Tesco Internet Saver

retiree

Tesco Bank increased the interest rates on Internet Saver on 3rd February, but this increase only applies to new applications. Does anyone know a way to switch from the old account to the new with minimum fuss?

SnowMan

What you are referring to is that the Tesco intenet saver for new applicants from 3rd February now offers 2.7% including a 1.45% bonus for 12 months.

Existing Tesco internet savers (within the 12 month bonus period) will probably be getting 2.6% which includes a 1.35% bonus.

In the past it has been possible to open a new internet saver for example to get the 2.7% rate. You have to close the old internet saver (i.e. 2.6% account) at the same time because only one account can get the bonus at any one time. But you would need to check the terms and conditions to see if that is the case here and you might need to clarify with Tescos.

In the past doing this caused some practical problems with existing payees attached to the account which could only be resolved by calling Tescos so be aware that could happen.

I've only got a very small amount in the old Tesco account so probably won't bother to switch but that is an individual choice.

It is an excellent account by the way because of the ability to both move 10K in and out daily through faster payments and because you can transfer money out to different accounts by setting them up as payees through the card reader technology. So might be worth considering compared to accounts with a slightly higher rate.

redmalc

Hi just to advise i have substantial funds in the Tesco account earning 2.6% and just called them because we have a bond which matures next week and if they agreed to increase the interest to 2.7% without all the fuss of shutting and opening accounts iwould have deposited the bonds funds.They advised they would not up the interest and they were prepared to lose an account in excess of 180K so that answers the question,So has anyone got any advice where i can move the funds easily with decent service

evenasus

There's this Post Office instant access account paying (including bonus) 2.9%

http://www.postoffice.co.uk/portal/po/content1?catId=19300232&mediaId=126000768

Or Coventry BS paying 3.05% with 30 days notice or 30 days loss of interest.

Ifts

redmalc - You might have your reasons for having the £180K in easy access savings accounts, but if you don't require easy access on the whole £180K maybe put some of it in a fixed rate bond to get a better return on your money.

Firstsave are offering a 1 year fixed rate savings bond paying 3.25%

Sisyphean_Task

redmalc wrote: »

Hi just to advise i have substantial funds in the Tesco account earning 2.6% and just called them because we have a bond which matures next week and if they agreed to increase the interest to 2.7% without all the fuss of shutting and opening accounts iwould have deposited the bonds funds.They advised they would not up the interest and they were prepared to lose an account in excess of 180K so that answers the question,So has anyone got any advice where i can move the funds easily with decent service

I presume you know only the first £85k is backed by the FSCS scheme - unless it's a joint account so £170k?

One complication with Tesco upping your interest rate on an existing account is that the bonus runs for 12 months from opening. If you want to stay with Tesco, just open a new account for £1 then when it is open transfer the money across.

jennifernil

M&S are doing a 3 year fix paying 3.5%. However you can withdraw it all for a flat fee of £100.

Gaffy

Why they couldn't just increase the variable standard rate as opposed to the fixed rate part I never know, after all it is supposed to be "variable".

I've just applied for a new account a week ago, so I've now got to go through all the hassle of cancelling it within the 14 day period and re-applying again.

claire07

Anyone with an existing Internet Saver find that when they try to open a new account with the 2.70 rate the paperwork they send gives the 2.60 rate? I thought I'd open a new account first and transfer the money over to the new one, but now this has happened I don't know whether to close the old account totally first and then open a new one. I'll ring them to confirm how to get the better rate but just wondered how others had done it.

psychic_teabag

I had a feeling I saw somewhere that you're only allowed the bonus on one account, so if you already have an account you wouldn't get the bonus. But I might be thinking of someone else. Ah, I see SnowMan made the same point above.

Gaffy

Gaffy wrote: »

Why they couldn't just increase the variable standard rate as opposed to the fixed rate part I never know, after all it is supposed to be "variable".

I've just applied for a new account a week ago, so I've now got to go through all the hassle of cancelling it within the 14 day period and re-applying again.

Just got confirmation that my second account @ 2.7% is now opened. I phoned them up to confirm that it is indeed 2.7% and also asked them to transfer the remaining balance from the first account to the second and then finally to close the first account. A bit of hassle but at least we got there in the end.

I'm not sure if other people can do this as my first account was still within the 14 day cancellation period but I guess there's no harm in trying.