Instant Access Savings Accounts Article Discussion Area

shoi

HSNC online saver 5.75 % says
6.2 You will receive interest on your Online
Saver for the previous calendar month for
all days during that month when you
have a cleared balance of £1 or more
provided you have not made any
withdrawal throughout that month or
closed your account (as set out in Clause
7.1 or 7.2 below).
If you have made a withdrawal or closed your
account during that calendar month no interest
will be payable on the whole balance for the
calendar month in question.

So why not withdraw the whole amount (except £1) at the beginning of the month. Interest lost is zero I reckon?

I think this is quite a big deal because otherwise accounts like this and the A&S version deduct approx 0.47% for just 1 withdrawal in a year, which brings the effective rate down from good to ordinary. So unless this trick works you really should tie your money up in a fixed term account (the best of which is currently earning 5.9%) or go elsewhere eg ICICI

Steve

koru

Fry wrote: »

A question after much hunting

I am after an instant access savings account with a couple of specific features and I am hoping someone can point me in the correct direction, especially if they are a happy customer. I had opened an Icesave account (which I am very happy with) but it does not allow BACS/CHAPS transfers in according to their T&Cs and Customer service.

Features required:
1. BACS/CHAPS transfer in (and out) so that my employer can post a percentage of my wage in directly each pay day (I found I missed this feature when I opened IceSave account hence this question)
2. Easy Access although don't mind 7 days.
3. A good rate of interest (of course otherwise we would not be on this board) that has a reasonable length of rate guarantee above Bank Base Rates so I don't on have to keep swapping account and annoying my employer.
4. Not too worried about a minimum in account

I was thinking of http://www.angloirishbank.co.uk/ but unknown quantity to me.

Thanks in advance for an opinions!

Coventry First. Currently pays 5.85% for first year, then drops to 5.52% if your balance is more than £10,000, otherwise 5%.

MarkyMarkD

shoi wrote: »

HSNC online saver 5.75 % says
6.2 You will receive interest on your Online
Saver for the previous calendar month for
all days during that month when you
have a cleared balance of £1 or more
provided you have not made any
withdrawal throughout that month or
closed your account (as set out in Clause
7.1 or 7.2 below).
If you have made a withdrawal or closed your
account during that calendar month no interest
will be payable on the whole balance for the
calendar month in question.

So why not withdraw the whole amount (except £1) at the beginning of the month. Interest lost is zero I reckon?

I think this is quite a big deal because otherwise accounts like this and the A&S version deduct approx 0.47% for just 1 withdrawal in a year, which brings the effective rate down from good to ordinary. So unless this trick works you really should tie your money up in a fixed term account (the best of which is currently earning 5.9%) or go elsewhere eg ICICI

Steve

This has been pointed out before. The HSBC and A&L accounts (I think you meant A&L when you said A&S) don't actually levy any penalty if you withdraw the whole balance (save £1) on the 1st day in a month, so as long as you never make a withdrawal of less than this amount, and always time your withdrawals correctly, you won't lose anything.

ger_ryan22

Myself and my partner have 3grand each and are thinking about putting this in seperate ISA accounts this week to use our allowances. When will we see this interest on the money and can we withdraw anytime we want? We're thinking of going with Abbey.

Thanks
Gerard

susie2324_2

Hi,

My parents are selling their house and will hopefully have approx £500,000 to invest for three to six months before they buy again. What is the best account for instant access and interest paid monthly for a figure like this. They are over 60yrs but the Coventry one has a lower 'upper' limit. Also are there accounts that pay interest daily or will they need to wait for the end of a month when they want to close it?

The other thing I'm noticing on browsing (following this site's links) is that they may have to open the account with a cheque so won't time and hassle to open/close the account need to be factored in too when choosing?

Any thoughts or sign-posting appreciated!

Susie

shoi

susie2324 wrote: »

Hi,

My parents are selling their house and will hopefully have approx £500,000 to invest for three to six months before they buy again. What is the best account for instant access and interest paid monthly for a figure like this.
Susie

There's a chance that their existing Bank / Building Soc will compete. Just say to them - please offer us 5.7% instant access and guarantee it will move up with bank rate (and list the current best buys) and we will keep the money with you

they may have to open the account with a cheque

for this amount of money you have to do any transfers by CHAPS (same day). It's worth something like £80 per day interest so 5 days cheque clearance time will be very expensive.

Nice problem to have

Steve
(PS thanks MarkyMarkD yes CHAPS it is - not BACS as I originally wrote)

MarkyMarkD

Shoi

BACS takes 2 working days (i.e. leaves Monday, arrives Wednesday). You are talking about CHAPS which is same-day but normally costs £20 or so.

If the money is coming from their solicitors (almost definitely the case if they are selling their house) the solicitor will be used to making CHAPS payments and I can't see any reason to transfer this sort of sum by any other method. Or, you could be like some other completely daft person on this board, make the solicitor get it all out in cash and then walk it round to the new bank. :rolleyes: Just to save the £20.

Rumbels

Having read the article and savings guide in the money diet, I recently chose to open an instant access high interest account as I have some spare cash for a few months whilst I'm waiting to buy a new house. So, I went to moneyfacts.co.uk to search for high interest savings accounts, chose ICESAVE, opened the account in my partner's name as she's a stay at home mum and doesn' pay tax and gave them a big cheque....

Then, we found a house quicker than we thought and needed a bit of cash, but had to endure a long wait of about three weeks before they finally got around to sending us our welcome pack which we needed to log on and transfer some money. Apparently they can't do anything by phone without your account number.

So, I'm now taking all my money out and keeping it with my main bank (First Direct), as even though the interest is slighty less I'm happier knowing I can get it when I need it!

mutley74

DAK if the indian bank ICICI savings account sends out a tax certificate of showing my net and gross amounts for the year automatically or does one have to request?

kev459

I think they should send it automatically. They did to me last year.