Savings account supporting Direct Debit out?

caliston

I've just set up a regular savings arrangement, with the idea that it'll be funded by monthly Direct Debits from my Co-op Smartsaver savings account. But when the first payment was due the Co-op bounced it and charged me £35 for the privilege. Ouch! Quickly refunded when they told me the Smartsaver doesn't support outgoing DDs or Standing Orders. So it seems I can't set up a regular payment, even to transit through my current account.

Any suggestions of anywhere that provides a savings account that supports DDs and SOs and pays a decent rate of interest? Ideally it should beat the Smartsaver at 4.5%. The idea is I dump a year's worth of regular savings payments in it at once and leave them to trickle in... I don't really want a current account that insists I have regular inward traffic.

bristolleedsfan

caliston wrote: »

I've just set up a regular savings arrangement, with the idea that it'll be funded by monthly Direct Debits from my Co-op Smartsaver savings account. But when the first payment was due the Co-op bounced it and charged me £35 for the privilege. Ouch! Quickly refunded when they told me the Smartsaver doesn't support outgoing DDs or Standing Orders. So it seems I can't set up a regular payment, even to transit through my current account.

Any suggestions of anywhere that provides a savings account that supports DDs and SOs and pays a decent rate of interest? Ideally it should beat the Smartsaver at 4.5%. The idea is I dump a year's worth of regular savings payments in it at once and leave them to trickle in... I don't really want a current account that insists I have regular inward traffic.

u might like to look at principality BS e-saver pays 5.6% gross, some building societies have one account no for all ( societies a/c no) which is problamatic others like yorkshire building society have unique account nos which its believed would be ok to transfer funds to by BACS, whilst money can be moved electronically i think only current accounts fully support DDS and SOs

http://www.principality.co.uk/default.aspx?page=576

another option is nationwides flexi account( pays 4.25%gross on 1000+ ( current account) u can link nationwides e-saver to it ( 5.3% gross) keep the funds in the e-saver then transfer funds ( online management) as required to flexi account

ED

caliston - May be worth exploring Coventry Building Society site. Their hybrid current/savings account Coventry First pays 5.70% gross interest (5.85 AER) with a guarantee to match Base Rate. This includes a 0.85% bonus for the 1st 12 months. The account allows Direct Debits (+ Standing Orders). When you no-longer require a Direct Debit, you can yourself go online to delete it. Nice to be in control!

£1,000 per month is the minimum deposit - this can be from any source(s), supplied via cheque (to Freepost address) or BACS transfer.

http://www.coventrybuildingsociety.co.uk/coventryfirst/home.aspx

caliston

Hmm... that's interesting but I don't have £1000 to pay in every month (the DD I want this for is of the order of £50/month). I wonder if anyone has a system with current account and savings account where you can set up automatic transfers from savings to current? So rather than do it manually you can set up a recurring transaction. It's not quite a standing order since it's between two accounts at the same bank so doesn't have to go through BACS.

tom188

Halifax C/A and Websaver.

kanchhelskis

hello is the bacs transfer the same day? thanks in advance.

ED

kanchhelskis - Are you asking if Internal Transfers are same-day between Halifax accounts (eg current account + Websaver)? If so, yes, this is instant.

BACS transfers between different banks or building societies usually take a minimum of 3 banking days (eg £ leave Monday, arrive as cleared funds Wednesday). Supposedly this coming November many/all will be same-day. Barclays already uses same-day BACS to building societies who use that bank for clearing - provided the Sort Code of the member's individual account begins with '20'. Ditto Lloyds TSB beginning '30', I believe.

Aside - Topical talk of possible end to free in-credit banking leads me to state I'd prefer 1-day BACS ad infinitum (£ leave Monday, arrive Tuesday in external account) rather than have to pay a monthly fee for a Current Account. Wonder if I'm in a minority...?