The Top Easy Access Savings Discussion Area

allegro120

friolento said:

mebu60 said:

So It seems checking the Reference now happens at all banks, and provides a match when using the actual name on the account. At least with Skipton, but probably with others, too. This is a major improvement. Thanks again for pointing this out.

Not an improvement that I was looking for! Don't want all the payees to be listed as my name in Santander, always put them as the institution the funds are going to. Otherwise gets a bit tricky finding them again for subsequent payments. 

I know what you mean, and there's an easy workaround, at least in the current Santander:app, and in Santander online banking.

STEP1: do the full CoP, using your actual account name. Once CoP has been successfully passed, go to

STEP 2: edit the account name to something that uniquely identifies your account. Repeat the CoP, it will now fail, accept it anyway.

Unfortunately, it looks like Santander will take away the option to edit the account name in their new app. If they really do this, I might change to Natwest / RBS, who allow a nickname for payees.

Yes, Natwest/RBS are probably the most convenient for this. The only downside is that their accounts don't pay interest, so it is easier for me to distribute money directly from Santander's 5.2% than putting Natwest/RBS in the chain of transaction.

friolento

J63320 said:

friolento said:

…
So It seems checking the Reference now happens at all banks, and provides a match when using the actual name on the account. At least with Skipton, but probably with others, too. This is a major improvement. Thanks again for pointing this out.
…

Does anyone know whether payments to ‘Skipton Building Society’ will still work, or do I need to change them to use my own name?

Existing payees will continue to work unchanged.

When setting up a new payee, it didn't find a COP match for me unless I used my own name; but as you can still proceed by ignoring a COP fail, you can still use any old name.

AmityNeon

allegro120 said:

Yes, FD and Natwest Group allow nicknames, which is very useful.  The problem with FD is that you can't have the same nickname for multiple reference codes of the same account, which is the case with a few BSs.  But the worst in my collection are Chase and Lloyds Group (app versions), you have to click on each to find out what it is.  Chase is particularly bad for this.  I guess the reason for these inconveniences is that not many people have dozens of accounts and are making payments to themselves, so this is not the issue the banks will want to look at.

Chase implements a very flexible payee organisation system, more so than almost any other banking provider. Multiple accounts can be grouped under a single payee, and both payee names and account descriptions can be customised, but they can only be edited after the payee has been successfully created (and any time after that).

A payment does not have to be made first; if you want to customise the names before making the first payment, just cancel out of the payment screen, find and select the newly created payee, and then tap 'Edit' in the upper-right corner. The full account name for CoP purposes is stored separately and cannot be edited (and neither can the sort code or account number); these are the values entered when a payee is created.

• {Payee Name}
  • {Account Description}
    • Full Name [for CoP]
    • Sort code
    • Account number
    • {Reference 1}
    • {Reference 2}
    • {Reference 3}

• John Smith - Lloyds
  • Club Lloyds
    • John Smith
    • 12-34-56
    • 12345678
    • sent from Chase
  • Club Monthly Saver
    • John Smith
    • 12-34-56
    • 23456789
    • Jan2024-Chase
    • Dec2023-Chase
    • Nov2023-Chase

• JS - Skipton BS Regular Saver
  • Member Regular Saver Issue 3
    • John Smith
    • 20-78-91
    • 70798924
    • {Secondary Reference Data} [cannot be edited after setup]

• JS - Skipton BS Base Rate Tracker
  • Base Rate Tracker Issue 5
    • John Smith
    • 20-78-91
    • 70798924
    • {Secondary Reference Data} [cannot be edited after setup]

One limitation (at least for now): accounts with identical sort codes and account numbers cannot have duplicate entries under the same payee (even if the required Secondary Reference Data for each sub-account is different), so if you want a separate entry for each individual account from the same building society (e.g. Skipton BS), separate payees can be created instead, each with their own customisable {Payee Name}.

