state bank of india

pvt

joe134 wrote: »

Hi guys, thinking of using SBI for transfer of my Isas, to their 2.3% 3 year deal, as recommended by Mse.
Has anyone any feedback regard them. CS etc ?
Any advice appreciated.:beer:

I have also applied to open a SBoI ISA. They refused my online application and I had to visit a branch in order to open it. That was on the 27th Jan and I'm still waiting for the money to be transferred from its old home.

Don't think I would be minded to give them a high score for speed or customer service.

pvt

MiserlyMartin wrote: »

... inflation could go out of control and/or the BoE could loose all control and be forced to raise rates very quicky indeed. In this case your 2.6% will look paltry.

Yes, but it'll still look better than the rates currently being offered by Halifax/Nationwide/Barclays etc. Won't it?

joe134

mine doesn't mature till 18th march, so doubt SBI will still be available then? mind you, if they are that slow,as others on here, might just apply now.:)
they are pulling them very quickly.
Shawbrooks pulled theirs again today, 1,2,and3 years again, that's 3 times in 2 months.
make hay.

bristolleedsfan

MiserlyMartin wrote: »

. In this case your 2.6% will look paltry.

It is worth 3.25% to basic rate tax payers who have excess savings over and above the new tax free savings allowances

rambler0161

I have today tried to open a 5 year Fixed Rate Bond with SBOI. Initially I was completing an online application but halfway through I was asked to choose my interest option but as there was only "annual interest" available and I required the monthly option I telephoned the helpline. The agent did not seem to know why I did not have other options so I decided to go to my nearest branch and apply there. I was quite taken aback to be told that as I was investing less than £50,000 my only interest option was "on maturity". As I needed the interest to supplement my small pension waiting 5 years was not an option! When I returned home I again contacted the helpline and they said that the staff there (including the manager) were unaware of this condition but have since had it confirmed by the branch
I visited. However it does not appear on the info. on the website promoting the bond. I would be interested to know if anyone else has had this problem.

bowlhead99

rambler0161 wrote: »

. I was quite taken aback to be told that as I was investing less than £50,000 my only interest option was "on maturity".

However it does not appear on the info. on the website promoting the bond. I would be interested to know if anyone else has had this problem.

The fixed deposits page has 4 tabs:
Features and benefits
Rates
Terms & conditions
Apply now


Terms & Conditions, 6th bullet point:

If you deposit £50,000 or more for a term of one year or more, you can opt to receive interest monthly or annually (This only applies to sterling deposits). We'll pay interest directly into your State Bank of India savings or current account.

Then if you go to the rates page the GBP deposit table lists rates for monthly or annual interest for the different periods ; the deposits for USD or EUR only show annual rates.

This seems consistent with the terms and condition pages - they offer monthly rates only on sterling - but the rate table doesn't explicitly mention that you can only take the monthly option with £50k or more. But it doesn't explicitly mention you need a minimum deposit of £10k to open an account either. It's just a rate table. You need to read the Features (which doesn't mention being able to get paid monthly at all) or the Terms, to find out the terms.

With a minimum deposit of only £10k the total interest for a year is only £170 which is only £14 a month. Not surprising that if they want to be able to offer you the best possible rates they don't want to be messing around with the admin of sending you £14 a month. What are you going to buy with 50p a day? So, they only offer that frequent payment scheme on large deposits.

Let's say you only have £15k to save with them but you don't want to wait to the end of the year for your £255 interest because you really really need the £21 a month to supplement your pension. Well, if you can't do without the £21 a month for the next 12 months, just make a smaller deposit of £14,745 instead and keep £255 back in your current account to spend as you wish over the course of the year. At the end of the year you'll have still earned about £250 interest and get £14,995 back from the account. And on the £255 that was sitting in your current account for, on average, half a year, you will have earned a few pounds of interest, if it's a decent account.

In conclusion, it would be quite OK to just use this account for a marginally smaller deposit and simply get paid the interest at the end. No need to use a worse-paying account further down the league tables.

Re-reading your post I see it was the 5 year account you were looking for, not the one year, but the principle is the same. Simply deposit a bit less, and do a less-than-five-year deposit with your "spending money"

MiserlyMartin

pvt wrote: »

Yes, but it'll still look better than the rates currently being offered by Halifax/Nationwide/Barclays etc. Won't it?

Depends. If the film star Carney loses all control we may end up with base rate at 10%. Even your Halifax and Nationwide dismal payers (poor excuse for a Building Society) will have to be offering at least 8% surely? Yes I know, don't call me Shirley.

MiserlyMartin

bristolleedsfan wrote: »

It is worth 3.25% to basic rate tax payers who have excess savings over and above the new tax free savings allowances

Good point.

jimjames

MiserlyMartin wrote: »

Depends. If the film star Carney loses all control we may end up with base rate at 10%. Even your Halifax and Nationwide dismal payers (poor excuse for a Building Society) will have to be offering at least 8% surely? Yes I know, don't call me Shirley.

I think you're being a bit optimistic there. I can't see rates moving much, if anything, before 2020.

http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/saving/article-1688355/When-will-interest-rates-start-to-rise.html

Quoted in Feb 2010:

Andrew Clare, Professor at Cass Business School, London, and chairman of Fathom Consulting
WHEN WILL RATES START RISING?
AUGUST THIS YEAR. (2010)
WHERE WILL BASE RATE BE BY THE END OF 2011?
2.5 to 3%.

MiserlyMartin

So there you go. Andrew Clare and many others got their rate predictions wrong. They are well below what many expected. What makes you think any of these supposed 'experts' really knows what is going to happen now. What I am suggesting is that there is a possiblity of a global financial crisis which will make 2007 look like a little downturn. With this could be a currency crisis and high inflation as the oil price rapidly rises. Central banks will be powerless and will hike rates rapidly as they have little other choice.

On the other hand this may not happen and rates will stay low or even negative. I still think we are heading for a huge recession though. The longer before it happens the worse it will be. Plus what are they going to do, cut rates more or print more...??