Natwest/RBS 2.85% esaver

claire07

Following buffman's post I rang Natwest and they confirm his view, that as I opened the account 5 October the bonus applies from 15 November to 14 November this year, so maybe it is only ones who opened in September who are receiving letters.

alanq

I applied on the day that the eSaver bonus was launched but for unknown reasons they sent me paperwork to complete which their own site said would not be required for customers who already had online banking. Therefore the date my account was up and running was some time after it was opened online.

NatWest have really shot themselves in the foot. If it was known that the bonus would end on a certain date people might have stuck it out until the end. As it is people like myself don't know, or are unsure that NatWest will know, the correct dates and have decided to move their funds out well before the earliest possible end of the bonus. So the offer of an extension / new account may be coming in good time but it doesn't seem that way.

I gave instructions in branch on Monday for my account containing £1 to be closed. When I last looked it is still open. Incompetence or hoping to keep me when the new offer is announced?

RetiredInThailand

claire07 wrote: »

..... so maybe it is only ones who opened in September who are receiving letters.

This could well be the case. My existing eSaver bonus account was a replacement for the previous year's one, and it started in October 2010 with the first bonus paid in November 2010.

I'm actually looking at the NatWest 3 year step bond (3%, 4%, 5%, all paid monthly and gross) for most of the balance anyway, but it would be nice to retain the eSaver with bonus as it is very convenient to transfer amounts from my current account with NatWest online banking. Combined with my NatWest credit card it more or less gives me a current account paying nearly 3%, which isn't bad these days.

gocat

Same here (re confusion of selective renewal of esaver). I have now moved the bulk of mine to Santander but can only put so much there. Was looking for somewhere to put the remainder but might hold on a week now to see if I get a letter. Really hope so as hate the hassle of setting up new accounts elsewhere. Have been with natwest 30+ years and love the ease of transferring money between esaver and current account etc.
Hubby had about £6000 in his esaver and was going to look around to put it elsewhere. Will tell him to hang on a week or to phone natwest.

Edited to say, we opened our esaver account 06 October 2010 and no letter yet

gocat

RetiredInThailand wrote: »

I have in excess of 100K in an eSaver: no letter yet.

Isnt it a bit iffy having so much in one account:eek:. Thought one is only protected for up to £85000 if the bank gets into trouble.

RetiredInThailand

gocat wrote: »

Isnt it a bit iffy having so much in one account. Thought one is only protected for up to £85000 if the bank gets into trouble.

That's true, but I think that the likelihood of NatWest/RBS (now largely owned by the UK government) defaulting on anything is very low indeed.

I'm more concerned about the much larger amount that I have with another giant UK bank in the IOM, where the deposit protection insurance is only GBP50K, and is probably not worth the paper it's written on anyway.

For some unknown reason, it is quite hard to find deposit accounts onshore that will pay interest gross for non-residents (subject to R105) or even, in many cases, open an account at all for non-residents. I am currently moving as much as possible onshore though, and a lot more will be onshore before the end of the year. But it's a slow process, due to the money-laundering requirements and all the form-filling and photocopies.
I would be much more into UK gilts now, if they weren't so expensive. I do intend to move more into those when prices drop.

In the end, if the big dominoes ever actually start falling I doubt there will be many still standing when the dust settles. So we just have to hope that they don't start. _pale_

fizzypop

home_alone wrote: »

From the horses mouth (Nat West) today, only customers that opened their accounts on the 29/30 sep 2010 are getting letters but wait for it new e savings rates are being announced next week and they are supposed to better than the out going 2.89%.

I would be interested to see if any letters went to customers with other opening dates that would suggest that the info is not exactly true.

Talk to customer services or the on line chat line they are more chatty than the last time I asked the same questions (monday)

No sign of new a/c this Monday morning on Natwest website, or on offer when you log in to your existing accounts.

home_alone

fizzypop wrote: »

No sign of new a/c this Monday morning on Natwest website, or on offer when you log in to your existing accounts.

Its exactly 1 week since I was told, although they never answered my e mail query I made on the same subject earlier.

8:12 is a little bit early

alanq

Several other providers' instant access accounts with unlimited withdrawals that have been offering 3.00-3.25% are no longer available. As far as I can see only ING is now offering 3.00% with unlimited penalty-free withdrawals.

I would be surprised if NatWest does more than extend the term of the bonus - unless it introduces a new account with strings attached.

jamesd

Don't be too quick to close these accounts. No letter for me but online banking tells me ""We are extending the period of bonus interest on your e-Savings account. This means you will continue to earn an additional 1.85% Gross p.a. (fixed) on your savings until 14th February 2012. There is nothing for you to do now but if you'd like to make the most of your bonus interest you can transfer additional money to your account today".

If there's a new account launched with better rates and the same Faster Payments access I'd use that instead, else it's a nice extension.