Natwest/RBS 2.85% esaver

Rollinghome

SimonM wrote: »

I don't really understand why it only starts half way through a month though, it all seems a bit un-necessary, but obviously a reason for it somewhere.

I'd suggest because they know the bonus rate will appear in this weekend's finance page savings charts but they won't need to pay the bonus rate to anyone applying now for another six weeks.

alanq

SilentMinority wrote: »

As this is the RBS version of the account, ...

The title of this thread gives the impression that the RBS and Natwest products are the same thing. However,the RBS branded version of the account is Direct Saver which has tiered interest rates. It pays lower rates than Natwest branded e-Savings for deposits of less than £50K.
http://www.rbs.co.uk/personal/savings/g1/instant-access/direct-saver.ashx#section3
http://www.natwest.com/personal/savings/g1/instant-access/e-savings.ashx

psychic_teabag

SilentMinority wrote: »

As this is the RBS version of the account, the condition "Your bonus interest will be applied from the last business day of the month following the month in which your account is opened" applies. Therefore the bonus interest will not start to be applied until 29/10/10.

I just got my natwest welcome pack too. The footnote on p40 of "Important Information" boolet says the same :

Interest is paid monthly to the account along with the standard interest payment. The bonus interest will be applied from the last business day of the month following the month in which the account is opened. It will be paid monthly along with the standard interest payment.

So I'm even more confused now. Does "applied" mean earned, or paid ? I assume earned, since if they'd meant paid, they'd have just said paid. And no mention at all of the 15th of any month.

I've not yet found this booket on the web site. The wording is similar to for the esavings account in the savings_summary_box.pdf on the site, though that seems to have not been updated for the new offer.

Some of the other accounts in the summary-box file do mention the 15th of the month following the month of opening, but they are unambiguoius, since they say the bonus is calculated from that date.

neilsedaka

For me the terminology is critical.

The date that interest starts to be *earned* is not necessarily the date that interest is *applied* or *paid* or *added*. I am assuming that *applied* and *paid* and *added* all mean the same thing. From my chat and phone call with NatWest I still think that

(1) standard interest and bonus interest start to be *earned* from the day that the account is open
(2) standard interest is *added* to the account on the last day of each month
(3) bonus interest is *added* to the account on the 15th day of each month

I will be interested to see what interest has been *added* to my account on 15th October to prove that (1) and (3) are correct.

oldfella

I reckon that applied and earned mean the same

alanq

My view, ignoring all that is on the website and all that has been posted here and simply reading the Ts&Cs from p40 of Important Information

"Interest is paid monthly to the account along with the standard interest payment. The bonus interest will be applied from the last business day of the month following the month in which the account is opened. It will be paid monthly along with the standard interest payment. "
Applied=earned.
Normal interest earned from date account is opened and paid on the last business day of the month.
Bonus interest earned from last business day of the month following the account being opened. So not earned from day 1, not earned from 15th of the following month. Thus I will not enjoy the advertised rate until 30th November. Bonus interest paid on the last business day of a month so no bonus paid to me until 31st December.

My view is supported by the sentence on p40.
"The Gross and AER rates are applicable from the start date of the bonus." If bonus was being earned from opening date then this would not need to be said.

So what happened to the 15th? What a shambles! Natwest produces more paper and online Ts&Cs to open an account than any other provider that I have dealt with and yet provides so little useful information.

neilsedaka

Page 40 of the Terms and Conditions booklet dated 22 September 2010 that arrived in the post today says "Including bonus rate of 1.85% Gross for customers who open an account from 22 September to 31 December 2010". The Net rate is stated as 2.82%.

alanq

neilsedaka wrote: »

The Net rate is stated as 2.82%.

As was the case online initially before being corrected to 2.28%.

psychic_teabag

neilsedaka wrote: »

For me the terminology is critical.

The date that interest starts to be *earned* is not necessarily the date that interest is *applied* or *paid* or *added*. I am assuming that *applied* and *paid* and *added* all mean the same thing. From my chat and phone call with NatWest I still think that

(1) standard interest and bonus interest start to be *earned* from the day that the account is open
(2) standard interest is *added* to the account on the last day of each month
(3) bonus interest is *added* to the account on the 15th day of each month

I just had another online chat... "applied" means "paid". The bonus period runs from 15th to 15th, and the bonus interest is paid at the end of the month.

I've not found in the T&C any mention of the 15th of the month as being the start of a bonus period.

alanq

I can do without all this. They'll not get more than the opening £1 from me until 1st December that way (I hope) I know what rate I'll be getting.