Savings accounts accepting DD's

latinaid

10_66 said:

Thank you latinaid.  Do I have to make the minimum payment, or could I just pay in a nominal amount via the DD (and then continue to make my usual payment to pay the remaining balance on my credit card?).  Also, can I have 3 separate nominal DDs going into my credit card, or can I only set up 1 DD?

You can only have one DD for a credit card, and it has to be for at least the minimum amount (which is set by the card provider). I always let the first month be the minimum amount, and after that I set a fixed amount, just above the minimum, so I know exactly how much to transfer in to the bank account to cover it.  It's a 0% card, so you won't be worrying about paying off the balance (though you need to make a note of when the 0% period ends so you can pay it off - preferably by getting a new 0% card so you get a new DD). 

One thing to note, if you're using a credit card to replace a DD which is going to be lost, is that it will take around 7 weeks after you take out the card before the first DD will go out (as you have to wait for a statement, and then the DD goes out about 3 weeks after that). So you need to plan ahead.

martinm1

soulsaver said:

martinm1 said:

Ed-1 said:

Had a letter from AA Savings today saying they're closing the savings account provided by Birmingham Midshires as the latter are withdrawing the account.

https://www.theaa.com/savings-accounts/birmingham-midshires

I received the same, so opened an ecology regular saver 0.8% interest + helps with the natwest £4 back by having 2 direct debits paid.  Does anyone know how long it takes to set up the direct debit from ecology?

They told me today (Friday 15th) I've missed Oct, so must be 10 working days ish plus your postage lag.
eta postage

They told me they needed to receive the DD by 16th October to take out in November, but maybe they thought I meant Nov 1st!
They said it has to be posted to them as well - no electronic sending or creation - has to be printed and sent.  Hopefully they can take out before November as long as it gets there - we will see!!
Update: The AA account is closing on 24th November, so am able to make a one off DD from this account on the 2nd (original date was end of each month) so as long as my Ecology DD is set up by December I'm all good.  Will need to look into Pum, Paypal and moneybox as other alternatives for these switching payments.

soulsaver

Ecology
AIUI their default date is 2nd working day of the month for DD collection.

10_66

My first experience of Moneybox and Plum:
Moneybox, user friendly.
Plum, not user friendly.  I set up DD for £1.  Logged back in again to find they're going to be taking a completely different amount.  I did cancel the auto "rules" and set up a pay days "rule" for said £1.  Are there any other pitfalls I should know about with Plum?  

kaMelo

10_66 said:

My first experience of Moneybox and Plum:
Moneybox, user friendly.
Plum, not user friendly.  I set up DD for £1.  Logged back in again to find they're going to be taking a completely different amount.  I did cancel the auto "rules" and set up a pay days "rule" for said £1.  Are there any other pitfalls I should know about with Plum?  

I've had not problems with Plum but I've not set anything up to happen on a regular basis.  I've linked a bank account then manually transfer money as and when I want to via the direct debit option  There is no need to set up any regular transfers or use any rules, the name might imply they are automatically set up but they aren't. 

The only problem I've had is when changing the linked bank account. I've used the DD with Plum to qualify for three switch payments from Nationwide and currently the Santander switch offer, each time the linked account is closed through the switch process I can't drop that account or add a new one. Each time I've had to message Plum to resolve the problem and to be fair they are pretty quick in responding and doing so.

When you say "completely different amount" how different?

10_66

Just over £20, but I think it's something to do with their auto thing - which I'd cancelled, before the amount appeared in the "pocket".

I’ve tried sending a message via Plum’s help facility, but no one responds.  Where does it actually say on the app (when logged in) whether you have Basic or something else?  I can see in the “Splitter” I have Basic Easy Access Savings, but there is also a “Primary Pocket”.  However, according to their website “to create a pocket, you will need to be using Plum Pro”, so as I’ve got a “Primary Pocket” does this mean I’ve got Plum Pro?

When you say nothing’s set up automatically, when I registered with them, under the “Rules” section in “Brain”, “Automatic” was ticked, so I unticked it, and set up the DD under “Pay Days”.  I don’t know how else the auto thing was set up? 

kaMelo

10_66 said:

Just over £20, but I think it's something to do with their auto thing - which I'd cancelled, before the amount appeared in the "pocket".

I’ve tried sending a message via Plum’s help facility, but no one responds.  Where does it actually say on the app (when logged in) whether you have Basic or something else?  I can see in the “Splitter” I have Basic Easy Access Savings, but there is also a “Primary Pocket”.  However, according to their website “to create a pocket, you will need to be using Plum Pro”, so as I’ve got a “Primary Pocket” does this mean I’ve got Plum Pro?

n
No, the two pockets you mention are the options available for free, the Pro version gives you more options with slightly better interest rates. I can't see anything that specifically states what type of membership you have but click the link "create new pockets" and there you get the options available to you if you went Pro, as these are not available unless you go Pro I would deduce your membership is free. (If you follow my logic)

Twenty pounds is quite a jump from one pound. The auto settings were suggestions rather than a default, well they where when I first registered anyway. I didn't turn anything on or off. As I said I just do manual transfers via DD as and when I want.
I know it's anecdotal but they've always been fairly quick to respond to my messages so it's unfortunate it's taken you so long to get a reply. 


Edited to add;
Having just checked again, the auto save was turned on but I'm pretty sure it was turned off or it could be me just having a brain fade and it was always turned on. There was very little in the accounts linked to so maybe that's why it hadn't done an auto transfer in my case.

There is no need to set up anything automatically via the rules (unless you want to of course). To manually transfer just click the pockets, deposit, choose which pocket, choose an amount, choose DD and it's done.

10_66

Thank you KaMelo, from what you've said, it appears that I do have the Basic then (phew).  As they haven't got back to me from my question yesterday, I have no idea why the £20 as I can see that my DD on the app is showing £1.  It's a mystery that I will never have the answer to if they don't bother responding.  Thanks again for helping me with this 

10_66

Reply from Plum:

"This is an automatic one saver, apologies if this took you offguard. As part of the initial sign up process you set up a direct debit mandate which gives us permission to move funds from your account. We also do advertise the fact that deposits automatically leave your account in the first few screens of the sign up process".

Their reply still doesn't explain why, when I'd cancelled the automatic saver during first registering, the £20 still appeared in the pocket.

The advantage with Moneybox is that they have phone contact if you should need it too.

Sensory

10_66 said:

Reply from Plum:

"This is an automatic one saver, apologies if this took you offguard. As part of the initial sign up process you set up a direct debit mandate which gives us permission to move funds from your account. We also do advertise the fact that deposits automatically leave your account in the first few screens of the sign up process".

Their reply still doesn't explain why, when I'd cancelled the automatic saver during first registering, the £20 still appeared in the pocket.

The advantage with Moneybox is that they have phone contact if you should need it too.

It’s a bug, but they’re not aware of it. I spoke to three different people, explained in detail what the problem was, even on TrustPilot, but every single person failed to acknowledge there was a problem and regurgitated the whole ‘you authorised our algorithm to automatically schedule payments’, completely ignoring the fact that the Automatic setting was disabled when it happened. They even had the nerve to screenshot the registration process highlighting the DD instruction, whilst missing the point completely.

It’s a one-time bug after registration and behaves itself afterwards. After that, it’s the fastest way to set up a DD and manually trigger as necessary (or set Pay Days to £1). Moneybox makes it difficult to switch accounts (you have to contact them or use the CASS).