Abbey Fixed Rate Monthly Saver 6.5%

Loaded_Bachelor

Daft_Monkey

You're not so daft after all! Good spot about the loss of interest at the end. I just looked up the specifics and you are right this happens; a complete joke part of their terms and conditions if you ask me and probably they should not be allowed to advertise at 6.5% when really it is only 5.96% in effect.

However, a way around this might be to let it go the 1 year and allow it to convert into a standard monthly saver account for just 1 day and them close the account.
Maybe this will effect just 1 day's loss of interest.

I am going i to see them shortly and will have it out with them.

Kazza242

Hey Loaded_Bachelor  ;). Nudge, nudge.

I mentioned the 30 days' loss of interest in my 10:14 post last night - in bold type - but you still missed it until Daft_Monkey mentioned it again later .

On a serious note: I've requested an application pack and will read the T&C's supplied with it very carefully before committing myself.

Loaded_Bachelor

Sorry Kazza........ I was wearing these 8) at the time!

I went into a branch today and they informed me that the 30 days loss of interest is only if you close the account early and does not apply if you close the account on the 1st day of the month following the account's 1 year anniversary.

I also asked if you can alter the monthly standing order amount once the account has matured into a regular monthly saver account. They said yes you can.

Without wanting to sound condescending about Abbey, I don't think they quite have the nasty busines type intelligence to concoct a product that stiches up the customer, whereas I have come across a few other major high street banks/building societies whom one should be very wary of.

So I think it's a half decent offer and will be going for it for the max. per month.

Daft_Monkey

[I've worked it out as follows, if interested...]

Assuming account is opened on 15 September with £500 and interest is paid on the 1st Septmeber 2005 [351 days] and subsequent payments are made on 1st October, .. November .. [etc] this would be more like

£500 * 5.2% * (351/365) = £25.00  on the first payment.

Then £500 *  5.2% * 11 * (66/144) = £131.08 on the remaining 11 payments.

5.2% is just 6.5% less 20% for basic rate taxpayers...
66/144 comes from '11+10+9...+3+2+1'=66, which represents the sum of numbers of 'whole' months for all the regular payments combined, and 144 comes in because there are 12 months in the year, and each payment is just a 12th of the whole. Hence 144 = 12 x 12

I'll make a note of that somewhere for future
reference!
I used the ingdirect calculator myself...

Posted by: Loaded_Bachelor Posted on: Today at 12:37am

I went into a branch today and they informed me that the 30 days loss of interest is only if you close the account early and does not apply if you close the account on the 1st day of the month following the account's 1 year anniversary.

I wish I could check the terms and conditions again, but their website is down...probably because too many of us are checking the terms and conditions... ;D

ED

All essential points of the Terms + Conditions seem to have been covered earlier in this thread. (I kept a download.) Telephone Abbey (free!) : 0800 783 7443. Leaflet is available in branches – deep pink.

I'm told Abbey aim to offer the a/c for a maximum of 6 weeks.

Only one a/c per person is allowed.

Cash handed in during a/c opening at a branch will earn 6.5% gross from that same day because Abbey calculate interest on a daily basis.

0.85% higher interest is offered by Abbey's 'Fixed Rate Monthly Saver' compared with Cahoot's top-paying a/c that's now closed to newcomers. So on the anniversary approx £25.50 gross gain could be made (based upon yearly average balance of £3,000 via £500 per month deposits.)

A method of minimalising the number of days earning nil interest during monthly Standing Order payments into the Fixed Rate Monthly Saver could be ATM withdrawal from an external savings a/c, deposit the cash over-the-counter in Abbey (earning up to 2.50% pro rata that day), ready for next day SO payment to their monthly a/c. Or sweep the £'s into Abbey's eSaver a/c until the Mon–Sat before the SO is due from the Abbey current a/c. eSaver pays new a/c holders 5.10% for low balance, or 4.60% for existing a/c holders. (I've grumbled to them about this being one of the lowest paying online a/c's on the market.)

spotter

From the t & c:
Your account will automatically become a Monthly Saver account on the 1st of the month of the anniversary of opening. Your account number will stay the same and you can still use your passbook.

So to make the maximum possible interest, assuming no missed payments, open the account on the 1st of the month.

e.g account opened on 1st October 2004, closes 1st October 2005.

Don't open it at the end of the month (worst case), e.g 31 October 2004, account closes 1 October 2005.

Milarky

I enquired today, and they confirmed that the day of credit of the monthly amount can be any day in that month..

I say this because I might not bother with a SO and go for BACS transfers instead. These can be set for a Mon Tues or Wednesday, thus minimising any delay entailed where the 'day of the month' falls too close to a weekend.

Hmm.. Let's see

 1) By cash 01/10/04 [Fri]...

 2) BACS:  01/11/04 [Mon].. to arrive 03/11/04 [Wed]

 3) BACS:  29/11/04 [Mon].. to arrive 01/12/04 [Wed]

 4) BACS:  04/01/05 [Tue].. to arrive 06/01/05 [Thu]

 5) BACS:  31/01/05 [Mon].. to arrive 02/02/05 [Wed]

 6) BACS:  28/02/05 [Mon].. to arrive 02/03/05 [Wed]

 7) BACS:  30/03/05 [Wed].. to arrive 01/04/05 [Fri]

 8 ) BACS:  03/05/05 [Tue].. to arrive 05/05/05 [Thu]

 9) BACS:  31/05/05 [Tue].. to arrive 02/06/05 [Thu]

10) BACS:  29/06/05 [Wed].. to arrive 01/07/04 [Fri]

11) BACS:  01/08/05 [Mon].. to arrive 03/08/05 [Wed]

12) BACS:  30/08/05 [Tue].. to arrive 01/09/05 [Thu]

rinoa778

So to make the maximum possible interest, assuming no missed payments, open the account on the 1st of the month.
quote]
I was thinking of doing this. The problem with this is playing the waiting game. This is a limited offer so I have to keep my fingers crossed that not everyone will snap these up before they close the offer.

ED

spotter – My family has already 'gone for it' and opened the Fixed Rate Monthly Saver, because we anticipate on the anniversary next September 1st we can move our £'s to somewhere else offering a rate as good – or better – than 6.50%. (My guess is Halifax will raise the 6% rate on their Regular Saver a/c, soon or at least by next March, when Issue 2 is anticipated.)

Milarky, your planning is so like my family's! We loathe nil-interest earning while £'s are in-transit.

I'm told my method (described in earlier post) would involve Abbey (current) a/c interest for 1 day, and next day the internal transfer to FR Monthly Saver would be instant, so earning 6.50% immediately. However, can my family be bothered each month to make an ATM w/d from our external savings a/c, and hand in the cash at an Abbey branch? Possibly we may instead arrange SOs from an external a/c. Nice to have a choice, though, at the outset.

We find Standing Order dates can be changed online, month–by–month from Coventry BS's CallSave Money Manager a/c. Perhaps this gives greater assurance than relying on remembering to do a BACS transfer, each month. Or do you have some other reason for favouring BACS?

Leaflet states : "A monthly standing order … is required." Have you been told, in writing, that BACS is OK?

Abbey apparently require Standing Orders to "credit your account on or before 21st of each month".

Fatboy_NSS

BACS would definitely not be OK. Any other method of payment is not ok.

The bit about the 21st of the month is just a suggested date, as sending an SO any later than that would be cutting it a bit fine to get to Abbey by the end of the month, especially in Dec as there is a 4 day weekend over Christmas.