The Top Easy Access Savings Discussion Area

ToastLady

SirHugo said:

I'm not too bothered about losing 3 days interest on my £500 - I've been losing far more on the £5k I've been tied in to keeping in my original Rewards account this last year. Luckily I'll be able to change that next month.

Yes it was fine when interest rates were truly paltry, I changed mine to an ordinary account a few months back now.

Bridlington1

ToastLady said:

SirHugo said:

I'm not too bothered about losing 3 days interest on my £500 - I've been losing far more on the £5k I've been tied in to keeping in my original Rewards account this last year. Luckily I'll be able to change that next month.

Yes it was fine when interest rates were truly paltry, I changed mine to an ordinary account a few months back now.

It still is fine now. According to my calculations 3 days interest on £500 in an EA account at 3.4% is 14p so by using Chip for your debit card deposits you are still seeing a net gain of £4.86 per Halifax account per month.

Band7

Bridlington1 said:

ToastLady said:

SirHugo said:

I'm not too bothered about losing 3 days interest on my £500 - I've been losing far more on the £5k I've been tied in to keeping in my original Rewards account this last year. Luckily I'll be able to change that next month.

Yes it was fine when interest rates were truly paltry, I changed mine to an ordinary account a few months back now.

It still is fine now. According to my calculations 3 days interest on £500 in an EA account at 3.4% is 14p so by using Chip for your debit card deposits you are still seeing a net gain of £4.86 per Halifax account per 

You can do the lot for a £4.94 net profit per Halifax account if you do it with the NS&I Direct Saver, where you have none of the FSCS issues, and none of the potential issues you might encounter with smaller outfits. Despite being a real CHIP fan myself, I won't be using them for any debit card deposits.

chels

Bridlington1 said:

ToastLady said:

SirHugo said:

I'm not too bothered about losing 3 days interest on my £500 - I've been losing far more on the £5k I've been tied in to keeping in my original Rewards account this last year. Luckily I'll be able to change that next month.

Yes it was fine when interest rates were truly paltry, I changed mine to an ordinary account a few months back now.

It still is fine now. According to my calculations 3 days interest on £500 in an EA account at 3.4% is 14p so by using Chip for your debit card deposits you are still seeing a net gain of £4.86 per Halifax account per month.

It's no longer fine as keeping £5,000 in the Halifax Reward account for the £5.00 reward is a return of approx 1.20% (approx 1.50% once the tax is claimed back) so at interest rates now that £5,000 is not returning enough to make it worthwhile.  I'm in the same boat, I will be switching to the debit card method at renewal (assuming the reward remains the same/similar).

Band7

chels said:

Bridlington1 said:

ToastLady said:

SirHugo said:

I'm not too bothered about losing 3 days interest on my £500 - I've been losing far more on the £5k I've been tied in to keeping in my original Rewards account this last year. Luckily I'll be able to change that next month.

Yes it was fine when interest rates were truly paltry, I changed mine to an ordinary account a few months back now.

It still is fine now. According to my calculations 3 days interest on £500 in an EA account at 3.4% is 14p so by using Chip for your debit card deposits you are still seeing a net gain of £4.86 per Halifax account per month.

It's no longer fine as keeping £5,000 in the Halifax Reward account for the £5.00 reward is a return of approx 1.20% (approx 1.50% once the tax is claimed back) so at interest rates now that £5,000 is not returning enough to make it worthwhile.  I'm in the same boat, I will be switching to the debit card method at renewal (assuming the reward remains the same/similar).

Keeping £5k in Halifax was never necessary though. There have always been accounts that paid better interest than the Halifax Reward.

Bridlington1

chels said:

Bridlington1 said:

ToastLady said:

SirHugo said:

I'm not too bothered about losing 3 days interest on my £500 - I've been losing far more on the £5k I've been tied in to keeping in my original Rewards account this last year. Luckily I'll be able to change that next month.

Yes it was fine when interest rates were truly paltry, I changed mine to an ordinary account a few months back now.

It still is fine now. According to my calculations 3 days interest on £500 in an EA account at 3.4% is 14p so by using Chip for your debit card deposits you are still seeing a net gain of £4.86 per Halifax account per month.

It's no longer fine as keeping £5,000 in the Halifax Reward account for the £5.00 reward is a return of approx 1.20% (approx 1.50% once the tax is claimed back) so at interest rates now that £5,000 is not returning enough to make it worthwhile.  I'm in the same boat, I will be switching to the debit card method at renewal (assuming the reward remains the same/similar).

I wasn't referring to the "keep £5k in the account" option but was referring to the "spend £500" option. My point essentially was that you are better off using chip to make the £500 debit card deposits rather than forgoing the Halifax reward account altogether. But as @Band7 points out for an extra 8p net profit you are better off using NS&I rather than Chip. Having said that it may be worth mentioning that deposits into Cambridge BS by debit card can be withdrawn straight away thus trumping both Chip and NS&I.

