Natwest e-Savings - 3.12%, instant access

cepheus

nilrem wrote: »

Why don't they encourage customers who already save with them to stay by paying them decent rates, rather than lose them and have to entice others to save with them to make up for the cash withdrawn!

Not necessarily. The majority of savers are lethargic. They may be initially interested enough to get drawn into the higher headline rate but then won't be bothered to move it out when the rates fall. That is one way how banks make money.

nilrem_2

cepheus wrote: »

Not necessarily. The majority of savers are lethargic. They may be initially interested enough to get drawn into the higher headline rate but then won't be bothered to move it out when the rates fall. That is one way how banks make money.

You are right of course, but there are quite a few people who are more aware since it became easier to check via the WWW, after my long phone call with them about the lack of extension to my esaver bonus I was left with the distinct impression that they don't care less if people do move their cash away!

G_M

It is a calculated business decision. It is not 'dopey'. Or daft.

The number of on-the-ball Moneysavingexpert savers who move their money out of these NatWest accounts (and the amount of cash involved) is far outweighed by the inbound savers (and cash) that sits in the temporary 'holding' account waiting for the bond to activate, or floods into the new bonus esaver.

Cynical? Yes.

( and I mean me AND NatWest!)

buffman

alanq wrote: »

I have now begun to move significant funds into the account.

Please be aware that the maximum daily withdrawal is £10K. To take out a large sum requires patience over a number of days.

buffman

Received a letter from NatWest this morning reminding me that the 1.85% bonus will end on 14 Feb and that from then I will only receive the underlying rate of 1%. No 3.12% for me! Needless to say the small amount of money remaining in the account will not be there on Feb 15th and the account will be closed.

nilrem_2

buffman wrote: »

Received a letter from NatWest this morning reminding me that the 1.85% bonus will end on 14 Feb and that from then I will only receive the underlying rate of 1%. No 3.12% for me! Needless to say the small amount of money remaining in the account will not be there on Feb 15th and the account will be closed.

I have not received the letter yet but am in the same boat with losing my bonus on the 14th, I am now in the process of moving my cash to N Rock E-saver.

Personally I think they are silly, I kept a considerable amount of cash in my esaver which they have now lost the use of.

I suppose they have to get the cash from somewhere to pay executives bonuses, though perhaps now they are foregoing their bonuses they will reinstate our interest bonus!:D

claire07

Same here just received letter this morning. I was hoping they would keep the bonus but have moved most of my money to the AA internet saver in case - now I'll just move the remainder.

buffman

I am not sure whether I should simply close the account or leave a minimal balance.

If the account is closed, I will lose access to their online banking making it more difficult to open an account in the future. My wife would also need to send off paper copies of her passport etc (as she always for some unknown reason fails the online identity checks) if we were to open a new account at a later date.

On the other hand I do not like to have open too many dormant accounts and from previous threads the 3.12% rate was only offered to those customers without an e-Saver account.

Marmaduke123

I'm also moving from Natwest e-savings accounts to Virgin (aka Northern Rock). I've now had letters about both my e-saver and my e-saver plus, indicating that the bomus finishes in the first case 14th Feb, in the second 29th Feb.

It's worth noting that if you had a previous online account with Northern Rock your log in details still apply. If you can't remember them I think you will have to phone them, as during the application process you are recognised as having previously registered.

My account is still showing as pending, hopefully it won't be too long as I need to know how quick transfers in and out from my Natwest current account will be.

nilrem_2

Marmaduke123 wrote: »

It's worth noting that if you had a previous online account with Northern Rock your log in details still apply. If you can't remember them I think you will have to phone them, as during the application process you are recognised as having previously registered.

FWIW this happened to me because I had an account several years ago; but never used it and it recognised this, but after clicking no to trying to get the details I carried on and a new account was created quickly.