Does any UK bank account offer automatic transfers?

colsten

18cc wrote: »

However the savings Account rate is nothing to shout about (0.75%) but better than nothing I suppose.

0.75% is indeed better than nothing. 1.5% is also better than 0.75%, and so are 3% and 5% - all interest rates that are pretty much freely available to current account holders who actually want them. I rest my case.

18cc

Ah yes I totally agree with you however none of the above offer a sweeping facility!

Cornucopia

The answer to the OP's question is: no, none of the main UK banks offer this facility (and it's probably the case that no UK banks offer it with free-to-operate current accounts).

It's somewhat disappointing that that is the answer, and perhaps we will see it change, because the basic infrastructure is there, and all it requires is software to drive it. I suppose the Banks' response would be that the demand is unclear, and they would be concerned about potential liability stemming from complex rules causing unforeseen consequences or being misunderstood by customers.

It can certainly be done - I had a pair of accounts with the old Midland Bank (now HSBC) 30 years ago that had a sweep link between them. I remember trying to stretch the capabilities of their systems right to the limit to squeeze the maximum benefit from the linked savings account.

18cc

As I have already mentioned one UK bank does and it is B bank

Cornucopia

18cc wrote: »

As I have already mentioned one UK bank does and it is B bank

I got the impression from what was posted earlier that B's facility was not a fully flexible automatic sweep facility. I couldn't find any details at all on their website (though it does look very nice).

Uxb

I can remember in the days of high interest rates (1990's) at least one main stream bank did offer this sort of automated sweeping service for their wealth clients in their private banking arm - for which of course you would be paying a monthly service fee.

18cc

From the B web site:

B!!!8217;s got your back
Nobody wants to have to check their bank account every single day. So the B app will keep an eye on both your B Current and B Instant Savings accounts to make sure everything!!!8217;s in order. B's app lets you set a low balance rule and when your B Current account balance falls below that, the B app automatically sweeps money from your B Instant Savings account. Handy, right?

I think it also works the other way but you will have to ask.

Cornucopia

Thanks for that - great if it can handle the basic task of optimising Current Account-Savings linkage (albeit with only 0.75% of interest at stake).

Let's say I remain disappointed with all the other banks, where the automation of account management seems to be stuck in the 1970s.

I can understand (for example) that they don't want a Savings Account to have Standing Orders, but the facility to make a regular transfer between one's own accounts must surely be desirable and extremely cheap to provide.

18cc

I also believe the chip app has some kind of automatic sweeping between your bank accounts you obviously have to give it access to your bank accounts and I have never used it so I can't say how it works but I think there are threads on here and anyway it should be possible to Google and see if it is sort of thing you want

ozaz

OP - If you're not comfortable using an app-based bank or linking your bank account to 3rd party services the following won't be suitable, but Monzo combined with IFTT allows you to define your own rules to automate various transactions.

The service doesn't yet allow you to trigger automated actions based on the balance in the current account and Monzo doesn't yet offer an interest paying savings account (which would both be needed for what you want to do) but these things should be added soon.