ICICI Bank HiSAVE 5.40% AER

Walletwatch

OK I want to transfer my first normal instalment to ICICI (have already done the first one that supposedly takes eight working days, but only took two in my case) Problem is my linked account is Abbey, and they tell me they cannot make out a bill payment of more than £3000 from my account. Would this limitation hold for transfers to my ICICI account as well, as from Abbey's point of view, this would be just another direct debit claim wouldn't it?

cloud_dog

Walletwatch wrote:

OK I want to transfer my first normal instalment to ICICI (have already done the first one that supposedly takes eight working days, but only took two in my case) Problem is my linked account is Abbey, and they tell me they cannot make out a bill payment of more than £3000 from my account. Would this limitation hold for transfers to my ICICI account as well, as from Abbey's point of view, this would be just another direct debit claim wouldn't it?

Wallet

Had this problem with Abbey when I needed to repay some stoozed money. Apparently it is the limit for the first transaction to an organisation, why, falls under money laundering excuses. Apparently (again) the limit does not apply for subsequent transactions.

cloud_dog

MarkyMarkD

cloud_dog wrote:

Anyone sent the R85 form to ICICI and have they processed it (efficiently)?

cloud_dog

We sent the R85 with the £1 cheque, but haven't heard back regarding either, yet. Will keep everyone updated!

misterfish

I saw the bank and its decent rate of interest mentioned on the site at about the time ING announced its interest rate reduction. What I missed was this forum thread, and having subsequently read the various horror stories am retiscent about doing anything else with the account even though I haven't (yet) had any real problems, just an uncomfortable feeling.

I think that most of us using this account want a service that doesn't increase the worry factor or blood pressure - the thing is that if I was a gambler I would utilise more risky investments with a higher return potential, but as I approach retirement I want a safe haven for my money that I don't have to lay awake at night worrying about but which also gives a reasonable rate of interest.

My experiences so far with ICICI (that my wife and I refer to as 'Icky Icky Icky' as ICICI sounds like the old Chemical Company to my wife and I - a feature of getting older I think) have been OK. The initial opening of the joint account went through without any real hassle. I don't think the A&L account number problem that others have mentioned should really be a problem as you only use the last 8 of the 9 account number and the first number is the last number of the sort code - the page at the beginning of the cheque book explains all this. It used to be that there were different sort codes for money coming and going from the account but this changed a while ago.

Anyway, after the initial acknowledgemnt email, a week later I got an email saying the account has been opened successfully and for me to send a cheque for at least a pound. There was no mention of my wife, so I emailed them to query this and have still had no reply. So just in case we both signed the cheque which cleared our current account just over a week ago and on the same day we both got emails giving our logon id's with the promise of the password to follow but not specified if it would be by email or Royal Mail. We are still waiting. At this stage I am not concerned, especially as I have only invested £1 with them.

I think everybody should be aware that even the established 'big boys' of the financial world also have their 'off days'. Last year when we transferred our cash mini ISAs friom Smile to the Abbey Postal ISA's there were long delays in processing but all payments were backdated to give us the extra interest from a few days after we opened the accounts. The biggest beef with this was that the local branch made 'administrative errors' with the money laundering checks and we were virtually ordered to attend the local branch immediately to sort it out and were made to feel uncomfortabel when we said it would have to wait until the next weekend at the earliest. When I pointed out that it was their error and that we were the customer they then agreed to our timescales. When we went to the branch they were pleasant and apologetic. So despite the problems we were kept informed and didn't lose out. Again, this year we put in our annual allowances and ended up having to chase them to to get acknowledgement of receipt of our checks, and again they were credited soon after we sent them, it's just the customer service admin being slow. The thing is that despite the problems we stll feel comfortable with the Abbey whereas with ICICI we do not.

We will keep the ICICI account and see how the bank's reputation and customer service develop. But in the meantime I think we'll open a B&B Esaver account which also seems to give a good rate of interest and is an institution I trust.

Jeff

oldagetraveller

misterfish wrote:

We will keep the ICICI account and see how the bank's reputation and customer service develop. But in the meantime I think we'll open a B&B Esaver account which also seems to give a good rate of interest and is an institution I trust.

Jeff

Probably a wise move.
The problem with Icky Icky Icky is that every day is an *off day."

masonic

masonic wrote:

...I sent off an R85 on the 24th June, shortly after sending my £1 opening cheque. I've heard nothing about it since and today I find the first interest has been applied to my account and, surprise surprise, it has been taxed...

Amazingly, I got a reply today to the e-mail I sent about this just over a week ago. They were very apologetic about not having processed the form and have even promised to credit the tax deduction back to my account. I am shocked! Perhaps they are, ever so slowly, cleaning up their act.

misterfish

Well. Today's the 12th Aug and both my wife and I received a letter from Icky Icky Icky with our passwords. First class post, so there's no stinting on postage costs. Super-thick envelopes that could probably withstand a herd of rampaging wildebeasts without so much as a dent and the contents in a sealed envelope like a pay statement (at least like mine) with more than adequate external printing to ensure nobody would be able read the contents. On the whole, quite impressive, but just a fair bit slower than they promised.

Tried it all out and got on line OK and there was the £1 in the account busy earning it's high rate of interest!

I'll try going back in tomorrow and do a small transfer in and then get my wife to have a go on Sunday.

To try to be dispassionate, the service so far has been Ok, just a little on the slow side. Still, it'll take a while before I'm comfortable saving a reasonable sum with them.

I'll report any more of interest as and when I get it

Jeff

Walletwatch

Another thing I notice is that they credit you your first interest only at the end of the first completed month - i.e. since I opened my account in the first week of July, I only get my first interest credit at the end of August.

Not sure that is the case with other internet savings accounts???

oldagetraveller

They did credit my account with interest at the end of July, the account was opened at the start of July.

Diamond_Geezer_3

I applied for an account on the 7th of July, 2005.
The site appeared to crash so on re-entering details I ended up getting 2 Emails giving me instructions on how to open the account.
I responded to one of the Emails, and received notification that my request had been accepted and that I should send a cheque to the bank along with my UK nominated accounts details.
I sent a cheque for a fiver, drawn on the nominated account, (this is presumably for anti money laundering purposes), and as at 28th August I haven't heard a peep out of them.
This morning I Googled them to see what if any complaints were doing the circuit, or to see if they were posting delay notices.
They aren't...but there are plenty of complaints about their efficiency out there to be found.

Here is one more.

I want to have faith and trust in my Bankers.
They MUST be efficient and responsive.
It simply isn't worth banking with these guys if you are unable to communicate with them in a timely manner, if they constantly get things wrong, if money goes missing etc etc.

When or if I finally get access to an account, I'm having my fiver back and forgetting about them. I'm also going to write to "Which?" magazine to alert them to the shoddy service.

If you dear reader, have experienced poor service...please take the time to Email whichever consumer program or magazine you normally watch, listen to or read.