The Top Easy Access Savings Discussion Area

Bridlington1

janusdesign said:

10_66 said:

Regrettably, I missed the Skipton Base Rate Tracker.  I've had a look on Moneyfacts, and can only find a tracker with GB Bank/Wombat.  I've never heard of them before, has anyone here got any feedback about them, please?  I appreciate funds are protected whilst with GB Bank, but would they be protected during the transfer from Wombat to GB Bank?  I can't remember the name of the other organisation where there was debate about this with another app based account.

there is also the account currently listed below that one in Moneyfacts...

Wealthify Instant Access Savings (powered by ClearBank)

this is also a base rate tracker that currently pays 0.45% gross below the base rate, so that's currently the same as Wombat, e.g 4.91% AER / 4.80% gross - reading the t&c small print, they can change how closely it tracks the base rate.

13.3 The interest rate applicable to your Savings Account varies and tracks at a fixed margin below the Bank of England base rate (the “Tracking Rate”). We reserve the right to vary the margin depending on market conditions, including changes to the Bank of England base rate. The applicable Bank of England base rate can be found here: https://www.bankofengland.co.uk. If the Bank of England changes its base rate, the resulting change to the Tracking Rate applicable to your Savings Account will take effect without notice from the day after the Bank of England announces the change.

never used Wealthify, but Clearbank provides the FSCS protection - can be opened with £1.

And in a similar vein to Wombat, Wealthify's savings accounts are excluded from their £50 refer a friend offer and they have been known to offer sign up offers where they will give you however much (usually £50 but they have been known to offer £75) if you invest at least that amount for a year so it may be worth holding off opening the Wealthify Instant Access account until you can benefit from one of their investment offers first.

pecunianonolet

I would recommend to everyone to ask HMRC for a detailed breakdown of reported interest. Mine is completely wrong. 

The letter I received claims I have had £575 in interest (last tax year), the associated table where they listed interest by institution and account comes to under £500 and the actual interest I got is just slightly above £500. There are also some Institutions completely missing on the breakdown. Atom bank for example under declared and it might be that they declare the missing interest now for this tax year instead of the last where it should be so I get taxed in the wrong tax year.

My tax code was amended with a £16 reduction. So, either the rates institutions reported is incorrect, some may have not reported at all or the agent who produced the breakdown letter missed off data or there is another variable I don't know yet.

Anyhow, do not trust HMRC having the correct number as it could be to your disadvantage, especially for those with much higher interest earnings. Sadly, HMRC doesn't publish the full breakdown online so you could check against own figures (if you track) or interest statements you receive. Will have to call them again in the new tax year so I can also report pensions contributions because I usually wait 1 hour everytime I call. 

pecunianonolet

Bridlington1 said:

10_66 said:

Regrettably, I missed the Skipton Base Rate Tracker.  I've had a look on Moneyfacts, and can only find a tracker with GB Bank/Wombat.  I've never heard of them before, has anyone here got any feedback about them, please?  I appreciate funds are protected whilst with GB Bank, but would they be protected during the transfer from Wombat to GB Bank?  I can't remember the name of the other organisation where there was debate about this with another app based account.

I've never used their savings but it may be worth noting that Wombat currently offer a £10 welcome bonus for those who have never used Wombat and open a stocks and shares ISA, JISA or GIA with them (no initial deposit required). They also do a refer-a-friend offer in which both you and your referred friend get £10 which can be claimed instead of the welcome bonus. 

This offer doesn't apply if you open a savings account so if you are going to open the tracker make sure you open a GIA first and then open the savings account as it only takes a minute or two and is a very easy free £10 investment to grab. I've had £20 plus a few pence investment growth out of them (1 welcome bonus, 1 referral) and have never deposited a single penny of my own money.

Will the £10 bonus in a S&S ISA count as subscription? I have done my 20k for this year so if it counts as subscription I would need to wait until 6th April or use the GIA?

BooJewels

@pecunianonolet - how have you discovered the discrepancy?  I'm relatively new to earning interest and 22/23 was the first year that I included interest on my self assessment. I'm self employed, so was doing it for my business anyway.  Having done it in November I've heard nothing from HMRC, so don't know what the usual procedure is, if the numbers they get reported differ from your own?  It's pretty moot for 22/23 as the interest is low enough to keep me well below any thresholds, but 23/24 will be bigger numbers, so whilst I don't expect to pay any tax, it might be close enough to make them look more closely.  Do they only communicate with you if there's actually some tax to pay?

10_66

Bridlington1 said:

10_66 said:

Regrettably, I missed the Skipton Base Rate Tracker.  I've had a look on Moneyfacts, and can only find a tracker with GB Bank/Wombat.  I've never heard of them before, has anyone here got any feedback about them, please?  I appreciate funds are protected whilst with GB Bank, but would they be protected during the transfer from Wombat to GB Bank?  I can't remember the name of the other organisation where there was debate about this with another app based account.

