Which type of bank account?

swampygirl

Hello
New to this site.
OK I have a large sum of money that I need to put into a bank account,
The trouble is, I have no idea whatsoever in which type to choose and with which bank.
Pointers:
1. A decent interest.
2. Able to withdraw from account if whenever needed and without penalties.
I have looked on internet over and over but to be honest it's all gobbledegook to me.
I don't want to make a mistake.
Thank you.

Westie983

Depends on a few things,

* Will you have any Direct Debits, or is it just a lump sum paying in?
* Will you be keeping the balance in the account or will in be used?
* Where you currently hold a bank account, and looking to switch?
* What do you class as 'decent interest'?
* What you require from the account - branch access or internet only
* What banks are local to you, if you require branch access.

bank account will allow access after all they are bank account and not savings,

What have you researched already, other MSE'rs may have some feedback if they know what you have already researched based on own experiences.

I for example hold a bank account with around 16 banks so have some idea what they offer, but need to know more information so you can get some help.

Westie983

EachPenny

swampygirl wrote: »

OK I have a large sum of money that I need to put into a bank account...

Welcome

Just to clarify, if you need to put the money into an account, where is it currently? Is it already in an account somewhere, or are you talking about notes and coins? If it is a very large sum of money in notes that might cause you other problems.

Otherwise Westie983's questions are the things you need to explain to get useful answers

swampygirl

The money is being held with a insurance company due to a claim.
There won't be any D/D just a lump sum.
I will be using some of it occasionally not regularly.
No I'm not looking to switch. I want a separate account from my normal current account where all my bills are paid from.
I have no idea what a decent interest amount is but someone who knows about these things will know.
I want to be able to have internet access, ATM,
Banks near me are: Lloyds, Natwest, RBS, TSB, Halifax, HSBC, Yorkshire, Co-op, Santander, Barcleys, Access to branch is not important.
I've looked on comparison sites at what accounts have to offer.
The most interest I have seen is 3% but have clauses like having to regularly deposit a certain amount each month for example and up to a certain amounts are tax free after which are taxable.
I hope I've answered your questions.
Thx

EachPenny

In which case if you are willing to do the work a good way is to use the high interest current accounts and regular savers to maximise your interest. There are very good threads on this forum explaining the best accounts to use and what you need to do to set the accounts up.

You'll need to look at two things, monthly pay-in and direct debits. Monthly pay-in is easy because you can just move money around the accounts, and there is a similarly easy way to deal with the direct debit issue.

Depending on how much money you have you should be able to get between 2 and 5%. If you are talking very large amounts, then you will be getting down to 1 and 1.5% accounts.

If you are looking for higher returns, or you plan on keeping the money long-term then there are other options you should take a look at too and not limit yourself to these current/savings accounts.

mt99

Could you clarify what you mean by a large sum of money do you mean £500, £5,000,£50,000, a million pounds ?!

agrinnall

Who do you bank with at the moment? It may be easiest to open another account with them, at least initially; conversely, if it's a large amount of money and would take your total sum with that bank over the FSCS limit you might want to consciously avoid an account with them.

swampygirl

I'm talking about £24,000

EachPenny

swampygirl wrote: »

I'm talking about £24,000

You'll need to spread that around several accounts to get the best rates of interest, but you should be able to get 2% or more on the whole amount, a higher average rate than that if you open some of the best regular savers as well.

Alternatively the Santander 123 account pays 1.5% on up to £20,000. If you don't feel like opening and running several accounts and would be happy with that lower rate then the other option is to go with the Santander 123 and perhaps start their linked monthly saver account, and then decide what to do with the leftover amount.

eskbanker

EachPenny wrote: »

the Santander 123 account pays 1.5% on up to £20,000

Although this is indeed the headline rate, the fact that there is a fixed £5/month fee takes the effective rate down to a maximum of 1.2% (less for smaller balances).

It is possible to offset some or all of this monthly fee with cashback from direct debits for utilities, council tax, etc, if OP is prepared to move these, so a 1.5% return (or more) is feasible, just not as straightforward as might be inferred....

[this also ignores the AER v gross variance but this isn't material to this particular discussion]

Kernel_Sanders

swampygirl wrote: »

I have no idea whatsoever in which type to choose

Well, I'm glad you've now chosen a different type

Welcome to the forum.