First Direct - ESaver

tt07

Hi,

The interest on an e-saver is paid on the 1st as we know there is a penalty on withdrawls. If I withdraw the entire balance I take it I won't get charged as I can't lose any interest as there is no money to gain interest on.

Have I missed something or is that how it would work

Thanks

Redbedhead

Am slightly confused - what do you mean by charged?

If your interest is paid in to the account on the 1st and then you withdraw the entire amount, you can take the interest.

Estavez_2

If you take out money from your FD e-saver, then you wont earn any interest that month. Thats how it works for me.

trets77

are you saying do i get charged ( i.e a account fee) for having no funds in my e saver account??

i very much doubt it but i would leave a pound in to keep it active and avoid current account charges ( which i think you have to have to qualify for a E-saver in the 1st place)

tt07

No there is no ongoing charge but if you make a withdrawl you will not get any interest in that month.

I want to withdraw and close I think if i do this just after the interest for the previous month then I don't lose

Clare_Jenkins

This is my exact problem and I cannot see that anybody has answered it definitively. Having spoken to First Direct this morning I was informed several times that if I close the account (which is now not very competitive) that I will lose a month's interest. In my case this is £175 which I consider a ridiculous charge to close an account. I kept being told it is not a charge just loss of a month's interest, same difference. Does anyone know for a fact that if you close it on the 2nd of the month they cannot deduct a month's interest before closing?

hopon

You only lose the months interest in the month that you make a withdrawal/close the account. If you make the withdrawal on the 1st of the month you would still receive the interest for the month before. If you wait until the 2nd (so that the previous months interest is added) then close it that will be the end. No charges, penalties etc, just no interest payable to you for those 2 days.

sham63

I did this last month. I withdrew the whole balance but left £1. There is no charge.

What FD are saying is that if you withdrew any money during month you would not earn any interest on the balance for that month.

So in my case I did not earn any interest on the £1 that I left in the account last month.

If it were the other way round and you withdrew £1 and left the rest in the account, you would not get the interest on the balance, which could work out at £££s, as in your case. The trick is to withdraw the whole balance on the first of the month.

Clare_Jenkins

Thanks for that, Money Savers. I shall wait until start of May and close the account. The woman I spoke to was really very unhelpful, not in their interest to suggest this loophole I suppose, but all the same she could have explained that, especially when I said I was going to take the matter further!!

tt07

I closed my account on the 1st and haven't lost any interest

Turtle

To be fair, it's clearly in the terms of the account that no interest is paid in the month of withdrawal.