Direct Debit transfers to ICICI...

knowall2

...I have just opened a Hi Saver account and transfers to date seem to have happened very quickly BUT I do not like transferring payments by Direct Debit...call me old fashioned, but I prefer to be in control and like to do it by standing order. I have done it via First Direct and it works but I thought that I would contact them by e mail just to check if it is OK to transfer money in this way. Their e mail response to my query doesn't answer my question at all - it just gives some sort of standard reply telling me what I already know i.e. how to transfer money via Direct Debit! I wrote again to say that they hadn't answered my question and the next reply told me how to set up recurring transactions by Direct Debit...again - I know how to do that too and was not what I asked.
I am a bit of a pedantic chap I know...but what do others think? Should I just comply with their Direct Debit system, carry on sending money directly from First Direct using a standing order system - or change to Sainsburys Internet saver which pays not much less. I just worry that they may say at some stage...'what money you sent?...Ah - you should have sent it by Direct Debit'!

Pedantically yours

K2

si1503

is there no way to transfer to an ICICI account in an immediate payment? for example you have £1000, put it into your linked current account, then shift it straight accross to your ICICI savings by telling the bank that you want to pay account X so and so...

does anyone know if the bir mids or YBS internet savers are the same, or do they have easier payment/withdraw options? as i'm currently trying to decide on which easy access savings account to go for

masonic

Deja vu. :rolleyes:

si1503

cheers masonic that answers my question, seems like we can just use BACS instead of DD for quick money transfers, sorted

coconut_3

Should you be putting money in with an Indian bank that has not signed up to the UK banking code yet Look what happened to BCCI 10 years ago, the greedy punters never got their money back

Dodgybloke

The following comes directly from Martin's Instant Access Savings article:

"The UK subsidiary (thus FSA regulated) of mammoth Indian bank ICICI's HiSAVE* internet account pays 5.15% and guarantees to pay at least 0.25% more than the Bank Base rate until the end of 2007. You only need £1 to open it and it’s a clean (no tricks) account.

When it launched a year ago, there were some severe account opening delays, now problems are much more rare (see the feedback poll), though best practice, as with all accounts, is open it with £1 and move the bulk of your cash once it’s up and running, so you don’t lose interest if there’s any delay.

Sadly ICICI is often excluded from Best Buy tables, as newspaper data provider Moneyfacts over-harshly excludes providers which aren’t signed to the banking code yet ICICI is currently applying, and for a savings account, the FSA authorization is the key anyway."

The FSA are a regulatory body. The banking code is surely just a code? The FSA has teeth and has defined compensation.

masonic

coconut wrote:

Should you be putting money in with an Indian bank that has not signed up to the UK banking code yet Look what happened to BCCI 10 years ago, the greedy punters never got their money back

As Dodgybloke suggests, the Banking Code does nothing to protect anyone from a bank engaging in money laundering and the other criminal activities that contributed to the demise of BCCI. ICICI are registered with the FSA just like any other bank. It is the FSA regulations that protect us from another BCCI.

Incidentally, they have signed up to the Banking Code, but their application is still pending. No doubt they still have a lot to do in terms of customer service before they will be accepted.

T'Pau

ICICI appears in the Sun best buy table. Does that not count?