Whilst I'm at it you could downgrade your Halifax reward account into a standard current account, then open a new reward account selecting the spend £500 option rather than waiting for the renewal. 

chels

Band7 said:

chels said:

Bridlington1 said:

ToastLady said:

SirHugo said:

I'm not too bothered about losing 3 days interest on my £500 - I've been losing far more on the £5k I've been tied in to keeping in my original Rewards account this last year. Luckily I'll be able to change that next month.

Yes it was fine when interest rates were truly paltry, I changed mine to an ordinary account a few months back now.

It still is fine now. According to my calculations 3 days interest on £500 in an EA account at 3.4% is 14p so by using Chip for your debit card deposits you are still seeing a net gain of £4.86 per Halifax account per month.

It's no longer fine as keeping £5,000 in the Halifax Reward account for the £5.00 reward is a return of approx 1.20% (approx 1.50% once the tax is claimed back) so at interest rates now that £5,000 is not returning enough to make it worthwhile.  I'm in the same boat, I will be switching to the debit card method at renewal (assuming the reward remains the same/similar).

Keeping £5k in Halifax was never necessary though. There have always been accounts that paid better interest than the Halifax Reward.

Were there?  When interest rates were rock bottom, I'm not sure what straightforward easy access accounts were paying better.

Anyway my point still stands, what was competitive is no longer the case.

Band7

Bridlington1 said:

  Having said that it may be worth mentioning that deposits into Cambridge BS by debit card can be withdrawn straight away thus trumping both Chip and NS&I.

There are definitely faster methods than NS&I but these are with smaller outfits who might not tolerate the recycling, especially if you have multiple Reward accounts to process.

AmityNeon

chels said:

Band7 said:

chels said:

Bridlington1 said:

ToastLady said:

SirHugo said:

I'm not too bothered about losing 3 days interest on my £500 - I've been losing far more on the £5k I've been tied in to keeping in my original Rewards account this last year. Luckily I'll be able to change that next month.

Yes it was fine when interest rates were truly paltry, I changed mine to an ordinary account a few months back now.

It still is fine now. According to my calculations 3 days interest on £500 in an EA account at 3.4% is 14p so by using Chip for your debit card deposits you are still seeing a net gain of £4.86 per Halifax account per month.

It's no longer fine as keeping £5,000 in the Halifax Reward account for the £5.00 reward is a return of approx 1.20% (approx 1.50% once the tax is claimed back) so at interest rates now that £5,000 is not returning enough to make it worthwhile.  I'm in the same boat, I will be switching to the debit card method at renewal (assuming the reward remains the same/similar).

Keeping £5k in Halifax was never necessary though. There have always been accounts that paid better interest than the Halifax Reward.

Were there? When interest rates were rock bottom, I'm not sure what straightforward easy access accounts were paying better.

Anyway my point still stands, what was competitive is no longer the case.

It has never been competitive because you can qualify for the £5 Reward with a £0 current account balance, whilst also keeping £5,000 in a separate interest-bearing account.

chels

AmityNeon said:

chels said:

Band7 said:

chels said:

Bridlington1 said:

ToastLady said:

SirHugo said:

I'm not too bothered about losing 3 days interest on my £500 - I've been losing far more on the £5k I've been tied in to keeping in my original Rewards account this last year. Luckily I'll be able to change that next month.

Yes it was fine when interest rates were truly paltry, I changed mine to an ordinary account a few months back now.

It still is fine now. According to my calculations 3 days interest on £500 in an EA account at 3.4% is 14p so by using Chip for your debit card deposits you are still seeing a net gain of £4.86 per Halifax account per month.

It's no longer fine as keeping £5,000 in the Halifax Reward account for the £5.00 reward is a return of approx 1.20% (approx 1.50% once the tax is claimed back) so at interest rates now that £5,000 is not returning enough to make it worthwhile.  I'm in the same boat, I will be switching to the debit card method at renewal (assuming the reward remains the same/similar).

Keeping £5k in Halifax was never necessary though. There have always been accounts that paid better interest than the Halifax Reward.

Were there?  When interest rates were rock bottom, I'm not sure what straightforward easy access accounts were paying better.

Anyway my point still stands, what was competitive is no longer the case.

It has never been competitive because you can qualify for the £5 Reward with a £0 current account balance, whilst also keeping £5,000 in a separate interest-bearing account.

I'm aware you could do that but I'm talking about comparing interest rates when rates were much lower, at that time the reward of £6.25 per month was worthwhile and competitive by leaving £5,000 in the account and forgetting about it compared to straightforward easy access savings accounts.

At the time, my preference was not to get involved in faffing about with a monthly debit card payment when I'm receiving a competitive rate for zero manual involvement from myself.  Now the effective rate is no longer competitive, I'm likely prepared to do a manual debit card payment to get the reward.