MSE News: Savers unwilling to switch despite paltry rates

baby_boomer

Primrose wrote: »

.Why on earth can't the banking industry, with all the money they have floating around in their coffers, set up an industry-wide database so that once an individual has gone through the Money Laundering identification process, they are a permanent fixture on the database as far as identify is concerned.

My guess is that's it would be illegal.

And I thought that international requirements required the banks to make more money in order to boost their capital so that we are protected in future? The charge against them is that they haven't enough money given the nature of banking.

Regarding the apathetic and ignorant savers - you can take a horse to water.....

I wouldn't waste time on those who don't want to help themselves.

LardyCake

baby_boomer wrote: »

...
And I thought that international requirements required the banks to make more money in order to boost their capital so that we are protected in future? ...

So that is why they are paying billions in bonuses then? [sorry a bit OT and not intended to derail the original topic but...]

jennifernil

PhylPho wrote: »

No mention of it in Guy's piece, but fair do's: hats off to the AA.

The bulk of our savings have accumulated over the years in ISAs, so we only keep £6,000 as emergency "rainy day" instant access contingency in an online account.

We popped it into the then top-ranked AA Internet Extra Saver 12 months ago. That 'product' has indeed ended its lifetime, so has reverted to 0.5%, a fact the AA makes abundantly clear. But the AA is now offering Internet Extra Issue 4, which pays 2.6%. About which it says in a prominent announcement on its home page:

Existing savers

If you would now like to transfer your existing AA Internet Extra into our Issue 4, just call us on 0845 603 3358. We will transfer your account on the day you call.

We find that kind of conduct exemplary: it's been our experience with other providers that they'd rather you went off and grubbed aro;und to find a better savings rate elsewhere, rather than offering to ease you -- instantly -- into a decent account.

So OK, 2.6% doesn't rank in Guy's table as best-of-best. But I'm not about to mess around changing providers for the sake of so small a benefit (others here will be far better at doing the math than I am, so what's the difference on £6,000 for 12 months at 2.6% and £6,000 for 12 months at 2.9%???)

The MSE "Warning!" relating to 2010 Best Buys like the AA, Coventry, Santander and Ulster Bank says 'Check ASAP and ditch & switch'. That may be appropriate in some cases, but where we're concerned, ditching the AA and switching to a different provider is definitely not worth the bother.

Well done, AA, for notifying customers of the ending of one rate and allowing them instantly to transfer their funds to another account at a much higher rate.

* Have just done what I *think* is the math in my case: £6,000 at 2.6: £156 gross interest; £6,000 at 2.9: £174 gross interest. That's eighteen quid. Well, if I can't find that eighteen quid during the year from shopping savings, then I'm not much of an MSEr.

You could be getting 4% in a Lloyds Vantage account.