M&S 0% 15 months - Where's the best place to put the stoozed funds?

COOLTRIKERCHICK

The_Enforcer wrote: »

I already have the FD current account, it was our first choice for a joint account, already got the £100 bonus, wages cover the required payments. Have you already subscribed to an ISA for 2011/12?

no i havent...

I have had a brief look at ISA's and the interest rates seem lower than the rate that lloyds are offering in their Vantage accounts..

Have you opened a Halifax and RBS bank account? as you could use the money from the travellers cheques to rotate between the accounts and earn you £5 per account each month..

basically if you only get a credit card limit of 1k or a little more... use it to meet the bank accounts min monthly money paid in... set up a DD so that the 1k is paid on a rotation between the accounts..

http://www.halifax.co.uk/bankaccounts/

The_Enforcer

I opened the Halifax Reward only last week. My intention is to pay some of my wages in there each month (and then transfer them back to my FD account again). I didn't realise RBS did a similar account?

COOLTRIKERCHICK

The_Enforcer wrote: »

I opened the Halifax Reward only last week. My intention is to pay some of my wages in there each month (and then transfer them back to my FD account again). I didn't realise RBS did a similar account?

yes they do, they are part of Halifax,

I have 2 Halifax accounts and 1 RBS account..

in hte begining people were opening 2 - 3 accounts each, but some people were getting some of hteir accounts closed, so i stayed with the above.. and for hte last year plus everything is ok...

I rotate 1k between the above accounts, and one of my lloyds account to meet the min amount to get their rewards....

so basically £15 per month 'interest/reward' is the best return you will get anywhere.

I cant open anymore Halifax accounts in my name....so i either open them in my hubby's name, or do something with First Direct..

I dont want hte money tied up, as i might need to need my paws on it, if something does happen...

The_Enforcer

I thought it was BoS not RBS that were part of that group, but I understand the process and the decent return from it, compared with alternative saving options. I'll certainly look into that if I end up with a relatively low credit limit, but enough to cover the respective minimum payments.

I can also see that even if you put the funds in an easy access ISA, there may be a delay in retrieving them. The funds are usually only accessible quickly if you have them in an ISA with a linked current account - this is the situation with my E-ISA at Natwest.

COOLTRIKERCHICK

The_Enforcer wrote: »

I thought it was BoS not RBS that were part of that group, but I understand the process and the decent return from it, compared with alternative saving options. I'll certainly look into that if I end up with a relatively low credit limit, but enough to cover the respective minimum payments.

I can also see that even if you put the funds in an easy access ISA, there may be a delay in retrieving them. The funds are usually only accessible quickly if you have them in an ISA with a linked current account - this is the situation with my E-ISA at Natwest.

Regardless how much you get with te M&S CC if you can 'juggle' things around re- min deposit i would def open more Halifax RBS accounts...or for peace of mind use 1k of the travelle's cheques to rotate around 3 RBS/Halifax accounts, and just leave it for 14 months... as there is no way you would get £15 per month interest on 1k IYSWIM..

The_Enforcer

Sounds like good advice, my only reservations are:

1. I've already got opened a couple of recent current accounts, so opening others in the near future could damage my credit rating - the 'partner' option might be the best way to avoid this.

2. Once I have these accounts open, I have enough time between payday and the majority of the main direct debits going out, to shuffle my wage around the relevant current accounts via the faster payment method, so I don't need to borrow in order to do meet the accounts' minimum funding requirements. This leaves the stoozed money to go in an ISA/RS type account.

I'll certainly look into it more closely, though.

CreditCruncher

Could anyone here list the names of banks/building societies who accept the Sterling traveler's cheques without charging a fee?

1.Nationwide
2.
3.

YorkshireBoy

CreditCruncher wrote: »

Could anyone here list the names of banks/building societies who accept the Sterling traveler's cheques without charging a fee?

1.Nationwide
2.
3.

LTSB have encashed them for me previously...large amounts and multiple transactions in the same day at different branches, plus they once cleared them for cash same day. A&L (pre-Santander takeover) told me they would encash them fee-free but I never used them.

You may find further details in the original thread on the stoozing site...

http://www.stoozing.com/forum/YaBB.pl?num=1159043738/0

The thread started out a good few years ago but the banks used then may give you some pointers which you may follow up now to check policy hasn't changed.

There's also some more recent threads on the stoozing site where this stooz has been further discussed. Have a nosey around the site and/or find them with the search tool.

CreditCruncher

Thanks YorkshireBoy.
I did have a read through the original thread which was very detailed & helpful. But I wanted to know the current situation & the banks which accept TC's fee fee as the original thread was from 2007.
I'll go through the recent threads as advised by you.

The_Enforcer

I asked at Halifax and Natwest branches last weekend. They both indicated they would allow me to pay them in without charge, although for the former I didn't stress that the travellers cheques were from M&S.

Please let us know what you find out and update your list on this thread and I shall update it too when I speak to more banks.