Any need to keep direct debits on Nationwide?

philng

I have Flex Direct at Nationwide where the 5% has just finished & also the 5% regular saver still running.

Do I still need to keep the 2 direct debits running & crediting £1000 per month?

YorkshireBoy

You never needed DDs on the account in order to get the interest.

£1K per month still required if you want the 1% rate.

aj23_2

Yes. The only thing that has changed is the interest rate, all other conditions of the FlexDirect still apply.

How many more months have you got for the Regular Saver? I'd switch to someone else. As soon as thr 5% period ended, I switched away.

You could switch to First Direct, get £125 for doing so and open a linked 5% RS which has a higher pay in limit so you'd get more interest.

ColdIron

aj23 wrote: »

Yes. The only thing that has changed is the interest rate, all other conditions of the FlexDirect still apply.

No, Direct Debits have never been a requirement or a condition for the FlexDirect

YorkshireBoy

aj23 wrote: »

Yes. The only thing that has changed is the interest rate, all other conditions of the FlexDirect still apply.

How many more months have you got for the Regular Saver? I'd switch to someone else. As soon as thr 5% period ended, I switched away.

You could switch to First Direct, get £125 for doing so and open a linked 5% RS which has a higher pay in limit so you'd get more interest.

The FD RS isn't anywhere near as flexible as the NW RS.

OP wouldn't need to switch the FlexDirect anyway. Perhaps they should keep it as a qualifier for the RS and open/switch a FlexAccount instead.

aj23_2

ColdIron wrote: »

No, Direct Debits have never been a requirement or a condition for the FlexDirect

I didn't say he needed direct debits...

aj23_2

YorkshireBoy wrote: »

The FD RS isn't anywhere near as flexible as the NW RS.

OP wouldn't need to switch the FlexDirect anyway. Perhaps they should keep it as a qualifier for the RS and open/switch a FlexAccount instead.

If you're regularly saving monthly for a 12 month term, presumably you wouldn't want or need to access it, that's the whole point of the account. Deposit the max and get the max interest.

The OP would be better off. £125 up front with FD. It takes 12 months to get that in interest on the Nationwide FD at 5%. Now it's 1%. The FD RS pays out more interest than the Nationwide RS. It's fact.

YorkshireBoy

aj23 wrote: »

If you're regularly saving monthly for a 12 month term, presumably you wouldn't want or need to access it, that's the whole point of the account. Deposit the max and get the max interest.

The OP would be better off. £125 up front with FD. It takes 12 months to get that in interest on the Nationwide FD at 5%. Now it's 1%. The FD RS pays out more interest than the Nationwide RS. It's fact.

You need to remember there's no one size fits all, and your way won't always be the best.

What we're doing here is laying out the options for the OP.

And the FD RS only pays out more interest if you put more than £250 a month in. Otherwise it pays the same. Fact.

My own opinion is they should do both, if they can afford to, but open another account to switch rather than switching a qualifying account for the NW RS.

aj23_2

YorkshireBoy wrote: »

You need to remember there's no one size fits all, and your way won't always be the best.

What we're doing here is laying out the options for the OP.

And the FD RS only pays out more interest if you put more than £250 a month in. Otherwise it pays the same. Fact.

My own opinion is they should do both, if they can afford to, but open another account to switch rather than switching a qualifying account for the NW RS.

Yeah, and I gave options too... so I don't see your point here.

And if the OP is in a position to max out, it is fact that switching to FB would net him more of a return for the cash for switching and the high interest payable balance on its RS than it would be by staying with Nationwide.

ValiantSon

The OP doesn't need to switch the FlexDirect account. They can open a FlexAccount with Nationwide and switch that. Doing this would give them the £125 switching bonus and still leave them with more options. This would then give them access to both the Nationwide and the First Direct regular savers, which would allow them to put up to £550 each month into a 5% regular saver, rather than just £300 if they switched the FlexDirect to First Direct.

philng

Thanks for the comments but sorry in the main they are largely irrelevant as we have already previously done the First Direct/COOP/HSBC/Halifax etc. etc. switches.