Santander eSaver?

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Catbells wrote: »

You need to know its SPam before you go to the spam button. How do you recognise spam? Please tell me then I will know in future.

Most start with copy & paste link in your browser, and are nearly always newbies.

shepwood

you really should read this forum before venturing into the black hole of internet banking known as Santander, if your lucky no problem, as for my E saver its now been two months and counting and i still cant access the account online. Try the ING internet account, quick to set up but only competitive for one year only, might help until you find a long term home for your funds:beer:

Catbells

KiKi wrote: »

I don't understand these sentences fully, but make sure you do:
"The guarantee that you will receive the money you invested and the minimum return at maturity is provided by Santander Guarantee Company, a wholly owned direct subsidiary of Santander UK plc. Investors in the plan are exposed to Santander Guarantee Company’s ability to pay which is dependent on Santander UK plc and its subsidiaries continuing to be able to meet their financial obligations. The Investment Company will enter into financial transactions with Abbey National Treasury Services plc which are designed to generate the returns under the Plan. These financial transactions will not be secured. In relation to the two points listed immediately above, in the unlikely event that Santander UK plc was to collapse, you may lose some or all of your money."

Thanks. But don't ALL investments carry the same risk as this. That's to say you run a risk that you will lose everything when investing. At the end of the day it seems to be minimising the risk which partly determines whether you will or not. The million dollar knack of being able to divine this or going for 'low risk' investments. I would say that Santander is a pretty sound place to put your money. It has Royal Bank of Scotland as its partner which is also sound.

KiKi

Catbells wrote: »

Thanks. But don't ALL investments carry the same risk as this. That's to say you run a risk that you will lose everything when investing. At the end of the day it seems to be minimising the risk which partly determines whether you will or not. The million dollar knack of being able to divine this or going for 'low risk' investments. I would say that Santander is a pretty sound place to put your money. It has Royal Bank of Scotland as its partner which is also sound.

I agree that Santander is pretty sound. I'm honestly not trying to put you off, just trying to understand why you suddenly think investing is better for you, just because someone at Santander told you it was what you needed!

It sounded like you wanted to put money away for a while to make some interest, rather than start investing in the stock market. If your aim is to make money, investing doesn't necessarily give you a higher return. That Santander account is 10% return. You would make more putting it in a 3% savings account each year. Obviously there is potential for a higher return on the investment account, but there's no guarantee.

If you want to invest - but take the safest investment going because it's risky - why not just save instead??!!!

Obviously, it's your money and up to you! I am just surprised; in your first post you were asking what a variable rate was, and were using the term 'investing' when you meant 'saving', and didn't seem to know much about saving such a large sum of money. And yet on the advice of a Santander advisor you you've suddenly decided to invest all your cash instead, when you know very little about savings, ISAs or unit trusts!

I think you need to be clear on what you want from your money before you decide whether to invest or save (or both); don't be swayed by bank staff working on commission.

Good luck with it all anyway.
KiKi

Acremead

Happychappy wrote: »

I wouldn't go near Santandar with a barge pole, their customer service is appalling :mad:

Agreed. I tried to open an e-saver account. Over an eight hour period I was passed from pillar to post- the online application failed to make sense, I tried phoning and was given false information (To get me off the line and keep the call stats looking good??), went into a branch and was told I'd have to come back another day. Gave up and tried next day with the Barnsley BS, who set me up via the internet in literally 10 mins (I was an existing customer with both, so no need for ID checks).

OK, I get 2.5% instead of 2.75%. but what price peace of mind? I think it's a mistake to go chasing the headline grabbing returns without checking out service. Do a search for Santander and see what experiences others have had............

xrjtg

Catbells, there are few things going on here.

Savings v Investments

I think you have this sorted by now, but I'll reiterate. Savings accounts pay you an amount of interest specified in advance, with no risk at all if you stay under the limit of £50000 (rising to around £80000 later in the year) per institution. The term investments is usually used for other things you can do with your money, and consequently one word covers a huge range of possibilities.

Typical investments include shares (buying parts of companies in return for a share of their future earnings), bonds (lending money to companies at a fixed rate of interest with the risk that they may not pay you back) and funds of these where you pool your money with other investors and allow someone else to manage the money to achieve greater diversification than you could alone.

Historically, investments have on average outperformed savings, but it makes a big difference which part of the investment universe you're looking at.

