The Top Easy Access Savings Discussion Area

cricidmuslibale

ForumUser7 said:

Coventry rates increasing on 1st December https://www.coventrybuildingsociety.co.uk/member/help/member-support/bank-of-england-base-rate.html
https://www.coventrybuildingsociety.co.uk/content/dam/cbs/member/pdfs/savings/rate-change-notice-isa.pdf
https://www.coventrybuildingsociety.co.uk/content/dam/cbs/member/pdfs/savings/rate-change-notice-savings.pdf

What stands out for me here, unfortunately, is that the only Coventry Building Society accounts that are going to go up by the full 0.75% that the Bank of England base rate has just gone up by are the Regular Saver and the Regular Saver ISA (not currently available). The First Home Saver is going up by 0.70% which is nearly as much. However, many of Coventry's variable rate accounts are only going up by 0.35% which is less than half of 0.75%. Even the popular Limited Access ISA and Limited Access Saver accounts are only going up by 0.60% to reach 2.85%, 0.15% less than the B of E base rate. And none of these increases are happening at all for nearly four weeks although, to be fair to Coventry, neither are any of their non-fixed mortgage interest rates rising until December 1 either.

All in all, I'm very sorry to say this, because I usually think quite highly of Coventry Building Society, that for me they have been rather less generous this time with these forthcoming interest rate rises than they really should have been!  

ForumUser7

cricidmuslibale said:

ForumUser7 said:

Coventry rates increasing on 1st December https://www.coventrybuildingsociety.co.uk/member/help/member-support/bank-of-england-base-rate.html
https://www.coventrybuildingsociety.co.uk/content/dam/cbs/member/pdfs/savings/rate-change-notice-isa.pdf
https://www.coventrybuildingsociety.co.uk/content/dam/cbs/member/pdfs/savings/rate-change-notice-savings.pdf

What stands out for me here, unfortunately, is that the only Coventry Building Society accounts that are going to go up by the full 0.75% that the Bank of England base rate has just gone up by are the Regular Saver and the Regular Saver ISA (not currently available). The First Home Saver is going up by 0.70% which is nearly as much. However, many of Coventry's variable rate accounts are only going up by 0.35% which is less than half of 0.75%. Even the popular Limited Access ISA and Limited Access Saver accounts are only going up by 0.60% to reach 2.85%, 0.15% less than the B of E base rate. And none of these increases are happening at all for four weeks (as of today)!

All in all, I'm very sorry to say this, because I usually think quite highly of Coventry Building Society, that for me they have been rather less generous this time with these forthcoming interest rate rises than they really should have been!  

@cricidmuslibale I agree, especially how long until the increases take place, by which time they'll probably be very low rates again. I am maintaining an incredibly small holding with the society so I am eligible for any loyalty accounts that come along as they used to be very competitive.

Ecology on the other hand I've been very impressed with recently. Due to them being a green building society, I understand the rates would usually be lower than the top payers as they'll get a lower return than banks that invest in oil etc. That said, they announced their increases today (same day as the BoE rise), and they have passed on a rise of anywhere between the full 0.75%, and 1.00% depending on which account you hold. Their Easy Access will be low on the TOTP, but still on the TOTP, and their cash ISA is 0.20% than the current highest paying Easy Access ISA of 2.50% with Marcus. Very impressed with them.

cricidmuslibale

@ForumUser7 Thank you very much for alerting me to Ecology's recent generous decisions on interest rates. I have been thinking about saving with them for a little while now because I certainly empathise with the green nature of the way that they operate, and also I appreciate that you can save into some of their savings accounts by direct debit. I've no problem with their interest rates being a little lower than the top payers because, as you say, they do not support environmentally damaging projects and materials. I'm definitely seriously considering opening an account or two with Ecology very soon!

callum9999

alternate said:

Announcing straight away that you will increase rates ... but not for almost a month is more than a little bit blatant.

Please don't bother moving your money as we are matching rates - but we want a month to profit off you first,  Thanks.

What do you think the base rate is? Do you think it instantly gives Coventry BS more money that they're now hoarding instead of passing it on?

In fact, why do you think that building societies and banks operate savings accounts at all? If they aren't lending enough money out to cover the increased amount of deposits they're holding, where do you think they would get the money from to pay that interest to you - the magical money tree?

While I can't say I feel bad for multimillion pound businesses, the amount of entitlement you get on this forum can be absurd at times!

cricidmuslibale

alternate said:

Announcing straight away that you will increase rates ... but not for almost a month is more than a little bit blatant.

Please don't bother moving your money as we are matching rates - but we want a month to profit off you first,  Thanks.

Whilst I don't disagree with you overall here, I think it's only fair to Coventry Building Society to point out that they're also not increasing their non-fixed mortgage rates until December 1. Clearly then, they have decided that it is better not to hit their current and possible future mortgage holders with a significant interest rate rise straightaway after the B of E base rate rise, and so, in order to maintain enough of a difference between mortgage interest rates and savings interest rates to keep their business in a good order, their savers will need to patiently wait until December 1 for their savings rate increases to take effect.

Having said all that, it is a little disappointing (to say the least) that Coventry BS have only agreed to pass on a 0.75% increase that matches the Bank of England base rate rise to customers with its Regular Saver and its Regular Saver ISA accounts. The interest rate increases for all its other savings accounts will either be a little less or in some cases considerably less than 0.75%, in fact only 0.35% for many of its more basic savings accounts!

intalex

Atom up to 2.52% Gross / 2.55% AER

refluxer

Tandem's Instant Access Saver is also up to 2.55%

TiVo_Lad

refluxer said:

Tandem's Instant Access Saver is also up to 2.55%

Are they pulling a fast one? Their website refers to an "Instant Access SAVER" yet the "Instant Access SAVINGS" account I have is still stuck at 2.05% in the App

YellowStarling

RCI Freedom Savings up to 2.45% AER

refluxer

TiVo_Lad said:

refluxer said:

Tandem's Instant Access Saver is also up to 2.55%

Are they pulling a fast one? Their website refers to an "Instant Access SAVER" yet the "Instant Access SAVINGS" account I have is still stuck at 2.05% in the App

I doubt it - Tandem don't do different issues for this account like some other banks do, AFAIK. The summary box on their site does describe it as an 'Instant Access Savings Account' so I expect your app will update to the new rate at some stage soon.