

Geoffo_M

I've opened an Egg Savings account over a week ago. There is nothing to confirm that it attracts the 3.25% quoted in the advert - and as it is annual interest, I may have to wait a year to find out it's the wrong interest. I thought I might get confirmation by post but nothing - unless its held up by the postal strikes.

Ive dropped them a line, but the rate should appear alongside the account name really.