The Top Easy Access Savings Discussion Area

murphydavid

mitchcalva wrote: »

My ING bonus period is finished and I'm back to 0.5%!--so I will switch. ING's higher rates are only available to people who haven't held an ING a/c for >6months!! This may be the case with other providers as well, so my question is--do I close the a/c or just reduce it to say £1 and then it's there if I need it in future.
Why do firms want to lose their customers like this!!

Close it if its easy. What future value does an obsolete account have? Its easy to open a new one.
Mind you some accounts are a devil of a job to close. Take Santander (and others) - can't close it on the internet even though its an internet account. Can't get instructions on how to close it on the internet either. Won't give me instructions when I emailed them and asked. Told me to make an appointment at my branch then go in "to discuse my situation". These are accounts they have taken over and were Alliance and Leicester and Abbey. My situation is £20 or so tied up £1 in each account more than a £1s worth of work to close any of them.
Why?
Two reasons (maybe 3) I can see -
If its hard so you don't close they keep your details and feel justified in junk mailing you.
They probably make more money paying next to no interest to people who got sucked in then for some reason don't ditch or switch than they do from people who do.
Could it be that a few hundred thousand £1 accounts is £1 or £2 to you but a few hundred thousand to them?

DavidAC

The Bank of Baroda seem to be offering good interest rates for one year or more deposits. Can anyone understand how they apply to their different accounts? Does anyone have any experience of them? They say they are covered by the FSCS.

http://www.bankofbarodauk.com/exchange-interest-rates/

curlygirl1971

mitchcalva wrote: »

My ING bonus period is finished and I'm back to 0.5%!--so I will switch. ING's higher rates are only available to people who haven't held an ING a/c for >6months!! This may be the case with other providers as well, so my question is--do I close the a/c or just reduce it to say £1 and then it's there if I need it in future.
Why do firms want to lose their customers like this!!

I decided to close mine. I have never been one of the lucky ones to be offered a referral payment so after the balance festering at £1 for the past couple of months I closed it. Took a phonecall. After 6 months I would be able to re-apply (and get their latest Bonus rate) if I can't find anything better. I've not switched to anything yet as my instant access savings bal has gone down due to expenditures; but the AA or Egg look the best at present?

dasim

ING has a long history of advertising high rates for new savings and then reducing them to uncompetitive levels. At least now, in common with most, they're upfront about the bonus period. There's no point in leaving even £1 with them as it will preclude you from qualifying for a new saver bonus rate later in the year.
I've also just closed my Bradford & Bingley eSaver as the bonus period expired and am deciding where to put the money. One thing I can say is that closing the B&B account was dead easy-just a few clicks online-no phone calls etc. They are currently offering 2.75% including bonus for new money.

sradia

Anyone interested in a easy access savings account should check out the Market Harborough Building Society Monthly Super Saver, they currently offer 2.95% on instant access!! (2.45% + 0.5% bonus).

You are allowed one penalty free withdrawal per annum which is great because if you need some cash you can get in whilst at the same time putting you off from dipping in to your savings, a good savings account paying a top rate!

LGG_2

anyone have an AA internet account? pros and cons? im currently with egg 3.25% but the bonus runs out at the end of the month so am looking for the next best rate. having to send a cheque off to open the AAA account is off putting already.

Steve_xx

sradia wrote: »

Anyone interested in a easy access savings account should check out the Market Harborough Building Society Monthly Super Saver, they currently offer 2.95% on instant access!! (2.45% + 0.5% bonus).

You are allowed one penalty free withdrawal per annum which is great because if you need some cash you can get in whilst at the same time putting you off from dipping in to your savings, a good savings account paying a top rate!

Not a bad account, but note that you can deposit a maximum of £2,500 per month.

Steve_xx

LGG wrote: »

anyone have an AA internet account? pros and cons? im currently with egg 3.25% but the bonus runs out at the end of the month so am looking for the next best rate. having to send a cheque off to open the AAA account is off putting already.

Most new accounts require a cheque to be sent in the first instance if you don't already have an account with the respective organisation. It's hardly a valid reason to be put off what is otherwise a top-paying accoount.

The pro's are that it's about the best simple account at the moment.

Be aware that it is administered by HBOS, part of Lloyds TSB, so be careful not to invest more than 50k across members of this organisation to ensure protection under the FSCS.

JimmyTheWig

LGG wrote: »

anyone have an AA internet account? pros and cons? im currently with egg 3.25% but the bonus runs out at the end of the month so am looking for the next best rate. having to send a cheque off to open the AAA account is off putting already.

Note that the egg bonus is available on all new _accounts_ not just new customers like most bonuses are.
I know egg aren't offering quite as much interest as the AA, but for an existing customer it's a lot less hassle.
Open a new savings account with egg, move the money from your existing savings account to your current account and then into your new savings account. [Note that you don't get the bonus rate if you just move the money from one egg account to another.]

It's what we'll be doing at the end of the month.

(Please note that I have no affiliation to egg other than being a long-standing happy customer.)

samba24

I've been looking for a new savings account recently but noticed, as many on here have already said, that most banks/BS need a cheque from your nominated bank account.

So what do you do if you don't have a cheque book? I've been with Cahoot for about 10 years and haven't had a cheque book all that time.

Has anyone found a way round this? I'm guessing that a lot of people on here won't have cheque books with their current accounts as you tend to get a higher rate of interest on your account, when they paid interest, back in the day...

Any thoughts on how to get round this? Opening another current account purely to get a cheque book and then moving the money through that every time I want to make a transfer seems like a complete pain. And with the length of time banks tend to take to transfer the money, will probably reduce whatever market beating rate I do get to something completely average.

Thanks