The Top Easy Access Savings Discussion Area

cricidmuslibale

jak22 said:

Post Office Savings Online Saver Issue 63

3.22% AER 3.17% monthly including a 12 month bonus element of 2.32%/2.27%

In other words, the underlying interest rate for this account is a much lower 0.90% monthly, 0.90% AER!

Imho when a savings provider has designed more than two thirds of the overall interest rate as a so-called ‘bonus’ when without this amount, as will be the case after 12 months, the interest rate will plummet to a much lower level, there is an element of trying to trick the prospective saver into saving his/her money within an account which appears to have a much more reasonable interest rate than over time it really does!

BEWARE!

phillw

cricidmuslibale said:
there is an element of trying to trick the prospective saver into saving his/her money within an account which appears to have a much more reasonable interest rate than over time it really does!

BEWARE!

I don't think it's a trick, you should keep an eye on what your money is doing

OceanSound

phillw said:

OceanSound said:
However, customer could lose phone on Friday of a long bank holiday weekend and may not be able to get a replacement SIM until Tuesday. In this scenario, isn't the customer able to temporarily change their phone number to a replacement number (a bit like the replacement bus service that runs during weekends when there is work carried out on the rail lines. LOL)

Banks don't usually circumvent their security just for your convenience over a bank holiday.


In those circumstances, the customer would be within their right to request the bank or fintech to change their phone number. The bank or fintech would then need to change it (after confirming the customers ID). 

You can request whatever you like, they don't have to do anything. The bank can even prevent you accessing your money whenever they feel like it. You can complain & take it to the ombudsman after 28 days if you get nowhere, then wait in a queue for your complaint to be heard.

I was tempted to stop reading after the 'usually'. 

Completely biased point of view. 

Banks and fintechs need to operate under rules and regulations. Case in point is, if I request my personal data, the bank needs to supply. If they don't they are breaking the law!

Banks cannot and won't stop you accessing your funds without good reason. It's not in their interest.

Ombudsman is only one route. There are faster routes. be prepared to be familiarize your self with the legal system (if self representing) or lawyer up and pay  though the nose.

phillw

OceanSound said:
I was tempted to stop reading after the 'usually'. 

Completely biased point of view. 

Banks and fintechs need to operate under rules and regulations. Case in point is, if I request my personal data, the bank needs to supply. If they don't they are breaking the law!

Banks cannot and won't stop you accessing your funds without good reason. It's not in their interest.

Ombudsman is only one route. There are faster routes. be prepared to be familiarize your self with the legal system (if self representing) or lawyer up and pay  though the nose.

They have to respond to a SAR within a month. I'm not sure how that's relevant to your argument though.

A good reason to restrict access to funds could be "this guy wants us to change the phone number on the account, because they lost their phone and can't get a new sim for a couple of days which makes us think they are a scammer".

Sometimes they restrict access because you tried to send money to a new payee. Other times people have no idea & in those cases it's illegal for the bank to tell you why they have restricted access to your money. So we actually have no idea afterwards either.

Good luck lawering up

https://www.lawgazette.co.uk/news/small-claims-taking-51-weeks-to-go-to-trial-as-litigants-wait-for-justice/5110788.article

Statistics, published by the Ministry of Justice for the July to September quarter, reveal the mean time taken for small claims to go to trial was 50.7 weeks – more than 12 weeks longer than in the same period in 2019.

I'm not sure what I'm supposed to be biased for or against. But clearly getting a replacement SIM is the fastest way to gain access to money if you lose your phone.

wmb194

Futuristic said:

Band7 said:

phillw said:

Band7 said:
You only need to provide a bank statement if they can verify your current account electronically

No idea why the verification would fail, but presumably they check the name and address on the account?

I had Santander, Starling and Nationwide added without the need of a statement. i did not manage to get Fineco or Wise added, despite providing Zopa with the requested statements. I have no idea what they check.

Well they are not really "bank" accounts so I can understand why they rejected those.

I sent my Chase statement since it has no open banking and they added it without any further questions. 

Fineco is definitely a bank but the issue could be that it is Italian.

SJMALBA

Charter issue 36 - 3.35% (3.3% monthly)

(a 0.05% increase on issue 35)

https://www.chartersavingsbank.co.uk/Products/EasyAccess

Band7

Futuristic said:

Band7 said:

phillw said:

Band7 said:
You only need to provide a bank statement if they can verify your current account electronically

No idea why the verification would fail, but presumably they check the name and address on the account?

I had Santander, Starling and Nationwide added without the need of a statement. i did not manage to get Fineco or Wise added, despite providing Zopa with the requested statements. I have no idea what they check.

Well they are not really "bank" accounts so I can understand why they rejected those.

I sent my Chase statement since it has no open banking and they added it without any further questions. 

I agree, Wise might not be considered a "bank" account as Wise are not a bank. Fineco, however, are very much a bank, and their current account is a current account like with any other UK bank.

wmb194 said:

Fineco is definitely a bank but the issue could be that it is Italian.

That may be the reason, although they have a UK operation. Zopa never explained why they wouldn't accprt it; they just kept asking for the statement that I had already provided. In the end, I didn't pursue it as I stopped using Fineco for other reasons.

The main point I tried to get across is that For most banks, you don't need to provide any statement. You just add them and the verification is instant.

jak22

cricidmuslibale said:

jak22 said:

Post Office Savings Online Saver Issue 63

3.22% AER 3.17% monthly including a 12 month bonus element of 2.32%/2.27%

In other words, the underlying interest rate for this account is a much lower 0.90% monthly, 0.90% AER!

Imho when a savings provider has designed more than two thirds of the overall interest rate as a so-called ‘bonus’ when without this amount, as will be the case after 12 months, the interest rate will plummet to a much lower level, there is an element of trying to trick the prospective saver into saving his/her money within an account which appears to have a much more reasonable interest rate than over time it really does!

BEWARE!

It pays exactly the rate it says it does - this insight might also apply to the Santander eSaver Limited Edition (Issue 1) that people were excited about that converts to an Everyday Saver (0.7%) in 6 months.

The benefit of an account with a large bonus element is if rates drop significantly - the bonus acts a floor even if the variable part is reduced.

ircE

Apologies if this has already been mentioned or not worth mentioning because it's not exactly a top rate, but it may interest people to know that Yorkshire Building Society's Internet Saver Plus Issue 13 has raised the interest rates on its tiers at some point, meaning £50,000+ balances now earn 3.25%. This is different to the 3.15% advertised a few weeks ago.

The middle tier for £10,000 - £50,000 has also risen to 3.20%, up from 3.10%.

ForumUser7

ircE said:

Apologies if this has already been mentioned or not worth mentioning because it's not exactly a top rate, but it may interest people to know that Yorkshire Building Society's Internet Saver Plus Issue 13 has raised the interest rates on its tiers at some point, meaning £50,000+ balances now earn 3.25%. This is different to the 3.15% advertised a few weeks ago.

The middle tier for £10,000 - £50,000 has also risen to 3.20%, up from 3.10%.

Good spot - this is a further change since their 5th April changes. For some reason it isn't updated on their rates PDF yet