post office online saver account

AirlieBird

Wheres_My_Cashback wrote: »

If you want to be pedantic then yes they do, but they don't move money until the next day. My expectations of FPs is that funds should be moved instantly as it is in the majority of cases with other institutions, however it's never the case with PO as they don't move funds immediately.

The only places where you can reasonably expect instant transfers are from those that are direct participants in the faster payments system. These are the legacy high Street banks that have dire interest rates on their savings accounts. There are payment providers that provide near real time transfers but as there are extra steps involved, having to go through another payment provider that is connected to the faster payments system, there is a short delay in receiving a transfer. These tend to be providers offering current accounts that aren't one of the legacy high Street banks. Most institutions that don't offer a current account will use the next day model.

Wheres_My_Cashback wrote: »

Judging by comments on previous threads regarding PO savers I'd say it is a major point for most

Judging by comments on previous threads on this forum, most people just want the highest interest rate. For that, most of the time you will need to accept the next working day for your withdrawals. Of the 9 savings accounts currently offering 1.15% or more, available nationwide and offering unlimited withdrawals without penalty, none are direct participants where transfers will occur instantly, only 2 will transfer same day (which can be anywhere between a few minutes to a few hours) and 1 will transfer to the nominated account the same day if the withdrawal request is received before 1.15pm. So if you want instant transfers go ahead and open an account with a dire savings rate. Most of us will be going elsewhere.

lisyloo

Thanks all.
Went for Bank of Cyprus in the end at 1.25%.
They accepted DWP paperwork for ID, which they have sent back.
They wanted to speak to FIL (aged 89). He had a chest infection and it was very difficult to get him through security so this was a trauma, but we did get it done in the end.

smgibson

I've used the post office Online Saver for a year. Terrible web site, terrible and unhelpful customer services. My first year is due to expire so the introductory 1,32% rate is due to drop to a standard 0.24% so I compared other products but not a huge difference. Their new rate is 1.38% so I thought for ease I'll switch to their new product. I tried to switch online but just the standard account set up appears, no switch option. I rang customer services and explained the situation and asked for help. The answer was "No. you have to do it online" and this guy ran through a script and then explained what I'd been through, a new account setup. Most ridiculous archaic online website. Also they take ages to transfer funds with no confirmation your transfer has been accepted and is actually being processed.. Avoid this product - the rate is ok but you have little control. A total embarrassment to the Post Office, I believe its just a white labeled product.

1Foz

So, I have a letter with a 6 digit security code.

Now, where do I find what my login ID is exactly? I've not had communication as to what that is. Or did I choose something at account sign up? Not that i'm aware of at least.

DoDa

Has anyone experienced issues with setting up a regular direct debit to transfer funds from your linked account to the PO online saver and if so how did you resolve the problem? I can make a one off payment work okay, but the website just hangs up when trying to set up a regular payment. I have tried on both my phone and PC.

Vortigern

DoDa wrote: »

Has anyone experienced issues with setting up a regular direct debit to transfer funds from your linked account to the PO online saver and if so how did you resolve the problem? I can make a one off payment work okay, but the website just hangs up when trying to set up a regular payment. I have tried on both my phone and PC.

No real difficulty as such, but you need to wait for a few days after opening the account before you can set up a regular DD.

DD dates seem to vary; they are frequently a day or two late, even when not falling on a weekend or bank holiday. My initial one-off DD to my most recently opened PO account was almost a week later than expected.

If you have PC hang ups, try clearing your cache, or use a different browser. Firefox works for me.

1Foz

Trying to make a payment with my debit card to my Online Saver.

All evening I keep getting this message :

508
Invalid data in MERCHANT_ID field. Please contact the merchant.


Its doing it even when I log in on my phone, so am hoping its a global problem? Else, I'd have expected it to work on at least one platform I use to (attempt to) log in and perform (hopefully) functional banking tasks (!)

Zero_Sum

1Foz wrote: »

Trying to make a payment with my debit card to my Online Saver.

All evening I keep getting this message :

508
Invalid data in MERCHANT_ID field. Please contact the merchant.


Its doing it even when I log in on my phone, so am hoping its a global problem? Else, I'd have expected it to work on at least one platform I use to (attempt to) log in and perform (hopefully) functional banking tasks (!)

Ive never had that error message, but i do struggle to make debit card payments. Only seems to work 10% of the time.

I only ever use mine for DD requirements on current accounts. And thats all its good for really.

1Foz

Yeah same here. I made a debit payment and it came up with the "technical difficulties" 7 times in a row. Then I uninstalled and reinstalled Chrome, cleared the cache and it worked. Then tried to do another transaction and the message comes back. Seriously, Post Office sucks. I will just keep this for the DDs then. Hopefully I can use Birmingham midshires to make debit card payments to max out my co op card.

1Foz

Decided to give the NS&I direct saver a go as it offers debit card transactions for as little as £1. For me it's just to max out my co op rewards. Was going to give the Amazon £1 recurring top up a go but tbh I'm not sure I spend £30 a month on there. Anyway I'm happy to report that I did 10 debit card transactions for £1 with this NS&I direct saver and they all processed fine and quickly. Its much better for that purpose than post office , which I'll just keep running for the DDs...note that NS&I do not allow DDs. Happy with how its payment service is tho . Definitely a thumbs up from me.

Edit : does anyone know if post office has a paperless correspondence option ? I had 5 pieces of mail from them the other day one confirming a linked account change then one each for the weekly direct debits created. I don't really need to be bombarded with snail mail like that. It's just a waste more than anything, anyone know if it's an option ?