The Top Easy Access Savings Discussion Area

sheslookinhot

LivingEarth said:

I'm afraid that as a green saver, the top savings account section on MSE is worthless to me as it only focuses on best paying interest rates and account T&Cs. 

There is no reference as to whether the banks invest in fossil fuels and other climate destroying lending.

Perhaps MSE could start a new section on top Green savings accounts ? 

Perhaps you could start a new thread of top green savings accounts and educate all who wish to be educated, if there are any. 

Wheres_My_Cashback

LivingEarth said:

I'm afraid that as a green saver, the top savings account section on MSE is worthless to me as it only focuses on best paying interest rates and account T&Cs.

There is no reference as to whether the banks invest in fossil fuels and other climate destroying lending.

Perhaps MSE could start a new section on top Green savings accounts ? 

No good advising anyone here about that, the vast majority are just interested in rates, rates and rates !

Why don't you e-mail MSE and ask them ?

Though I can't think that they or many others would be interested 

masonic

LivingEarth said:

I'm afraid that as a green saver, the top savings account section on MSE is worthless to me as it only focuses on best paying interest rates and account T&Cs.

There is no reference as to whether the banks invest in fossil fuels and other climate destroying lending.

Perhaps MSE could start a new section on top Green savings accounts ? 

The trouble with any form of ethical bias is that people disagree on what should be considered acceptable and what should not. One green saver might consider a savings institution lending towards the construction of a new nuclear power plant a positive move towards decarbonisation, while another might consider it a threat to the environment. Then there could be endless debates around offsetting, sustainability and greenwashing.

Section62

LivingEarth said:

I'm afraid that as a green saver, the top savings account section on MSE is worthless to me as it only focuses on best paying interest rates and account T&Cs.

There is no reference as to whether the banks invest in fossil fuels and other climate destroying lending.

Perhaps MSE could start a new section on top Green savings accounts ? 

There's a thread/guide here already.  Not much content though -

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6468313/mse-guide-ethical-banking#latest

Since ringfencing came in, banks shouldn't be "investing" in anything using retail deposits.  But how the money they lend gets used is to a large degree beyond the control of the bank.

I could borrow £1000 from Nationwide BS and invest it in Shell shares.  Does that make Nationwide any less unethical than they are already?

dlevene

LivingEarth said:

I'm afraid that as a green saver, the top savings account section on MSE is worthless to me as it only focuses on best paying interest rates and account T&Cs.

There is no reference as to whether the banks invest in fossil fuels and other climate destroying lending.

Perhaps MSE could start a new section on top Green savings accounts ? 

Good With Money has some resources on what they consider better paying, more ethical/eco options you might find helpful. 

To be honest your best bet is to look at the best buy info here and elsewhere and then do your own research on the ethical/environmental records of the providers. It looks like sites like Green Shopping Guide, Ethical Consumer, Your Ethical Money, CSR Hub have useful info. 

For what it's worth, the best payers are skewed towards building societies and challengers rather than the big banks, which won't hurt your cause. For example, the bulk of my cash savings are currently in a Newcastle BS ISA, who CSR Hub rate as 86/100.

Personally, I try to be as unprofitable a customer as possible (maximising the returns for me, frequently switching, etc), so I don't really mind grabbing a good regular saver from, say, First Direct (owned by HSBC who are one of the most environmentally unfriendly), getting the most from them, then leaving when something better comes along. 

You could start a new thread on the subject if you want to build some momentum behind the issue, or try and get the old thread that was shared moving again. 

Zaul22

Tandems main thing is being green.

randm

i have a question please... regarding easy access accounts (cahoot), the blurb says that the interest can be payed monthly or yearly and is paid on the date the account matures, so do i need to choose the monthly option to be able to move the money out if a higher rate comes up elsewhere, or can i choose the higher yearly interest option and still get that if i move  money out early. ?

Malchester

randm said:

i have a question please... regarding easy access accounts (cahoot), the blurb says that the interest can be payed monthly or yearly and is paid on the date the account matures, so do i need to choose the monthly option to be able to move the money out if a higher rate comes up elsewhere, or can i choose the higher yearly interest option and still get that if i move  money out early. ?

You can choose either, whichever suits your needs. If you transfer your funds out by closing the account you will receive interest due up to closure regardless of interest payment frequency. Obviously if you receive interest monthly you will have received interest each month so little will be added. If annually then all interest up to date will be added. 

I have a Cahoot simple saver account and have found it to be very good, especially the flexibility in deposits and withdrawals

friolento

randm said:

i have a question please... regarding easy access accounts (cahoot), the blurb says that the interest can be payed monthly or yearly and is paid on the date the account matures, so do i need to choose the monthly option to be able to move the money out if a higher rate comes up elsewhere, or can i choose the higher yearly interest option and still get that if i move  money out early. ?

You would get any accrued interest on the day you close the account. If you just make a withdrawal, even of your entire balance, accrued interest will be paid on the schedule you chose, i.e. monthly or annually.

KevinG

randm said:

i have a question please... regarding easy access accounts (cahoot), the blurb says that the interest can be payed monthly or yearly and is paid on the date the account matures, so do i need to choose the monthly option to be able to move the money out if a higher rate comes up elsewhere, or can i choose the higher yearly interest option and still get that if i move  money out early. ?

At the risk of starting the whole EAR conversation up again, the amount you get on closure would be the same whichever you chose. The quoted monthly rate is lower but the EAR, i.e.. what you get if you leave the monthly interest to compound, is the same. However, these days I hardly ever close an account, I just leave a token amount in it so that I can easily move back to it if required.