The Top Easy Access Savings Discussion Area

Arthurian

Re the new Birmingham Midshires 1.45% internet saver account - should I worry that when filling in the application form, the website shown on the address bar at the top of the screen is not birminghammidshires.co.uk, but esavingsaccount.co.uk?

Nick_C

Arthurian wrote: »

Re the new Birmingham Midshires 1.45% internet saver account - should I worry that when filling in the application form, the website shown on the address bar at the top of the screen is not birminghammidshires.co.uk, but esavingsaccount.co.uk?

Very observant of you! I hadn't spotted that. But if you go via the BM website to log on as an existing customer, that's where you are redirected to.

It's an https address, so it should be safe, but I can understand your concern.

Would be worth a call to BM to see what they say about it.

PS - emails from BM also come from this domain, so it is legit. BM should make it clear before they redirect you that this is their site.

AirlieBird

For further confirmation of the above the domain is owned by Lloyds Bank
https://www.nominet.uk/whois/?query=Esavingsaccount.Co.Uk#whois-results

eschaton

I applied on 8th November for a Birmingham Midshires Internet Saver at 1.3% and it took that long to open that's its now 1.45%.

Nice bonus but it took from 8th November until last night to eventually get internet access to the account. I returned what they asked me to plus deposit cheque within 24hrs of receiving the documents. What an antiquated and slow way of working.

I did a test payment (in) last night for £1 but it didn't show up right away so I did a direct debit deposit for £2999. Wish I hadn't as the FP showed up this morning and the direct debit won't move until 8th at the earliest.

If you want to move money in quickly then always use the FP option.

Cannyscot

My husband and I currently have 3 Santander 123 accounts between us and only make less than £9 in cashback as we have no mortgage .We pay tax at 20%. What I wondered is are we better keeping the three 123's or just the one and moving the £40,000 to BM where I wont be paying the £5 x 2 charge every month? There has been no indication of Santander raising rates on this account.

Diggle123

From MSE opened a Birmingham Midshires 1.45% account
In reality it's nearer 1.32. From applying it's ~10 days to get the initial form returned along with a payment form. Then about another ~10 days before you can use the account fully, so you really only get the rate for 11 months, not 12

Possibly the companies should accept these delays and offer the headline rate for the first 13 months?

Steve_xx

Can you downgrade the Santander 123 to the Lite product and retain the 123 account number?

EachPenny

Cannyscot wrote: »

My husband and I currently have 3 Santander 123 accounts between us and only make less than £9 in cashback as we have no mortgage .We pay tax at 20%. What I wondered is are we better keeping the three 123's or just the one and moving the £40,000 to BM where I wont be paying the £5 x 2 charge every month? There has been no indication of Santander raising rates on this account.

If you retain one of the 123 accounts then you can still get the cashback, so the income from each of the other two accounts is £20,000 @ 1.5% = £300, less the fee of 12 x £5 = £60, giving a total of £240. That works out at an equivalent rate of 1.2%. If you pay tax on your savings interest then the figure will be slightly less as the £5 fees will be paid out of taxed income.

Therefore any account paying 1.2% or more will see you breaking even or gaining.

I've just opened a BM account, but have also used the Tesco internet saver (1.2%) and Ford Money (1.17%). The rates on these accounts have been nudging up over the course of the year, so if one has a significant increase over another I've shifted money between them, but kept the accounts running with a nominal £1 deposit ready to move money back if the situation changes again.

You might also want to look at the NatWest savings builder account. It is more complex than most, but you can start with £5000 earning 1.5% provided you top the account up with an extra £100 per month. Amounts above £5000 only earn interest at 1% so the effective rate on the whole balance falls slightly over time, but a significant advantage is the account is true instant access with online faster payment withdrawals appearing in the destination account immediately. It looks like people with the BM account might be finding it less than 'instant' access.

EachPenny

Steve_xx wrote: »

Can you downgrade the Santander 123 to the Lite product and retain the 123 account number?

I recently asked in branch and was told the account number remained the same if you switch between '123', 'Lite' or 'Everyday'.

EachPenny

Diggle123 wrote: »

From MSE opened a Birmingham Midshires 1.45% account
In reality it's nearer 1.32. From applying it's ~10 days to get the initial form returned along with a payment form. Then about another ~10 days before you can use the account fully, so you really only get the rate for 11 months, not 12

It is the same issue as with regular savers - the headline rate is paid on money in the account. If you only have money in the account for 11 months then you get 11 month's interest at 1.45%.

It would be fairer if they started the 12 months from the date the account was fully opened, but they are not alone in starting the clock running on time-limited offers before the offer can actually be used.