Banks give bad advice

If you were to decide that some kind of investment was the right thing for you, you'd still need to decide which particular kid. The important thing to remember here is that banks give bad advice. They offer only their own limited range of products, and you will normally speak with a salesperson, rather than an advisor acting in your best interests.

Structured products

You appear to have been offered what is known as a structured product. A hedge fund manager once enthusiastically explained to me how these work. First they buy as many gilts (very safe Government debt) as are necessary to fund the guaranteed part of the product. They then borrow two or three times what's left and invest it using exotic strategies that should pay off in a rising market. If the market does indeed rise then you, the customer, get given a small part of the gains. If it doesn't then they owe you nothing extra, and won't lose too much because the money they started with was yours.

I've overstated and oversimplified that slightly, but the basic point holds: structured products are a combination of a safe and a risky investment which can often be replicated cheaper elsewhere.

Don't do anything you don't fully understand or aren't happy with. We'll do our best to offer general pointers where we can.

Catbells

KIKI and xrjtg - I am still deciding what to do but finding out what the options are. I don't want to 'save' as in putting an amount away monthly/weekly or whatever. I want to put a large sum - £50 - away for several years and want the best returns on that. I'm looking at different options and taking in what I read on here (thanks all) and am going to great lengths to see if it suits me - not easy when you're not from a financial background. The important thing is the term 'guaranteed' and if I come out at the end of 5 years with a greater amount in savings or investments then I will go with that option.

I do realise kiki that banks (Santander in this case) are out to sell. However if the product is good then it would be foolish not to go with it just because you don't like the sales pitch. Am having another meeting with a more senior person there next week and will be well armed with questions thanks to all here.

XRTG - Granted the banks give self interested advice so where would you suggest to go for impartial good advice?

flyingswan

I wouldn't recommend Santander for anything

All banks and building societies are bad at customer service, but this organisation is unbeatable ;o)

my current account has been with Alliance & Leicester for over 20 years, and before that with Girobank, and I had no quibbles with their service, but since A&L were bought up by Santander, things have drastically fallen apart

1) they insult their existing customers by only providing decent interest rates to new cutomers
2) all their customer srevices use premium rate 0844 numbers
3) their internet banking service is unresponsive, arrogant and uncommunicative, and constantly prompts the user to download a vicious piece of software called rapport which turns your pc into a comatose piece of scrap metal
4) they never advise when an interest rate changes or a 'bonus' rate expires

Yes they offer the best interest rate on a current account (for NEW customers only !!!!!) but as an involuntary customer of theirs I cant wait to get my (substantial) money away from them

DON'T give Santander more power by investing with them. Defend your rights as a BRITISH saver and demand government action NOW !!!!!

KiKi

Catbells wrote: »

KIKI and xrjtg - I am still deciding what to do but finding out what the options are. I don't want to 'save' as in putting an amount away monthly/weekly or whatever. I want to put a large sum - £50 - away for several years and want the best returns on that.

I understand you want to put a large amount away. But saving doesn't have to be weekly or monthly. It can be for several years. You can save in fixed bonds for several years, or in fixed term savings accounts.

Similarly, you can invest your money for several years. Just don't be fooled into thinking that one is longer-term, it doesn't have to be!

The important thing is the term 'guaranteed' and if I come out at the end of 5 years with a greater amount in savings or investments then I will go with that option.

The only guaranteed return will be on savings. You will come out with a greater amount, guaranteed. Aldermore, for example, offer a 5-year fixed term savings account. 4.5% interest a year. That's more than 22.5% over 5 years, once interested is compounded. Beats Santander hands down. http://www.aldermore.co.uk/savings/fixed-rate.aspx


I don't have any kind of financial background either, which is why I'm just urging caution. You want a guaranteed return, for a few years. That automatically suggests to me that investing isn't right for you, as the only 'guaranteed' investments have poor rates. Savings accounts, on the other hand, are guaranteed and offer much higher rates.

The salesperson at Santander will be thrilled you want to save or invest £50K with them. They will tell you anything! If you really want to invest your money and don't just want a good savings account then go and see an Independent Financial Advisor. But a guaranteed investment isn't going to come with a good rate of interest.

KiKi

jayship

They are not what it sounds as the returns are very low and probably tracks an index. There are too many hurdles and i personally would keep away. Read the small print carefully if you were to proceed. 10% (maybe more????) works out @2% a year. Check the website of the State Bank of India as they offer a far better rate in their Step up bond where u can withdraw the funds at each anniversary after the end of the 2nd year and still qualify for the corresponding interest. They are members of the FSA and your investment is covered upto £50000.