Why can't find a 30 day notice savings account?

TheLearner2008

Hi All,

I don't understand why I cannot find any notice savings accounts in the UK? Is there a reason why high street banks don't offer them?

It seems so strange to me that the only one I can find is some obscure northern regional bank.

Why does Barclays, Lloyds etc not have them?

Does anyone have any ideas? Basically I want an account which has notice-only access but has all the other benefits of app-access, online access etc.

I don't want interest penalty access...I want notice-only access.

Any help or alternative suggestions would be appreciated!

Superscrooge

Why look for a 30 day account when you can get higher interest on an instant access account?

eskbanker

TheLearner2008 wrote: »

Any help or alternative suggestions would be appreciated!

If your signature is anywhere near being accurate and up to date then you're likely to find it advantageous to throw any surplus money at debt reduction rather than saving....

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/savings/pay-off-debts

dunstonh

Superscrooge wrote: »

Why look for a 30 day account when you can get higher interest on an instant access account?

Or higher interest saved by reducing debt.

TheLearner2008

Hi there. Thanks yeah I put most of my surplus funds into debt but I put away £100 a month for emergencies.

TheLearner2008

Superscrooge wrote: »

Why look for a 30 day account when you can get higher interest on an instant access account?

I can't save as I just withdraw it the whole time. I need constraints to save.

bowlhead99

Interest rates are very low at the moment.

So, you get a low rate on instant access savings accounts and a low rate on a one year fixed deposit. For many banks and building societies there is literally no point in them creating some sort of "in between, not instant access but can get your money back in less than a year" product at some "in between" interest rate, when the interest is going to be between "low" and "low".

There just isn't the demand for them to create a new account with a whole separate set of terms and conditions and rules to follow. It sounds like the only sort of person ago would want an account with extra restrictions without getting much in the way of improved interest income, is someone like you who has no self control. So, a very niche product which is why you don't see most mainstream banks bothering with them at the moment.

As mentioned above by others, the accounts that pay the best interest rates are the high interest current accounts which many banks are offering at promotional rates if you transfer in £x per month. But that involves actively shuffling money around and sounds like it involves too much "temptation" for you.

You say you want app access, online access etc. But if the only purpose of putting the money in the account is to make sure you *definitely don't spend it*, then what is wrong with using an "obscure regional bank" which operates your account by post? If you are happy to give 30 or 60 or 90 day notice and sit back and wait for the cash to become available, it is not much hassle to do that over the phone or by letter.

It sounds like the very *last* thing you should get is an account which is integrated into your other bank relationships and seen every time you log in, which makes it easy for you to think... "...hmm, I've now got a healthy £1100 stashed away, maybe it's not so bad if I take a month off 'saving' and buy those new shoes, a steak dinner, or run up a credit card bill, because the £1100 will cover it..."

Once you have the minimum £1000 required, you can open a 30 day notice account with http://www.aldermore.co.uk - their account can be operated online and allows unlimited withdrawals *subject to* 30 day notice of each withdrawal, no early withdrawals allowed. If the account balance drops below £1k at some point after opening, that's fine, but the interest rate reduces.

For you, that sounds like a better option than having a higher paying, but more tempting, account at Lloyds or Barclays. However, if you feel you can handle the self control issues of zero notice instant withdrawals, the Club Regular Saver account at Lloyds offers about triple the interest rate (4% instead of 1.3%)

G_M

TheLearner2008 wrote: »

Hi there. Thanks yeah I put most of my surplus funds into debt but I put away £100 a month for emergencies.

If this money is for emergencies, you need instant access.

If not for emergencies, use it to pay off debt.

System

YBS offer a triple access saver (3 withdrawals per year) at 1.2% if you need ready access but perhaps not too instant?

The various regular savers or even a Tesco current account will usually offer more interest.

Ballard

A bank that I used to work for offered notice accounts (30/40/90 days) and paid a premium because they were great for our liquidity. For fixed deposits we needed to ensure that we had funds to repay on a specific date but this wasn't required to the same extent for these accounts.

That's not to say that we didn't have the funds to repay, we just didn't need to ensure that they were available to us on that specific date. It's all very technical but effectively with fixed deposits maturing daily we could only lend these funds interbank overnight at almost zero percent but with call accounts we could lend for longer periods.

I believe that the rules changed and for liquidity purposes we had to assume that our customers would pay the penalty and withdraw their funds 'tomorrow' so these accounts became worthless to us and were discontinued.p

I should point out that this wasn't my area but this is my understanding of it and am happy to be corrected.

alanq

The OP says.

TheLearner2008 wrote: »

I don't want interest penalty access...I want notice-only access.

In the distant past Abbey National Building Society had a 7-day notice account with no option for instant withdrawal. That changed after a very short period. I don't think such accounts are very popular.