The Top Easy Access Savings Discussion Area

I-LOV-MONEY

My bank (First Direct) requires me to either have a £1500 in my account over each month, or have a credit card, mortgage or savings account, to prevent a £10 banking fee being charged. As I don't need their cr card or mortgage, I went for a savings account - paying 0.5% interest. There is £1 in the account, which will remain there!!

chris1

innovate wrote: »

I am maxed out for interest purposes all month long, without the £1K. The £1K is just a sum of money that cycles through the accounts to meet the pre-reqs for the account perks / interest deals.

If you have say 5K in each for the 3% and just moved them on the same day, so that at the beginning of the day you had 5K in each, 1K was shuffled along from one to the other on 1st of month, so at the end of the day each still had 5K in, would you be losing some interest?

Middle_Sister

chris1 wrote: »

If you have more than 1K in each, why not just set them all up for 1st of the month?

Have you done that? Any problems?

Sparklingsilver

Can you savvy savers give me some advice? Since 2008 I have had an Instant Access Account into which £600 is paid each month. This is what I call my top-up fund. It is always in credit to the tune of £400 to £500 at least and from time to time I transfer larger sums to it. When I first opened the account the interest was not brilliant but acceptable since its flexibility meets my needs. However, I have just discovered that the interest rate has dropped to a dismal .01%. Am I right in the understanding that when the rate changes my bank is obliged to write and notify me? This has never happened and I am told by the branch manager that since the account carried a variable rate (another thing I was not aware of) it does not have to advise me.
The next question is about online banking. If you open an online account does that mean you cannot use the branch bank to transact any business to or from the account?

Steve_xx

Sparklingsilver wrote: »

Can you savvy savers give me some advice? Since 2008 I have had an Instant Access Account into which £600 is paid each month. This is what I call my top-up fund. It is always in credit to the tune of £400 to £500 at least and from time to time I transfer larger sums to it. When I first opened the account the interest was not brilliant but acceptable since its flexibility meets my needs. However, I have just discovered that the interest rate has dropped to a dismal .01%.
If your account is in credit on average with £500 then even the best paying instant access rate today would only net you about £12.50 a year.
Am I right in the understanding that when the rate changes my bank is obliged to write and notify me? This has never happened and I am told by the branch manager that since the account carried a variable rate (another thing I was not aware of) it does not have to advise me.
I think they should be writing to you or emailing you at least. Most rates are variable but the manager is wrong to say that due to that you should not be notified of any change
The next question is about online banking. If you open an online account does that mean you cannot use the branch bank to transact any business to or from the account?

You can usually transact both online and at a branch

chris1

Steve_xx wrote: »

You can usually transact both online and at a branch

Usually, but some accounts are internet-only (and some are branch-only), depends on which account.

Sparklingsilver

Thanks Steve,
It is interesting since I can open an internet instant access account netting just over 2% interest with the same bank. However, since I am reluctant to use online banking it did occur to me that I could sign up and then use the branch for transactions. But that defeats the object of my objection to being forced to reveal private information about my affairs online.

I-LOV-MONEY

Sparklingsilver wrote: »

But that defeats the object of my objection to being forced to reveal private information about my affairs online.

Sounds like you have 'dodgy deals' going on

I wouldn't worry too much, I doubt anybody looks at your details, it is all dealt with by computers, and they don't gossip!!

Steve_xx

Sparklingsilver wrote: »

Thanks Steve,
It is interesting since I can open an internet instant access account netting just over 2% interest with the same bank. However, since I am reluctant to use online banking it did occur to me that I could sign up and then use the branch for transactions. But that defeats the object of my objection to being forced to reveal private information about my affairs online.

I think you're getting carried away about being online with your banking. Any transactions that you conduct in a branch will end up being electronically transferred. The only difference being that the bank conducts it from their pc at the bank rather than you at home. The end result is the same, ie money is transferred from a to b.

Sparklingsilver

No dodgy deals just a very private person! It will not be too long before every thing about an individual from birth to death will be available at the press of a key. That may not bother some but it certainly does me! Every heard of lost data?

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