What building society account would you open?

the_commander

Hi, I'm looking to open a building society account and cannot decide which one to open, I am obviously considering the merging possibility.

Anyone got any suggestions of medium sized building societies that may merge? Particularly any with older CEO's who are close to retirement.

Looking forward to your knowledgable responses.

the_commander

Nobody got any ideas?

Robert_Sterling

Play it safe. Join them all.

Someone at the moneybag website opened 150 additional accounts in December 2006 bring the total for his family of four to 204 accounts.

Be in to win.

I kid you not.

Join the Merger Mania.

The charity clause does not apply to mergers.

danjberry

look out for kent reliance. the ceo has said he would consider merging after the lambeth/portman merger went through, i think you needed a minimum of £400 to be eligible for their bonus. also kent reliance seem to be really increasing their customer base as well from what i heard so that is a sign of a possible merger

i have an isa with yorkshire building society but thought i had to sign any merger bonus away as part of their charity policy so didnt think i would gain from them

i think cheshire or chelsea were also considering a merger as well.

nearlyrich

Most BS which are likely to merge or be acquired have a sign away clause of 5 years. Best bet is to go for the highest rate of interest.

tom188

nearlyrich wrote:

Most BS which are likely to merge or be acquired have a sign away clause of 5 years. Best bet is to go for the highest rate of interest.

Read back over the many recent threads on this board and you will find that the sign away is irrelevant. There have been at least 5 discussions on the subject this week so im not going to type the reasons again.

FYI I currently have accounts with 37 Societies. Maybe one or two for me to bag but the rest out of reach due to local restrictions or high operating balances on appalling accounts.

mystic_trev

tom188 wrote:

Read back over the many recent threads on this board and you will find that the sign away is irrelevant.

The strangest of all being the NATIONWIDE who made all new accounts signaway from 1998. Now two thirds of their members have the clause on their accounts. If they ever wanted to become a Bank or be bought by someone else, they only way they could get it agreed is by droping the clause!

I'm a great fan of NATIONWIDE as I do a great deal of traveling. I pay no commission on transactions, and get the best (wholesale) rate possible!

clarew

what is a mutual building society? looking at newcastle b.s, and it says it is a mutual. Sorry if i am dim, but i was just wondering what it meant!

tom188

Very basically
With a bank shareholders own the company.
With a mutual savers and borrowers own the company (they are the shareholders).