A&L 5.38% Direct Saver

Bisoy

tonyg wrote:

I just phoned them up and they said - if you make any withdrawal you always lose a months interest. Totally confused!

Not if you withdraw on the 1st of the month as you have your interest paid but won't get any interest for the rest of that month.

tonyg_2

Bisoy wrote:

Not if you withdraw on the 1st of the month as you have your interest paid but won't get any interest for the rest of that month.

Based upon this (which I think is different to what my CS advisor said) then a good strategy might be to ensure that not only you make withdrawals on the 1st of the month but to ensure that the WHOLE amount of any balance account is always withdrawn at this point - then you can always redeposit a month later.

Using this strategy then you won't lose any interest at all.

Does this make sense???

MarkyMarkD

Yes, Tony.

You always need to withdraw ALL the money (except the £1 to keep the account open) on the first day of a month, if you want to avoid losing interest.

If you really only wanted a small amount, you have to put the "spare" money somewhere else for the rest of the month, and then return it to the A&L Direct Saver.

It is definitely NOT a sensible account to put short-term money in. Use it for your long-term "rainy day" money and stick anything you might likely need in the next few months (say) in a different account.

My Direct Saver contains money which I will use to pay off part of my mortgage when my mortgage rate increases next year (as currently mortgage rate < Direct Saver rate) and savings I might need earlier are in different accounts.

Bisoy

tonyg wrote:

Based upon this (which I think is different to what my CS advisor said) then a good strategy might be to ensure that not only you make withdrawals on the 1st of the month but to ensure that the WHOLE amount of any balance account is always withdrawn at this point - then you can always redeposit a month later.

Using this strategy then you won't lose any interest at all.

Does this make sense???

Tony SPOT ON. As what Mark said you just need to leave a nominal £1 then redeposit again when you have some funds.

ReportInvestor

Any comment from Martin or MMD about this link to an oldfella post?

Seriously bad news for anyone without an A&L current account?

"I can confirm that the daily limit on transfers from your DirectSaver account to a Current Account not with the Alliance & Leicester is £1,000." - [A&L]

---

there is a £25K daily limit to transfer to a A&L account

I [oldfella] have asked them to confirm this - if its true it obviously means it will take 3 months to withdraw the maximum £100K - during which you earn no interest.

To say nothing of the hassle .

dogstupid

Thanks for posting that!

If this limit of £1000 per day to transfer money out is true then I'm about to close my account. This would be an appalling way for a genuine savings account to operate.

I only found out about the 25k limit when I tried to transfer in a lump sum in after the account was opened. I have transfers set up for next week which I'll cancel until the situation is clear.

Why isn't this important information made clear without having to ask A&L ? I'm getting the feeling of being conned and that isn't good for new customer satisfaction.

dogstupid

Oddly my transfers I setup for next week have vanished from the list of pending transfers. This isn't inspiring confidence in their reliability.

KTF

ReportInvestor wrote:

Any comment from Martin or MMD about this link to an oldfella post?

Seriously bad news for anyone without an A&L current account?



To say nothing of the hassle .

I paid in more than 25k into the account by phoning them up. If you transfer online then the max is 25k.

I would assume it works the other way around as well.

oldfella

Seriously bad news for anyone without an A&L current account?

Quote:
"I can confirm that the daily limit on transfers from your DirectSaver account to a Current Account not with the Alliance & Leicester is £1,000." - [A&L]

---

there is a £25K daily limit to transfer to a A&L account

I [oldfella] have asked them to confirm this - if its true it obviously means it will take 3 months to withdraw the maximum £100K - during which you earn no interest.

---

latest news from A&L

The daily transfer limit online is actually £10,000 per day. I do apologise if we have informed you incorrectly previously. The limits are set to reduce risk and maintain security, if you wanted a larger value sending, please call us on 08703 333444 and an advisor will assist you further.

do you think they make it up as they go along ?

Mike

whambamboo

oldfella wrote:

Seriously bad news for anyone without an A&L current account?

Quote:
"I can confirm that the daily limit on transfers from your DirectSaver account to a Current Account not with the Alliance & Leicester is £1,000." - [A&L]

---

there is a £25K daily limit to transfer to a A&L account

I [oldfella] have asked them to confirm this - if its true it obviously means it will take 3 months to withdraw the maximum £100K - during which you earn no interest.

---

latest news from A&L

The daily transfer limit online is actually £10,000 per day. I do apologise if we have informed you incorrectly previously. The limits are set to reduce risk and maintain security, if you wanted a larger value sending, please call us on 08703 333444 and an advisor will assist you further.

do you think they make it up as they go along ?

Mike

Still £10k is pretty useless.