Natwest v Marcus

EachPenny

Sea_Shell wrote: »

So really only any good if you don't need any of the money and you leave enough "room" to constantly add £50 per month.

Pretty niche market?!

Marcus has made the Savings Builder account a bit redundant, unless you are looking to have more than £85k saved at 1.5% (or don't like online/phone only banks)...

...but you have misunderstood the T&Cs of the account and how it works. The whole balance can be withdrawn on an instant access basis at any time, except for the crucial 'second last working day' when they check whether the balance is £50 more than it was the previous month.

If managed strategically, you will have enough 'room' to add £50 per month for over 16 years before the balance needs to exceed the £10,000 interest threshold. :idea:

Or with the new £10,000 threshold and £50/month increase a less strategic management approach still means you can run the account for some time before the £50 top ups drag the average rate down to the level of some other instant access accounts.

The account is discussed at some length in this thread.
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/5800316/natwest-savings-builder
My post #4 explains how the 16 year thing works - except you need to substitute £10,000 for £5000 for the balance, and £50 for £100 for the monthly increment.

DeanYorks

I have had a Savings Builder with Natwest for about 2 years. You don't have to pay in £50 per month. As long as the balance grows by fifty, that's all that matters. So on 10 grand the interest each month is about £12.50. So I just pay in about 38 quid or so.

I'm considering a Marcus account, but can't make my mind up, as the Charter Savings Bank are offering 1.75% on a 95 Day Notice Account. Three months isn't that long to lock your brass away! And 1.75% is pretty good considering.