Nationwide FlexDirect

DeanMB

I'm currently looking at opening a Nationwide FlexDirect account in order to take advantage of their 5% interest on balances of 2.5k.

I have £3,000 sat in an ISA earning about 50% of what I could earn using the Nationwide account so I'm looking to take my money out of the ISA and fill the 2.5k balance.

My problem comes with the £1k per month deposit requirement as I don't even earn that in my salary. On their website the FAQ's say this.

Any external payment into your FlexDirect account will count towards the monthly £1,000 total requirement, in other words a payment which does not come from another Nationwide account.

Does this mean that I could transfer £500 in and out of the account twice, therfore meeting the £1k requirement?

I'd be looking to get my wage paid into my Lloyds TSB account which I already have, then do two quick transfers in and out of the account.

grumbler

DeanMB wrote: »

Does this mean that I could transfer £500 in and out of the account twice, therfore meeting the £1k requirement?

Yes, but why not in one go: £1K out, then £1K in?

Gromitt

You could do that, but doing 1K out and back in would be quicker.

Secondly remember that cash in an ISA is tax-free forever, so if rates go up in the next few years, you could be saving now but losing out later on.

DeanMB

grumbler wrote: »

Yes, but why not in one go: £1K out, then £1K in?

I earn £750 per month and my bills are paid instantly. I suppose I could combine the savings with my wage but I want to put the excess into the Flexclusive 2.5% ISA along with a monthly contribution.

The following image is a little process of thought that I've done. Could you please cast your eye over it and see if everything sounds right?



Thanks!

EDIT: Sorry, that image looks a bit big now it's on the forum. Also, I'm assuming 20% tax.

irishjohn

Is there not a £10 monthly charge on this account? seems to me that makes the 5% of £2500 hardly worth the effort

DeanMB

irishjohn wrote: »

Is there not a £10 monthly charge on this account? seems to me that makes the 5% of £2500 hardly worth the effort

I don't see it but please do tell me if I've missed the obvious here..

http://www.nationwide.co.uk/current_account/flexdirect/default.htm

EDIT: That's the FlexPlus account - see the following link

http://www.nationwide.co.uk/current_account/default.htm

innovate

irishjohn wrote: »

Is there not a £10 monthly charge on this account? seems to me that makes the 5% of £2500 hardly worth the effort

No there is not.

You are confusing FlexDirect with FlexPlus.

The FlexDirect is one of the very best current accounts for savers right now. Albeit for only 12 months, most likely, but 12 months is a long time.

DeanMB

innovate wrote: »

No there is not.

You are confusing FlexDirect with FlexPlus.

The FlexDirect is one of the very best current accounts for savers right now. Albeit for only 12 months, most likely, but 12 months is a long time.

Thanks Innovate.

You've obviously been contributing to my previous thread in the savings section too, am I getting everything worked out right? It all seems too easy to get 4x the return that I would be getting off my ISA...

innovate

Yeah I think you'll be ok with the FlexDirect since you don't seem bothered with the ISA. And in terms of interest, it's not hard to see which one pays more.

In any case, if you do want to put some of your money into an ISA before April 6 2014, it's quite easy to do from a FlexDirect since it's instant access.

Just don't forget that interest from ISAs will be tax-free forever (well, for as long as the Government doesn't stop the tax exemption). So you might want to strike a balance between a "fast buck now" and longer term interest earnings. But with a FlexDirect, you don't have to decide until next March-ish.

DeanMB

innovate wrote: »

Yeah I think you'll be ok with the FlexDirect since you don't seem bothered with the ISA. An in terms of interest, it's not hard to see which one pays more.

In any case, if you do want to put some of your money into an ISA before April 6 2014, it's quite easy to do from a FlexDirect since it's instant access.

My thoughts exactly. Like I say, I will be opening the 2.5% ISA alongside this for my general savings, however I wanted to maximise the interest on what I already had. I can only really use about £2,400 of my ISA allowance each year anyway due to my wage, so I can still dump the £2.5k into the ISA at the end of the financial year.

I'm just going to go into a Nationwide branch now and check that I can actually do what I intend on doing.

Could anybody shed any light on the requirements of the quidco offer?

Thanks a lot guys.

irishjohn

Oops - thanks - I am off to open another N'wide acc!!