Impressed with YBS Regular Saver

Quietgirl

Hi I opened a Yorkshire Building Society regular saver the other day in their branch. I was really impressed with the customer service. The nice lady advised me to set up a standing order for the minimum amount of £10 so I didn't miss a month. She told me that I could pay in at branch as often as I liked as long as I did not go over the £500. I was quite impressed with the fact that I can make more than 1 monthly payment. I have a Halifax 7% regular saver, but I don't particularly like the Halifax. Although its .25% higher that this regular saver I think its worth losing the slight difference in interest for the ability to make more than one payment into the account a month and for it to continue upto £20,000 which I think would take me years to do. I am saving for a car for when I hopefully pass my driving test.

Kazza242

Quietgirl wrote:

Hi I opened a Yorkshire Building Society regular saver the other day in their branch. I was really impressed with the customer service. The nice lady advised me to set up a standing order for the minimum amount of £10 so I didn't miss a month. She told me that I could pay in at branch as often as I liked as long as I did not go over the £500. I was quite impressed with the fact that I can make more than 1 monthly payment. I have a Halifax 7% regular saver, but I don't particularly like the Halifax. Although its .25% higher that this regular saver I think its worth losing the slight difference in interest for the ability to make more than one payment into the account a month and for it to continue upto £20,000 which I think would take me years to do. I am saving for a car for when I hopefully pass my driving test.

I have both regular savers from YBS and Halifax and I agree with what you've said. YBS' customer service is excellent. When I go into my local branch to make a deposit over the counter, I have never had to wait more than a couple of minutes. Their staff always approach me and ask if I need help. How many other banks/building societies would do that? YBS seem to focus their attentions very much on the customer.

I also agree with your comments regarding YBS' regular saver. Compared to other regular savers it is very flexible. In that you can make more than one payment each month (up to £500), make 1 penalty free withdrawal a year, you can pay in over the counter, by standing order or cheque and can build up the balance to £20,000. Some savers have overlooked this regular saver and have gone for those that run for only 12 months that pay 7% and above. If BOE base rate increases in February, as many economists have predicted, then YBS may increase their regular saver rate to 7%. I'm sure it will get a lot more attention should that occur.

venkat_2

can u set up the standing order from another institution, or does the standing order have to come from a current account within YBS?

thanks in advance

venkat

tom188

venkat wrote:

can u set up the standing order from another institution, or does the standing order have to come from a current account within YBS?

thanks in advance

venkat

Yes it can come from wherever you like.

No need for a YBS current account, indeed I dont believe they offer one.

YorkshireBoy

tom188 wrote:

Yes it can come from wherever you like.

No need for a YBS current account, indeed I dont believe they offer one.

Just to add, if you have a lump sum from which to feed the YBS reg saver, then you might want to consider setting the SO up from their 5.30% paying Internet Saver account for (near) instant transfers.

One downside with the Internet Saver though, is that BACS transfers out to external accounts do take a full 5 days to transfer (eg action Monday, arrive Friday). It isn't a problem for smaller value withdrawals, as you can withdraw £750 per day with your card (£500 in branch and £250 from an ATM).

oldfella

Just to add, if you have a lump sum from which to feed the YBS reg saver, then you might want to consider setting the SO up from their 5.30% paying Internet Saver account for (near) instant transfers.

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checking the YBS site and I can see a way to do a transfer from the internet account to the reg saver - but not a SO - what am I missing ?

[Deleted User]

YorkshireBoy wrote:

Just to add, if you have a lump sum from which to feed the YBS reg saver, then you might want to consider setting the SO up from their 5.30% paying Internet Saver account for (near) instant transfers.

Yes, apparently this is now available again for new applicants after having been temporarily unavailable for something like 3+ months. NB YBS were quite slow to react to the last BOE rate rise - not until 10/12 IIRC.

YorkshireBoy

oldfella wrote:

checking the YBS site and I can see a way to do a transfer from the internet account to the reg saver - but not a SO - what am I missing ?

You'll have to ring them to set it up.

YorkshireBoy

Deleted_User wrote:

NB YBS were quite slow to react to the last BOE rate rise - not until 10/12 IIRC.

Yes, they were one of the last to announce.

Although I've had my mortgage with them for 20 out of the last 25 years, I've had very few savings accounts there. I wonder if anyone knows if they have a reputation for delaying savings rate moves (because they didn't with their mortgage rate on our BOE trackers - both up and down changes were actioned with equal speed as I recall).

RayWolfe

I can't answer the specific question but I do have an IMPRESSION that they have not been particularly competitive. For example when I have had maturing accounts with them, it's been difficult to find a replacement with them.
Their monthly saver and E-Saver seem to be breaking this trend.

Robert_Sterling

I like the YBS Reg Sav. Particularly being able to go up to £20,000 eventually.