Yorkshire / Clydesdale Bank -Fixed Bonds - Restricted Monthly/Annual Interest option

polyphonic99

As many of you will know Yorkshire & Clydesdale Bank's recently announced Fixed Rate Bonds are paying the best rates of interest at the moment for term deposits. They also feature as the best paying 2, 3 and 5 year account in MSE Savings section.

MSE Savings sections says interest can be received monthly or annually. Unfortunately this is not quite correct.

Annual and Monthly interest is only available if you apply for the bonds "In Branch" - which are mainly in Scotland and Yorkshire.

If you apply online, then even though its "At a Glance" tab on the Term Deposit Account page says
"Interest capitalized and paid annually, or on term maturity", that is not correct.
http://www.ybonline.co.uk/personal/savings/fixed-term-and-notice-accounts/term-deposit/term-deposit-personal-savings "

If you fill out the application it only presents you with 2 options when you come to choose how you receive your interest:
1 Interest capitalized Annually and paid at Maturity or
2 Interest capitalized at Maturity

Its not surprising then that the MSE Savings information is not quite right when the banks themselves have difficulty presenting it correctly.

The details of the restriction on how you receive Interest is next to the "AT A Glance" tab, at the bottom of the "Interest Rates" Tab.

polyphonic99

A quick update on this. I wrote to the Chief Executive of both Clydesdale and Yorkshire Bank to notify them of this disparity on their website. Two and a half hours later I have had someone from their office on the phone explaining the situation (at 7:30 in the evening)

For annual or monthly interest for the Term Deposit Account, they only pay into a Yorkshire / Clydesdale Current or Savings account. They do not pay into a third party external bank account. To open either Yorkshire / Clydesdale Current or Savings account, their procedures require a visual ID, so you need to open them in branch.

Okay this might be a fairly old fashioned procedure compared to those of many banks today, but it at least it explain things. Hopefully they will update the website so that this is a little clearer at the outset.

The bonds are still top of the table, but you do have to be aware of of your cash flow and re-appraise how much you are going to invest if you are unable to get annual interest.

Anyway, I am pretty impressed by the speed of their response.

uffizi_2

I had an interview to open a FRB on 10 November and handed them a cheque dated 15 November. I have been told that my monthly interest should be dated from 17 November. I am still waiting for confirmation that this is the case. Why is it taking this long? Never had to wait this long before. Anyone any experience of this?