Update! Santander First Home Saver Account: 5% on up to 50k savings (up to 35 only)

Parisian

I'm so glad I saw this thread! Thanks guys! I was randomly browsing and saw this thread and realised I have an empty First Home Saver S1... I called up today and transferred over everything from my 0.5% account to this 3% one! Fab!

I seem to remember not receiving interest in any months I withdrew and a few other random terms...
I have read some of the links to the current interest rates/terms...
Am I correct in saying it is pretty much an instant access account with no loss of interest for withdrawals etc?

Thanks again!

afmfifgh

Yes, it is instant access with unlimited withdrawals and no penalties.

Only restriction is you don't earn interest on balances of £50,000.00+ but you still get 3% on the first £49,999.99.

You can pay in as much as you like and as often as you like as well and it should be possible to manage the account online if you don't already.

HTH.

Parisian

Perfect! Thanks afmfifgh

MrChips

Can I just check that if I have a balance of £50,000 (or more) I still get interest on the first £49,999.99? The wording on my statement isn't clear to me! It says balances of £50k+ get no interest and a literal interpretation might be that no interest applies to the whole balance.

I had been funding this account at £50,000, not realising that technically the limit was one penny less!

afmfifgh

Yes you get interest on the first £49,999.99

You won't get any interest on money over that, so you won't get interest on that extra 1p ;-)

iwant2asave

MrChips wrote: »

Can I just check that if I have a balance of £50,000 (or more) I still get interest on the first £49,999.99? The wording on my statement isn't clear to me! It says balances of £50k+ get no interest and a literal interpretation might be that no interest applies to the whole balance.

I had been funding this account at £50,000, not realising that technically the limit was one penny less!

My statement says my current interest rate is 0.00%. Anyone else with the same wording?...

gt94sss2

iwant2asave wrote: »

My statement says my current interest rate is 0.00%. Anyone else with the same wording?...

I had the same on my quarterly statement earlier this month - though the table still shows 3% being payable.

I sent Santander a message and got a rely stating that:

I have checked the specifications of the account and it appears the account should be earning 3.00% Gross AER.
However to be absolutely sure interest is being calculated correctly, I have escalated your query with our specialist team who will investigate this further.

Pretty sure its just an error on their part..

Regards
Sunil

iwant2asave

gt94sss2 wrote: »

I had the same on my quarterly statement earlier this month - though the table still shows 3% being payable.

I sent Santander a message and got a rely stating that:

Pretty sure its just an error on their part..

Regards
Sunil

Thanks Sunil. I have also sent a message now...hoping its just a statement error! Anyone else got a definitive answer?

knath

:j:j
In santander interest rate finder
it does not show any 50000 limit now.
Tier Gross / AER (variable) Net p.a. (variable)
£1+ 3.00% 2.40%
:j

rb10

knath wrote: »

:j:j
In santander interest rate finder
it does not show any 50000 limit now.
Tier Gross / AER (variable) Net p.a. (variable)
£1+ 3.00% 2.40%
:j

Good spot!

My hunch is that it's an error, as they've recently changed their website from having a PDF of all rates of accounts no longer available (the one from August is here, stating 3% on up to £49,999.99).

Firstly, why would they have removed this restriction? It's not as if they're desparate for cash, and this account is expensive for them.

And secondly, I think they'd have told us, rather than just change their website.

By all means try it, but expect to have to make a complaint (and probably fight quite a bit!) to get interest on above £50k.