The Top Easy Access Savings Discussion Area

Steve_xx

Freedommm said:

BOE official rate is likely to reach 4% and best we get is just Monmouth with 3%? Can you even trust Monmouth? I haven't heard of them in the past and am concerned. I know the account is FCSA-protected, but wouldn't want to go through the worst scenario. 

Monmouth have been around for years. Just because you've not heard of them it doesn't mean they're iffy. I've held accounts with them for years and believe me, they're just fine.

alternate

Freedommm said:

BOE official rate is likely to reach 4% and best we get is just Monmouth with 3%? Can you even trust Monmouth? I haven't heard of them in the past and am concerned. I know the account is FCSA-protected, but wouldn't want to go through the worst scenario. 

It might peak at 4% or higher but at the moment it is 3% and most bigger banks will be able to borrow at less than 3% - not counting all the admin costs associated with taking deposits.

If the government relaxes the liquidity ratio - as it is speculated they might - then expect banks to need your savings even less.

Band7

Freedommm said:

BOE official rate is likely to reach 4% and best we get is just Monmouth with 3%? Can you even trust Monmouth? I haven't heard of them in the past and am concerned. I know the account is FCSA-protected, but wouldn't want to go through the worst scenario. 

FSCS, not FSCA

They are reliable, just a bit old-fashioned and slow. Which actually suits some people better than a hip app-only bank. Their online banking is very basic.

Note the minimum balance for 3% is £25k.

Band7

Monmouthshire Premium Instant again. Make sure you are happy with the withdrawal rules - min £500 for FP, and request before 2pm on working days for same day payment.

I am not sure how quickly or otherwise deposits show in the account. I just know it's not instant. 

Patr100

TiVo_Lad said:

chris_the_bee said:

Monmouthshire - Premium Instant Account
Originally posted to forum 2nd December

Just spoke to them. "Inundated with applications and impacted by postal strikes. If not received anything by 9th December, give us a call."

Why are businesses always so surprised when they get a flood of interest? "Unprecidented demand", "Overwhelmed" etc etc is just an excuse for bad planning, lack of investment in staffing and perhaps a lack of understanding of the market.

It's annoying and inexcusable for some larger outlets  but I think some make the judgement that any loss due to not being able to meet the possibly unlimited demand for a limited offer anyway is off set by the potential  cost to (in theory) meet that demand.

The "unprecedented demand" is just a euphemistic excuse  for that economic reality as they see it.

TiVo_Lad

Patr100 said:

TiVo_Lad said:

chris_the_bee said:

Monmouthshire - Premium Instant Account
Originally posted to forum 2nd December

Just spoke to them. "Inundated with applications and impacted by postal strikes. If not received anything by 9th December, give us a call."

Why are businesses always so surprised when they get a flood of interest? "Unprecidented demand", "Overwhelmed" etc etc is just an excuse for bad planning, lack of investment in staffing and perhaps a lack of understanding of the market.

It's annoying and inexcusable for some larger outlets  but I think some make the judgement that any loss due to not being able to meet the possibly unlimited demand for a limited offer anyway is off set by the potential  cost to (in theory) meet that demand.

The "unprecedented demand" is just a euphemistic excuse  for that economic reality as they see it.

It depends how much a financial institution is trying to attract and over what timeframe. Some of the smaller building societies have clearly been caught off guard (I had a long conversation with a poor lady at Penrith Bulding Society who told me about the avalance of applications they received for their 2.75% Cash ISA and how their manual processes weren't up to it), but as consumers become more 'savvy' about the best rates, they have to expect an overwhelming response.

What we're seeing are more and more convoluted deals being offered to not only attract the cash by offering a market-leading rate, but to keep it by making customers go through hoops to get their money back out again. True easy access today is around 2.55% with anything more adding more and more strings whether that's limited number of withdrawls, notice periods or manual processes.

FindingBBob

Are Ford Money finally inching their way in to this millennium? Just logged on to withdraw some cash and saw this little note. Looks like a welcome development.. have done a withdrawal, will update later if I receive the funds before end of the day.. 

Zerforax

Saving rates haven't really climbed as I (and others here) had hoped/expected. At this point, my saving rate % and mortgage % is about the same so I think I might just pay down more on the mortgage.

refluxer

FindingBBob said:

Are Ford Money finally inching their way in to this millennium? Just logged on to withdraw some cash and saw this little note. Looks like a welcome development.. have done a withdrawal, will update later if I receive the funds before end of the day.. 

That's a step in the right direction - it used to be next working day for withdrawals made before 2pm and two working days if requested after 2pm !

I actually nearly missed my last opportunity for funding one of their Fixed Savers recently because I'd presumed that internal transfers (ie. from the Flexible Saver to a Fixed Saver) would be instant, but even those are subject to the same time constraints as external transfers.

FindingBBob

Zerforax said:

Saving rates haven't really climbed as I (and others here) had hoped/expected. At this point, my saving rate % and mortgage % is about the same so I think I might just pay down more on the mortgage.

I don't think we will see anymore increases in savings rates for while-  with 5 year mortgage rates coming down it would suggest that banks are seeing lower increases from BoE  - suspect BoE will only increase by 0.25 later this month and no savings provider will pass that on before new year and hope that we forget about it come January.. so yeah pay your mortgage :-)