The Top Easy Access Savings Discussion Area

RG2015

jimexbox said:

Zerforax said:

The Bank of England's monetary policy committee has announced interest rates are rising by 0.25% from 1% to 1.25%.

A 1.70% easy access account would be nice. Come on chase.... 

Virgin Money 1.55 + 0.25 = 1.80%

The thing is that this increase is already built into the 1.55%, or the 1.49% with Chase.

Molehusband

Nationwide BS is offering a new online easy access account paying 2.50% for 24 months:

https://www.nationwide.co.uk/savings/start-to-save/

Each month there will be a prize draw offering £250 for those who pay in regularly.

A downside is that you can only pay in up to £50/month.

noh

Molehusband said:

Nationwide BS is offering a new online easy access account paying 2.50% for 24 months:

https://www.nationwide.co.uk/savings/start-to-save/

Each month there will be a prize draw offering £250 for those who pay in regularly.

A downside is that you can only pay in up to £50/month.

The prize draw takes place every six months. Eligible entrants are those whose balance has increased by at least £25 in each of the preceeding six months.

Olinda99

Let me get this right Nationwide - you are allowing us to pay in £50 a month so £600pa You can get 1.5% anyway but here you get 2.5% so that's an extra 1% ie £6 a year on £600 but because you pay in monthly the average is only about £300 so an extra £3 a year? 

You can repeat the second year with the £600 still there so second year you get £6 pus £3 again ie £9 (by which time interest rates everywhere will be 2.5% at least)

Where's the catch?

gwapenut

Olinda99 said:

Let me get this right Nationwide - you are allowing us to pay in £50 a month so £600pa. You can get 1.5% anyway but here you get 2.5% so that's an extra 1% ie £6 a year on £600 but because you pay in monthly the average is only about £300 so an extra £3 a year? 

Where's the catch?

And still seasoned MSErs are falling over themselves to open it!

soulsaver

Molehusband said:

Nationwide BS is offering a new online easy access account paying 2.50% for 24 months:

https://www.nationwide.co.uk/savings/start-to-save/

Each month there will be a prize draw offering £250 for those who pay in regularly.

A downside is that you can only pay in up to £50/month.

In MSE terms, this is a 'regular saver' and features in that dedicated thread.
Regular Savings Accounts: The Best Currently Available List! - Page 485 — MoneySavingExpert Forum

Molehusband

soulsaver said:

In MSE terms, this is a 'regular saver' and features in that dedicated thread.
Regular Savings Accounts: The Best Currently Available List! - Page 485 — MoneySavingExpert Forum

To me this is not a Regular Saver because:

1 You can pay in whatever you want each month from £0 to £50, whereas with a standard Regular Saver you normally have to pay in the same amount each month and cannot miss a month.

2 With the Nationwide account you can withdraw at any amount (up to your balance) at any time. With a standard Regular Saver you can't do that - withdrawals only available at the end of the period (normally 1 year).

3 Subject to some T&Cs you can participate in a prize draw for up to £250. I've never come across a standard Regular Saver which offers that.

I consider the Nationwide account an Easy Access account for the above reasons.

gwapenut

And here come 3 pages of debate about an account, regular saving or otherwise, worth about £3 extra before tax over the next 12 months,

RG2015

I really don't see the problem. Savings accounts come in several flavours, but once you decide upon how quickly access is required, all that remains is rate.

2.50% is higher than 1.50% so despite the limitations, it is a better option (with a prize draw thrown in as a bonus). 

Nick_C

Molehusband said:

soulsaver said:

In MSE terms, this is a 'regular saver' and features in that dedicated thread.
Regular Savings Accounts: The Best Currently Available List! - Page 485 — MoneySavingExpert Forum

To me this is not a Regular Saver because:

1 You can pay in whatever you want each month from £0 to £50, whereas with a standard Regular Saver you normally have to pay in the same amount each month and cannot miss a month.

2 With the Nationwide account you can withdraw at any amount (up to your balance) at any time. With a standard Regular Saver you can't do that - withdrawals only available at the end of the period (normally 1 year).

3 Subject to some T&Cs you can participate in a prize draw for up to £250. I've never come across a standard Regular Saver which offers that.

I consider the Nationwide account an Easy Access account for the above reasons.

And to me the Nationwide account is definitely a Regular Saver.

The features that you describe above apply to some Regular Savings Accounts.

Santander for example.

"There is no minimum monthly deposit. You can save up to a maximum of £200 each month for 12 months by standing order from your Santander current account."

"withdrawals can be made at any time"

https://www.santander.co.uk/personal/savings-and-investments/savings/regular-esaver

As for the prize draw, you've obviously never come across the Halifax Regular Saver.  

"Qualifying account for the Halifax Savers Prize Draw."

https://www.halifax.co.uk/savings/fixed-term/regular-saver.html

I consider the Nationwide Start to Save account to be a regular saver for the above reasons, and the best place to discuss it is the thread for regular savers.  

It is a Regular Saver that, like many others, gives you easy access to your money should you need it.

To quote from Nationwide themselves, "This regular saving account is designed to get you into saving. Put away money regularly and we'll enter you into our £250 prize draw."

https://www.nationwide.co.uk/savings/start-to-save/