The Top Easy Access Savings Discussion Area

10_66

Bigwheels1111 said:

...Or go with Gatehouse bank at 2.0% from £1.

I'm already with Gatehouse.

Winchmore_Hill_Shot

I was wondering the same re Al Rayan.  I don't think there is a minimum operating balance but their T&Cs don't say one way or another.  From what I've seen on other threads my impression is that you get the interest whatever the balance.

If you do ring them, let us know what they say.

Daliah

Gatehouse Easy Access - a bit more information for new account holders

After having opened the account yesterday, and making several deposits from my nominated account, today I can see a message in the app, saying "Your nominated account must be authenticated before it can be used for withdrawals". There is no explanation in the app how this authentication works, but if you log into online banking they tell you that they will send you an authentication code in the post, and you then enter this code in online banking to complete the authentication process. This sounds like a security measure - not 100% foolproof but better than not verifying the nominated account.

10_66

Winchmore_Hill_Shot said:

I was wondering the same re Al Rayan.  I don't think there is a minimum operating balance but their T&Cs don't say one way or another.  From what I've seen on other threads my impression is that you get the interest whatever the balance.

If you do ring them, let us know what they say.

When I rang Al Rayan, I was told that the minimum operating balance is £5K.  They said that if balance drops below this limit the account would be "reviewed", and you'd be given the option of either topping up or closing. Not quite sure how this works when clearly most people are paying in £1 test.  Anyway, that's what they confirmed.

jimexbox

Re. Al Rayan. How quick are deposits and withdrawals to show? 

wiseonesomeofthetime

Daliah said:

Gatehouse Easy Access - a bit more information for new account holders

After having opened the account yesterday, and making several deposits from my nominated account, today I can see a message in the app, saying "Your nominated account must be authenticated before it can be used for withdrawals". There is no explanation in the app how this authentication works, but if you log into online banking they tell you that they will send you an authentication code in the post, and you then enter this code in online banking to complete the authentication process. This sounds like a security measure - not 100% foolproof but better than not verifying the nominated account.

Yeah, I did the same as you yesterday, with the same outcome. Never thought of sharing that snippet of info on here though.

Must work harder

Rollinghome

10_66 said:

Winchmore_Hill_Shot said:

I was wondering the same re Al Rayan.  I don't think there is a minimum operating balance but their T&Cs don't say one way or another.  From what I've seen on other threads my impression is that you get the interest whatever the balance.

If you do ring them, let us know what they say.

When I rang Al Rayan, I was told that the minimum operating balance is £5K.  They said that if balance drops below this limit the account would be "reviewed", and you'd be given the option of either topping up or closing. Not quite sure how this works when clearly most people are paying in £1 test.  Anyway, that's what they confirmed.

If it helps.  I had/have version 1, which had a "minimum opening balance"  of £500, then version 2, min £2500, and now have version 3, min £5000. I put an initial £1 into all three prior to building a large balance in each.

When their rates fell behind, both earlier versions were run down to a nominal amount well below the opening balance figure, but some interest was always paid each month, and without any mention of a review. Both still show with a zero balance.

10_66

Thanks for this Rollinghome.

Rollinghome

jimexbox said:

Re. Al Rayan. How quick are deposits and withdrawals to show? 

Seem to need a manual input so it can vary, but I've never seen any significant delay other when my wife made a £10k transfer to a new payee this week.  Took about 3 hours before they rang her iirc, and then just a few minutes to get it cleared

Also I notice that some people have had problems calling them. They used to have top class CS with the phone being answered after just a couple of rings. More recently they seem to have been badly impacted by covid causing staff shortages.  I understand they've recently reduced their office hours too, presumably for similar reasons.  With luck, they'll get back to their previous levels of service.

t1redmonkey

Shawbrook have brought out a new easy access account issue but reduced the rate from 1.86% to 1.81%.