The Top Easy Access Savings Discussion Area

RG2015

TisMeBill said:

Band7 said:

Here's a new one on me. multiple withdrawals & redepositing to extract my CHIP bonus have landed me with an investigation. Thank goodness they are now paying proper interest. 

 

I had a source of wealth check after doing my initial deposits.

Aside from Chip do any other banks do this.

Also, is this now more common and can we expect other banks and FIs to start adopting source of wealth checks?

When I moved house a few years back, my solicitor told be I would need to provide this. I duly compiled a set of documents and bank statements and was never asked to send them.

kaMelo

To be fair, now Chip is a normal type of savings account I would assume this wouldn't happen for the majority of customers. The reason it has happened is the repeated deposits and withdrawals of the same money, as the way the account operated with a bonus this was the only way to access that bonus, and cumulatively this has meant more than £100,000 deposited in a twelve month period.

I do like the way they present it though, "You have been selected ......."  it makes it sound like you've won a prize when nothing could be further from the truth.

janusdesign

aaj123 said:

Are there any fixed rate savings accounts out there which allow early access or have a mild penalty to do so?

Marcus is the one of the few fixed-rate 1-Yr that has an early closing option with penalty, but it only pays 3.50% - you can get 90-day notice accounts paying more than that... but as @Band7 said, the fixed rate thread is the place to ask.

Nick_C

Moving £100k a year through any bank is likely to raise alarm bells, unless they can see where its coming from.

I had my YBS savings account frozen three times for moving large sums thorough it. 

aoleks

I opened a chip account for the 3.15% interest rate, currently with santander at 2.78%.

It asks me to link my debit card to it. While I have no issue with that in principle, I heard horror stories about chip blocking people’s money for checks or processing automated payments despite being told NOT to.

can someone confirm chip is safe and I won’t end up with my current account
blocked because I happened to want a bit more interest on several thousands?

flaneurs_lobster

Chip is fine for most people, just remember to turn off the autosave "feature" that is on by default.

Perhaps link a secondary, not so crucial, current account if you have concerns. Getting accounts unlinked/swapped is a bit of a faff.

[Deleted User]

Nationwide is my main account and used to link all my accounts that I open.

As rates have increased over the last year I have open and closed numerous saving accounts. There must be over half a million passed through my Nationwide account, nothing has been said.

Nationwide did lock my account in the past, when a letter was returned to them by the Post Office.

Surely, money laundering checks should only be done on original deposits into the UK banking system, not money coming from another UK bank.

 

aoleks

flaneurs_lobster said:

Chip is fine for most people, just remember to turn off the autosave "feature" that is on by default.

Perhaps link a secondary, not so crucial, current account if you have concerns. Getting accounts unlinked/swapped is a bit of a faff.

Howndo I do that? Their app/interface is the stupidest I’ve seen in ages and nothing really makes sense. You would think something as crucial as taking payments from people’s current accounts would be easy to find.

flaneurs_lobster

aoleks said:

flaneurs_lobster said:

Chip is fine for most people, just remember to turn off the autosave "feature" that is on by default.

Perhaps link a secondary, not so crucial, current account if you have concerns. Getting accounts unlinked/swapped is a bit of a faff.

Howndo I do that? Their app/interface is the stupidest I’ve seen in ages and nothing really makes sense. You would think something as crucial as taking payments from people’s current accounts would be easy to find.

Their user interface is a little, er, challenging.

Changing linked bank account? Profile tab, Your linked bank, Update bank details. 

Sends you to an online chat session (with the Customer Success Team (sic)), available Mon-Fri. 

PosterBoy77

Futuristic said:

I see a lot of people here who have up to FSCS amount, I tried to search but has anyone applied for this and got it easily? Private Savings Account | Savings | Private Banking | Virgin Money UK

It gives rate based on BoE -0.25%. 

You would need to get the private account which costs £25/mo but with this rate it would be worth it? (https://uk.virginmoney.com/private/)

I have got this account as I expect the BOE will increase rates a bit more and banks now seem to be holding back on increasing savings rates, especially instant access accounts. The £25 monthly fee is partly offset by the inclusive worldwide family travel insurance.

If someone has over 500k the account pays the BOE base rate. I think it is worth it if you have larger sums and want instant access whilst still getting a very competitive rate.