Instant Access Savings Accounts Article Discussion Area

DocProc

You could start your research here, if you like:

http://www.myiris.com/shares/news/corporateNews.php?cSelect=5&icode=ICICIBCO

One thing to check for is, "Are the senior managers dumping large quantities of shares?"

Another might be, "How's the share price holding up?"

And also, "How are their peers viewing this bank? What's its Credit Rating like and how is it doing?"

At least they do seem to be holding their interest rate in the UK for their HiSAVE investors. ING decided to drop theirs after a while, presumably once they had the requisite number of customers.

I notice this year, the Indian Rupee has been steadily weakening against the UK Pound, eg:

http://in.finance.yahoo.com/q/bc?s=GBPINR=X&t=1y

koru

Unless/until ICICI increase their rate to reflect the recent rise in base rates, Coventry First is now a better deal, having increased its rates to 5.35%. And I can vouch for Coventry being very efficient at setting up the account. Those who feel uneasy about using a bank they have never heard of may also feel happier with the Coventry.

Moggles_2

Coventry First is now a better deal, having increased its rates to 5.35%.

Thanks for your feedback.

Coventry Building Society is a minnow compared with ICICI, so I'm not sure its members should feel more secure than ICICI's customers.

For those who can meet the £1000 per month minimum requirement, 5.35% AER is certainly an attractive rate, but this includes a bonus for the first 12 months from account opening.

IMO, ICICI with its valuable BoE base rate guarantee, can still claim to have the best-paying, no-strings savings account.

webwiz

Bradford & Bingley are now paying 5.1% clean. The 0.05% difference against ICICI might be worth paying for peace of mind. However ICICI have not increased their rate since the rise in the bank rate, if they matched the full 2.5% rise, up to 5.4% that would be different

Moggles_2

I have most of my savings divided between ICICI's HiSAVE account and Bradford & Bingley's e-savings. I am very happy with both!

colina_2

I am not prepared to open an account with this compnay, they want to know far too much about me. I opened an account yesterday with Yorkshire BS, all OK except I object to being forced to part with a phone number. ICCI want employment details as well. I make a big effort to remain a private individual, I don't like junk mail or un-solicited phone calls.

ejlmcdonald

I have recently been made redundant and have a pot of money which I think I should put into a savings account but I want to use it to pay a monthly sum into my current account, like an income. The idea is to start a business from home and this will keep us going for the next year. But all the talk about savings is about putting money in, not taking it out. Does anyone know of a savings account with good interest from where I can set up a standing order to my current account?

koru

ejlmcdonald wrote:

I have recently been made redundant and have a pot of money which I think I should put into a savings account but I want to use it to pay a monthly sum into my current account, like an income. The idea is to start a business from home and this will keep us going for the next year. But all the talk about savings is about putting money in, not taking it out. Does anyone know of a savings account with good interest from where I can set up a standing order to my current account?

Coventry First pays 5.35% AER and will do this, as it has all the features of a current account apart from a cheque book.

ejlmcdonald

Thanks for the reply Koru. I checked out the Coventry First account and it does look good but requires a monthly amount going in of at least £1000, so I'd need to feed that from another account. It's really the primary account I'm after so that I can deposit the money there at a decent rate of interest, set up a standing order into a current a/c (have Halifax of old, A&L just set up and Coventry would be a good alternative) and then forget about it for a while. Any more ideas?

koru

Just set up a 2-way transfer. If, for instance, you want £1000 in your cheque account each month, set up a monthly transfer of £2000 from your Coventry a/c to your cheque account, then set up a monthly transfer of £1000 back again, a few days later. That's what I do.