The {Payee Name} is the only name visible on transaction histories and statements (other than Secondary Reference Data), so being highly descriptive is beneficial if you want to quickly identify specific accounts from a cursory glance/scan of transactions. I personally assign a unique ID to every account I own (and have ever owned), so I can easily ascertain the historical flow of my money.

{Account Description} is useful to differentiate between multiple accounts grouped under the same payee, which is a practical benefit when going through the process of making a payment. It's not displayed in transaction histories or statements.

Payees are displayed and sorted in alphabetical order, by {Payee Name}. Starling Bank offers similar functionality that is close in flexibility, but requires all accounts grouped under the same payee to have the same Full Name (for CoP).

The approximate data structure for another bank that offers basic nicknaming, e.g. NatWest:

• Full Name [for CoP]
• {Display Name} [defaults to Full Name if no nickname provided]
• Sort code
• Account number
• {Reference} [only the last-used reference is stored, or the fixed SRD]

Where payees are displayed and sorted by {Display Name}.

NameWithheld

Re Skipton. As I already have an EA account with them, I don't see the point in setting up a nominated account for withdrawals from the Bonus Account, especially as I will probably only withdraw from it once when the Bonus expires. When the time comes to withdraw, I will just do an internal transfer to the existing account and withdraw from that

SeriousHoax

I'm surprised Cynergy Bank has not got an app as most other banks have nowadays.

Wheres_My_Cashback

SeriousHoax said:

I'm surprised Cynergy Bank has not got an app as most other banks have nowadays.

They're in the process of building one.

Well that's what they've been telling customers for the past 5 years so don't hold your breath waiting !

friolento

Wheres_My_Cashback said:

SeriousHoax said:

I'm surprised Cynergy Bank has not got an app as most other banks have nowadays.

They're in the process of building one.

Well that's what they've been telling customers for the past 5 years so don't hold your breath waiting !

A bit like the Coventry.

AmityNeon

Cold_comfort said:

AmityNeon said:

Secondary Reference Data for CoP has been implemented for at least a few months now. I think I first encountered it personally when setting up YBS's Loyalty Regular Saver as a payee last October.

friolento said:

I made a Faster Payment to my new Skipton Bonus Saver yesterday around 11 am, and expected it to show on Monday. Much to my surprise, though, the money got credited yesterday.

It doesn't start earning interest until the next working day though, even if it's shown as credited.

Skipton is part of the Faster Payments network which means payments from most UK banks will be applied to your account within 2 hours of the payment being sent, regardless of the day or time they have arrived.

For Faster Payments sent on a weekend, bank holiday or after the evening cut-off (typically 6:00 pm) we won’t receive the funds until the next working day. This means that, even though the money might show in your Skipton account, it will not start to earn interest until the next working day.

https://www.skipton.co.uk/savings/savings-hub/paying-in-and-withdrawing/paying-in

Hmm. The website page you linked to contradicts Skipton's savings account terms and conditions 2023 (https://www.skipton.co.uk/-/media/skipton-co-uk/pdf/savings/Savings-Terms-and-Conditions.ashx). Page 9 states that electronic payments will start earning interest 'immediately' which is identical to the time the money is paid into the savings account. This is distinct from, for example, debit card payments for which the money is paid into the savings account and which will receive interest 'by the end of the 2nd business day after we receive it).

Unless someone else can confirm, I'll have an answer to this within a week when interest is credited to one of my Skipton accounts. It seems rather odd that Skipton would contradict their own T&Cs so explicitly.

SeriousHoax

Wheres_My_Cashback said:

SeriousHoax said:

I'm surprised Cynergy Bank has not got an app as most other banks have nowadays.

They're in the process of building one.

Well that's what they've been telling customers for the past 5 years so don't hold your breath waiting !

I'll ask again in 5 years time 😆

dekkard

Message from Virgin Money today.

"We’re writing to let you know that on 19 March 2024, we’ll be reducing the interest rate payable on your M Plus Saver account.

The current interest rates are 3.55% and 2.52% AER¹ and the new rates will be 2.50% and 2.00% AER¹ depending on your balance."