A&L increase cash ISA interest rates

Kazza242

jdavtz wrote:

I phoned A+L 2 days ago and the person I spoke to said that the ISA running at 5.2% will NOT have arate increase.

Banks usually write to their customers within 30 days of an account interest rate change. I would wait for the letter from them, which should give you official confirmation of the rate you'll be receiving, from 2nd September, on the Direct ISA 2 (with 0.7% bonus).

masonic

jdavtz wrote:

I phoned A+L 2 days ago and the person I spoke to said that the ISA running at 5.2% will NOT have arate increase.

I would never trust anything said to me by A&L CS over the phone . As has been said before, the bonus is fixed and the underlying rate is going up - I cannot see what they could do to prevent the overall rate going up. I guess we shall have to wait and see.

masonic

Kazza242 wrote:

Banks usually write to their customers within 30 days of an account interest rate change. I would wait for the letter from them, which should give you official confirmation of the rate you'll be receiving, from 2nd September, on the Direct ISA 2 (with 0.7% bonus).

You could wait up until October for an official letter... or you could just check the website on Saturday.

humfer

This better apply to Direct ISA 2 - if the base rate is increasing so the bonus (fixed) should just be added on top....surely.....

humfer

Just looked at the press release again and Direct ISA 2 in going up to 4.75%, so its got to be 5.45% once the bonus is added on top. Will be majorly annoyed if it doesn't

Kazza242

masonic wrote:

You could wait up until October for an official letter... or you could just check the website on Saturday.

Hmm. Not sure they would specifically list it - with the interest rate increase on their previous rates page. It currently shows 5.20% incl. 0.70% bonus. When they update the other rates of the accounts (and issues) they still offer, I'm not sure that this will include the Direct ISA issue 2 with 0.70% bonus.

http://www.alliance-leicester.co.uk/savings/index.asp?page=closed-rates

Savers with this account can check the link above from Saturday. If the rate change doesn't appear on there, then waiting for the letter is the best bet.

Usually when a bank increase a savings/ISA interest rate they usually send out the 'good news' to customers very quickly, so I doubt you'll have to wait until October.;)

EDIT: - Direct ISA Issue 2 (incl. 0.7% bonus) - £1+ (prev. 5.20%) New rate 5.45%.

The new 5.45% rate has now been confirmed on the A&L website, here.

masonic

Kazza242 wrote:

Hmm. Not sure they would specifically list it - with the interest rate increase on their previous rates page. It currently shows 5.20% incl. 0.70% bonus. When they update the other rates of the accounts (and issues) they still offer, I'm not sure that this will include the Direct ISA issue 2 with 0.70% bonus.

Why on earth not? They've kept the list of rates for open/closed/bonus issue accounts up to date so far, and it specifically mentions the website as a place to find all their current rates in their T&Cs.

Kazza242

masonic wrote:

Why on earth not? They've kept the list of rates for open/closed/bonus issue accounts up to date so far, and it specifically mentions the website as a place to find all their current rates in their T&Cs.

Just going by past experience. I remember quite a number of posts from MSE's (sometime in 2004/05) who were having problems finding the interest rate of their Online saver account, once their particular issue was closed to new customers. It was very difficult to find the rate on the A&L website via the interest rates links provided. I think someone ended up having to e-mail them for the info! It's likely that that will not be the case with the Direct ISA 2 (with 0.7% bonus), as it is still a fairly recent product.

The place where the rate change info should appear is in my previous post for those people that have that particular ISA issue.

exel1966

As the bonus of 0.07% is fixed until 30/04/07 it has to be included in any rate change.

"Direct ISA Issue 2 rates (Accounts beginning with 607, 608)
Annual Gross Gross AER
£1+ 5.20%† 5.20%†

Rates effective from 09/01/06. Rates apply to accounts opened from 09/01/06 to 11/04/06. †Includes bonus of 0.70% fixed until 30/04/07"

Kazza242

exel1966 wrote:

As the bonus of 0.07% is fixed until 30/04/07 it has to be included in any rate change.

"Direct ISA Issue 2 rates (Accounts beginning with 607, 608)
Annual Gross Gross AER
£1+ 5.20%† 5.20%†

Rates effective from 09/01/06. Rates apply to accounts opened from 09/01/06 to 11/04/06. †Includes bonus of 0.70% fixed until 30/04/07"

As I wrote in my earlier posts in this thread: It is the underlying variable rate of the Direct ISA 2 that has had it's rate increased from 4.50% to 4.75%. Therefore, including the 0.7% bonus, the rate should be 5.45%. Put it this way, if there had been a BOE base rate decrease by 0.25 rather than increase, the Direct ISA 2 rate would have been reduced to 4.95%.

Confirmation should hopefully appear on their website the day the rate change takes effect, Saturday 2nd September.