I've never used their savings but it may be worth noting that Wombat currently offer a £10 welcome bonus for those who have never used Wombat and open a stocks and shares ISA, JISA or GIA with them (no initial deposit required). They also do a refer-a-friend offer in which both you and your referred friend get £10 which can be claimed instead of the welcome bonus. 

This offer doesn't apply if you open a savings account so if you are going to open the tracker make sure you open a GIA first and then open the savings account as it only takes a minute or two and is a very easy free £10 investment to grab. I've had £20 plus a few pence investment growth out of them (1 welcome bonus, 1 referral) and have never deposited a single penny of my own money.

Thank you.  I'd not heard the term GIA before, and so have just Googled it, I'm not sure I understand the description I've just read 😳

dcs34

Ulster Bank 5.2% would still be top (provided one has a balance > £5,000), no?

soulsaver

dcs34 said:

Ulster Bank 5.2% would still be top (provided one has a balance > £5,000), no?

Click on the link below for easy access accounts ranked by rate*, known on here as ToTP...
*and much more.

It's a 'No Chat' thread so come back here if you have questions.

pecunianonolet

BooJewels said:

@pecunianonolet - how have you discovered the discrepancy?  I'm relatively new to earning interest and 22/23 was the first year that I included interest on my self assessment. I'm self employed, so was doing it for my business anyway.  Having done it in November I've heard nothing from HMRC, so don't know what the usual procedure is, if the numbers they get reported differ from your own?  It's pretty moot for 22/23 as the interest is low enough to keep me well below any thresholds, but 23/24 will be bigger numbers, so whilst I don't expect to pay any tax, it might be close enough to make them look more closely.  Do they only communicate with you if there's actually some tax to pay?

Please find details here:

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6500012/hmrc-interest-statement-incorrect/p1

TheBanker

10_66 said:

Bridlington1 said:

10_66 said:

Regrettably, I missed the Skipton Base Rate Tracker.  I've had a look on Moneyfacts, and can only find a tracker with GB Bank/Wombat.  I've never heard of them before, has anyone here got any feedback about them, please?  I appreciate funds are protected whilst with GB Bank, but would they be protected during the transfer from Wombat to GB Bank?  I can't remember the name of the other organisation where there was debate about this with another app based account.

I've never used their savings but it may be worth noting that Wombat currently offer a £10 welcome bonus for those who have never used Wombat and open a stocks and shares ISA, JISA or GIA with them (no initial deposit required). They also do a refer-a-friend offer in which both you and your referred friend get £10 which can be claimed instead of the welcome bonus. 

This offer doesn't apply if you open a savings account so if you are going to open the tracker make sure you open a GIA first and then open the savings account as it only takes a minute or two and is a very easy free £10 investment to grab. I've had £20 plus a few pence investment growth out of them (1 welcome bonus, 1 referral) and have never deposited a single penny of my own money.

Thank you.  I'd not heard the term GIA before, and so have just Googled it, I'm not sure I understand the description I've just read 😳

GIA = General Investment Account. It's an account that holds investments like funds and shares, without any special tax treatment. If you understand Stocks and Shares ISAs, it's an account that holds the same kind of investments, but without the tax benefits of an ISA. 

10_66

TheBanker said:

10_66 said:

Bridlington1 said:

10_66 said:

Regrettably, I missed the Skipton Base Rate Tracker.  I've had a look on Moneyfacts, and can only find a tracker with GB Bank/Wombat.  I've never heard of them before, has anyone here got any feedback about them, please?  I appreciate funds are protected whilst with GB Bank, but would they be protected during the transfer from Wombat to GB Bank?  I can't remember the name of the other organisation where there was debate about this with another app based account.

I've never used their savings but it may be worth noting that Wombat currently offer a £10 welcome bonus for those who have never used Wombat and open a stocks and shares ISA, JISA or GIA with them (no initial deposit required). They also do a refer-a-friend offer in which both you and your referred friend get £10 which can be claimed instead of the welcome bonus. 

This offer doesn't apply if you open a savings account so if you are going to open the tracker make sure you open a GIA first and then open the savings account as it only takes a minute or two and is a very easy free £10 investment to grab. I've had £20 plus a few pence investment growth out of them (1 welcome bonus, 1 referral) and have never deposited a single penny of my own money.

Thank you.  I'd not heard the term GIA before, and so have just Googled it, I'm not sure I understand the description I've just read 😳

GIA = General Investment Account. It's an account that holds investments like funds and shares, without any special tax treatment. If you understand Stocks and Shares ISAs, it's an account that holds the same kind of investments, but without the tax benefits of an ISA. 

Thank you.  I think I'm missing the point here.  How is a GIA different from just having stocks and shares then?  I don't have any investments at all, not even Stocks and Shares ISAs.