High interest saving accounts for charities?

your_evil_twin

I know this site is mainly for personal savers, but I am trying to do some fact finding for a charity which has recently come into some money due to the sale of a property. Investments are very low return at the moment and usually are for a number of years, and so we are looking for details on saving accounts.

We don't mind being locked in by a particular interest rate for a certain amount of time, but we must be able to access the money if necessary.

We have come across a few good ones for personal savers but they are usually not available to charities or businesses. For charities and business accounts there aren't many details available on bank websites. Does anyone know the best banks / accounts for an amount around one million?

Santander were quite helpful when I phoned. Halifax were a little awkward as they said I would need to come into a branch, and I pointed out that we now have inventions like the telephone and the computer, so I wouldn't have to run around all over London, and they did give me some details.

NatWest were not very forthcoming. They refused to give any details on their interest rates until I had given them my name and were very insistent about which charity and whether we had an account with them. I felt like a criminal! I joked that I didn't know their interest rates and their terms and conditions were a national secret!

Baldur

Entering 'charity deposit account' into an internet search engine returns around 2.5 million hits.

For example, http://www.co-operativebank.co.uk/servlet/Satellite/1196151412581,CFSweb/Page/Business-CommunityBanking or http://www.fairinvestment.co.uk/charity_savings_accounts.aspx?cmpid=005

alanq

Is an online account suitable for your charity? Don't charities usually have complicated requirements regarding how many out of a number of people are required to authorise a transfer up to a specified amount?

your_evil_twin

Well it seems that a 'charity deposit account' is good for actual banking, but the interests rates are very poor, so no use for actual saving, though better than investments or bonds.

The best offer I've found so far is 1.84% for Santander's Reward Saver account, if you keep the money in the account, until you make a withdrawal and then it drops to 0.1%. Their Direct Saver account has a rate of 1%. Natwest Direct Reserve has 1.25% gross (net 1%).

The RBS one you linked to has a great rate of 3.85% but you have to keep the money in for three years. The Scottish Widows one is 1.85% but the sum can't be above £50,000.

Many thanks though, I'll keep looking into it.

opinions4u

your_evil_twin wrote: »

The Scottish Widows one is 1.85% but the sum can't be above £50,000.

Many thanks though, I'll keep looking into it.

The Scottish Widows limit is £5m, not £50k.

http://www.scottishwidows.co.uk/bank/savings/charity_interest_rates.html

Maximum Balance £5,000,000

martinman3

your_evil_twin wrote: »

Well it seems that a 'charity deposit account' is good for actual banking, but the interests rates are very poor, so no use for actual saving, though better than investments or bonds.

The best offer I've found so far is 1.84% for Santander's Reward Saver account, if you keep the money in the account, until you make a withdrawal and then it drops to 0.1%. Their Direct Saver account has a rate of 1%. Natwest Direct Reserve has 1.25% gross (net 1%).

If you want instant access then the best account that I know of is the Harpenden BS Premier Business account, 2.0% AER min £5000, 25 free withdrawals per year, can be operated by post.
http://www.harpendenbs.co.uk/business-notice.asp