Lloyds TSB instant access monthly saver 8%

KTF

OK, the 1k is in the Lloyds account. When is the best time to open up the monthly saver to maximise the interest? I was thinking of opening it on the 23rd (£500), first SO out on Aug 28 or 29 (£250) then change the SO date to Aug 1 (£250).

If you apply for one over the phone does it get opened instantly or do they have to send you paperwork, etc to sign? If this is the case would it be betterto go to a branch and open one instead?

capehorn

Opening and account over the phone is by far the slowest method (takes around two weeks). If you want to open an account on a specific day to maximize interest, you should go to your branch asap and make an appointment for that date.

Kazza242

KTF wrote:

OK, the 1k is in the Lloyds account. When is the best time to open up the monthly saver to maximise the interest? I was thinking of opening it on the 23rd (£500), first SO out on Aug 28 or 29 (£250) then change the SO date to Aug 1 (£250).

You mean open on the 23rd (£500), first SO out on Aug 28 or 29 (£250) then change the SO date to Sep 1 (£250);). This should work, remember that the 28th is bank holiday Monday, so it would be better if your first SO went out on the 29th.

Your SO payment, taking your monthly saver balance up to £1K, would not break the rule, whereby no more than £750 can be deposited into the monthly saver within 7 days of opening the account.

KTF wrote:

If you apply for one over the phone does it get opened instantly or do they have to send you paperwork, etc to sign? If this is the case would it be better to go to a branch and open one instead?

To my knowledge it doesn't get opened instantly. They pass your details onto the department that handles the opening of accounts. This can take some days. The delay sometimes leads to the first SO payment not making it into the monthly saver in time before the end of the month. If you want it done, then and there, then visiting a branch is the best option.

KTF

Thanks. Yes I meant September 1

OK, cool. I will pop into the branch on the 23rd and get it all setup with a view to getting the first SO taken on the 29th.

KTF

OK, thats the monthly saver all setup. Took about 15 mins to sort out in the branch and its now showing on the online banking. She said that they didnt do a lot of in branch promotion as it was a 'loss leader' and they wanted to attract money from outside organisations. They had no problem with me saying that I only opened the current account to get to the monthly saver either.

The first SO is coming out on the 24th then I will change it online. I could have waited for another day or 2 but with the bank holiday in the way it wasnt worth the risk.

Former_MSE_Dan

Hi guys,

I am going to contact Lloyds about this as I;m aware there are still some problems with it - have looked through the thread but having not been involved in the discussion its a bit hard to pick up what the main issues still are.

If anyone has got five minutes spare, and are prepared to summarise the main problems with opening this, and discrepancies between what we say in the article, and what you guys are being told, that would be fantastic

Dan

Innys

Dan

What I have found is the following:

When I called the Lloyds 0845 number twice, on different days, I was told that the current account I opened didn't have to receive my salary. As you know, a current account accompanies the monthly saver.

Then I went to two different branches of Lloyds at both the staff said that the current account would need to receive my salary. I have e-mailed Lloyds twice and they confirmed this.

I have therefore decided to open a current account by post and then apply for a monthly saver by post.

However, I am wary that they may turn around in the future and say "Sorry, you breached our terms and conditions so your monthly svaer is not valid". So, I'm waiting to see what A&L offer at the start of next month and may go for that option instead.

Whatever the case, I think it's unlikely I'll be opening one of these accounts. There's too much confusion and this could come back to bite me in the future.

Hope this helps

I

Aark

MSE_Dan wrote:

If anyone has got five minutes spare, and are prepared to summarise the main problems with opening this, and discrepancies between what we say in the article, and what you guys are being told, that would be fantastic

The main problem is that people are being told that they need to use the Lloyds TSB current account, whether that be paying in a regular salary, making transactions or taking the regular savings Standing Order from the LTSB account.

Martin's article states "Technically it must be operated via a Lloyds current account, yet as there's no requirement to pay your salary in, you can just stick £1 in."

The problem arises because in the Monthly Saver T&Cs it says "have your main current account with Lloyds TSB. Your main current account is the current account you use most often for your everyday banking. If you don't use your Lloyds TSB current account as your main current account we can convert your Monthly Saver to a Guaranteed Tracker (or similar account if that account is no longer available)."

I have e-mailed Lloyds TSB about this and got the following responses:-

Thanks for the e-mail and taking the time to bring this to our attention.

I have passed your e-mail on and am liasing with our Web-site Team to have the terms and conditions clarified and re-written.

Regards and thanks again.

Keith Boden - Lloyds TSB
Customer Service Recovery Unit

Thank you for your feedback; as you have stated in your email we are indeed in the process of amending our Monthly Saver Terms & Conditions. However as you may appreciate it does take a little time co-ordinating the amends to branch systems/internet/printed versions so that they do all remain consistent and are updated at the same time.

The information contained on moneysavingsexpert.com I]sic[/I is in fact correct and we have relaxed the account opening requirements since the launch of Monthly Saver; meaning that the account is now more accessible. A Lloyds TSB current account is required, it may be opened with £1; furthermore, this Lloyds TSB current account does not need to be the funding account for Monthly Saver.

With regard to your specific cases, we have updated the branches with the correct procedures and apologise that you have experienced difficulties in dealing with Lloyds TSB in this instance. You do not state in your email when your parents experienced difficulty in opening accounts. The change in procedures has been communicated several times since launch and we expect to easily accommodate all potential Monthly Saver customers in future.

Many thanks for taking the time to feedback and we hope our response has fully answered your questions.

Yours sincerely

Alan Mochrie
Lloyds TSB
Investment Product Manager

I now have a confirmed date for the changes to go live! We shall be running the amendment overnight on 14 September; meaning that branches, internet and printed forms will now be amended from 15 September onwards.

Regards

Alan Mochrie

Former_MSE_Dan

Thanks to both of you. I'll be contacting them about this and will hopefully have something useful to report back.

Milarky

The information contained on moneysavingsexpert.com I]sic[/I :rotfl:is in fact correct and we have relaxed the account opening requirements since the launch of Monthly Saver; meaning that the account is now more accessible. A Lloyds TSB current account is required, it may be opened with £1; furthermore, this Lloyds TSB current account does not need to be the funding account for Monthly Saver.

That's excellent news. I have allowed this account to 'slip' so far despite holding a basic current account with them (with nothing in!) So it looks like from the above info that the latter part of September will be a good time to finally put that right!