Trying to maximise return on small savings, can I do this?

lstar337

Hi, I am trying to maximise a return on a small amount of savings, but also have instant access. I am new to all of this so forgive my naivety.

Martin was saying that some current accounts are now giving better rates than savings accounts so I thought I would check it out. I looked through his picks and spotted the Tesco current account which looks good to me because there is no minimum monthly pay in and I can get ~3% on up to £3000.

My question is (because I don't want to actually switch current accounts), can I open up one of these Tesco current accounts, put £2900 in it (no interest if balance goes over £3k), and just sit on it for a year to collect my ~£87?

If I can do this, is there anything I should be wary of?

Forgive me if I am talking total rubbish! :rotfl:

castle96

yes, you can do that (you can have 2 x a/c's)

I am still paying in (then out), £750 p/mth. Have they stopped this requirement then ? (If so. I obviously missed that, though will leave as is)

xylophone

You can apply for a Tesco current account (it is possible to have two) and if accepted, do as you suggest.

There is no need to switch accounts.

You might consider a Nationwide Flexdirect account, deposit £2500, cycle £1000 in and out once a month, send the interest earned to a Tesco account in which you have deposited £500.

Or you might choose to make use of the Flexdirect regular saver,

You would transfer out of Nationwide to Tesco after one year as the 5% interest drops to 1%.

xylophone

Have they stopped this requirement then ?

Yes, they have - I think it was around the time that Santander increased the 123 fee.

lstar337

First of all, thank you for your replies!

Second of all,

xylophone wrote: »

You might consider a Nationwide Flexdirect account, deposit £2500, cycle £1000 in and out once a month, send the interest earned to a Tesco account in which you have deposited £500.

You can do that??

I'm not sure I can trust myself to remember, or to do it right! But that is food for thought.

I've never really thought about it much before, but is it possible to make good money by simply tricking your way around all the various offers on bank accounts like this?

castle96

"
I've never really thought about it much before, but is it possible to make good money by simply tricking your way around all the various offers on bank accounts like this?"

Yes it is 'easy' with a little bit of effort (and the spare cash). Some of us have done it with all of the interest earning current a/cs, all the regular savers, and all of the current/past incentive opening a/c, earning £000's in incentives, and the maximum in interest. Go for it !

eskbanker

lstar337 wrote: »

I'm not sure I can trust myself to remember

You can automate the whole thing with standing orders so there's no need to remember anything....

Dird

eskbanker wrote: »

You can automate the whole thing with standing orders so there's no need to remember anything....

But then you lose some interest unless SOs can be scheduled for morning & afternoon? :-o or will a SO keep retrying until there's funds in an account without penalties?

Although a couple days without 5% interest is still better than a month of 3%

OP should also do Halifax switch~ no DDs, no money to pay in, £100 in 3 days to move over to your Tesco acc

lstar337

Dird wrote: »

OP should also do Halifax switch~ no DDs, no money to pay in, £100 in 3 days to move over to your Tesco acc

Could you explain a little more on this please? Or point to a thread with the info.

Looking at the Halifax site, it is only available if you switch current account which I don't want to do.

eskbanker

Dird wrote: »

But then you lose some interest unless SOs can be scheduled for morning & afternoon? :-o or will a SO keep retrying until there's funds in an account without penalties?

There's no need to lose interest - the key thing is to ensure that there's always enough money in each account to pay the outgoing SO without the inbound one having arrived if you're doing them on the same day.

One method that some recommend on here is to use weekly £250 SOs on Wednesdays so that there will always be at least £1K paid into the relevant accounts every month regardless of bank holidays, etc, while minimising or even eradicating the risk of insufficient funds to pay an SO.

ceredigion

lstar337 wrote: »

Hi, I am trying to maximise a return on a small amount of savings, but also have instant access. I am new to all of this so forgive my naivety.

Martin was saying that some current accounts are now giving better rates than savings accounts so I thought I would check it out. I looked through his picks and spotted the Tesco current account which looks good to me because there is no minimum monthly pay in and I can get ~3% on up to £3000.

My question is (because I don't want to actually switch current accounts), can I open up one of these Tesco current accounts, put £2900 in it (no interest if balance goes over £3k), and just sit on it for a year to collect my ~£87?

If I can do this, is there anything I should be wary of?

Forgive me if I am talking total rubbish! :rotfl:

Think you may have got hold of the wrong end of the stick there.