The Top Easy Access Savings Discussion Area

MisterMotivated

A 0% purchase credit card would, however, allow you to keep the money you would have otherwise spent, in a savings account earning more than 1% interest (aka stoozing)

Nick_C

phillw said:

Nick_C said:
They do.  But how many of them allow you to set up Direct Debits, Standing Orders, multiple future dated scheduled payments, and send payments out immediately, while paying 2.7% monthly interest and giving you market rates on foreign currency transactions from your linked current account? 

That's fine for your float, where the difference in interest on the money to cover the payments will be quite small. If you want that level of service then it would have been worth using it before the interest rate rise.

However If you have the whole £85,000 in chase then it's still a £10 a month difference by just shoving it in Al Rayan & you can do better than that by spreading your money around.

The point is, there is more to choosing an Easy Access Savings account than just the rate of interest.  I wouldn't keep £85k in Chase.  And I continued to use my Chase account when its interest rates were stuck at 1.5%.  It's a brilliant feeder account for people who use Regular Savers or have to fund other current accounts each month.

We all have different needs.  Which is why there isn't a single "Top" account that suits everyone.

Some people avoid accounts that have to be managed via an app.  Some avoid accounts like YBS where you have to wait 24 hours for your money.

So one shouldn't be dismissive of someone posting about the increase in the Chase interest rate without considering why others find the account incredibly useful.

Nick_C

MisterMotivated said:

A 0% purchase credit card would, however, allow you to keep the money you would have otherwise spent, in a savings account earning more than 1% interest (aka stoozing)

Absolutely, and that is a really good point which is easily overlooked.

Two things to consider though.  An increase in your debt and only making minimum payments might damage your credit rating, so will not be suitable for everyone.

Chase gives you 1% CB on foreign currency transactions.  Most 0% purchase cards don't.  So again Chase CB is a better option sometimes.

Patrington

Nick_C said:

MisterMotivated said:

A 0% purchase credit card would, however, allow you to keep the money you would have otherwise spent, in a savings account earning more than 1% interest (aka stoozing)

Absolutely, and that is a really good point which is easily overlooked.

Two things to consider though.  An increase in your debt and only making minimum payments might damage your credit rating, so will not be suitable for everyone.

Chase gives you 1% CB on foreign currency transactions.  Most 0% purchase cards don't.  So again Chase CB is a better option sometimes.

And don't forget the 5% interest on the roundup

jak22

If the Coventry limited or Zopa accounts aren't suitable then maybe Chase is the next best rate, but having a 1% cashback card doesn't make it an any better savings account. The 1% cashback is better than nothing but it is just £50 after spending £5000 and the roundup isn't that much either.

AmityNeon

jak22 said:

If the Coventry limited or Zopa accounts aren't suitable then maybe Chase is the next best rate, but having a 1% cashback card doesn't make it an any better savings account. The 1% cashback is better than nothing but it is just £50 after spending £5000 and the roundup isn't that much either.

I use all of them, but transfers from Zopa to Chase (especially from Boosted pots) are not as fast as internal Chase transfers so I keep small float amounts in the Chase Saver, and 2.7% is far less of a convenience penalty than 2.1%.

MisterMotivated

Nick_C said:

Two things to consider though.  An increase in your debt and only making minimum payments might damage your credit rating, so will not be suitable for everyone.

You could pay a fixed monthly (above minimum) amount if you're worried about this.  Having had more credit cards, current accounts and mortgages than I can count throughout my lifetime, I can't say I've ever noticed a significant impact arising from only making minimum repayments.

Nick_C said:

Chase gives you 1% CB on foreign currency transactions.  Most 0% purchase cards don't.  So again Chase CB is a better option sometimes.

A reasonable point, but people talking about spending are, 99% of the time, referring to purchases in their own country using native currency (this seems to include Marvo, though I apologise if I've misinterpreted and he/she was referring specifically to foreign currency transactions in the previous post). 

As with most things in life, one particular option won't suit all of the people all of the time. A Chase current account could be a great complement to a 0% purchase card for those times when it has greater benefits.

[Deleted User]

jak22 said:

If the Coventry limited or Zopa accounts aren't suitable then maybe Chase is the next best rate, but having a 1% cashback card doesn't make it an any better savings account. The 1% cashback is better than nothing but it is just £50 after spending £5000 and the roundup isn't that much either.

It's the whole package. I've earned £679.94 in cashback so far with 3 months of my year to go. That's not to be sniffed at. 

I don't think anybody would be putting £85,000 in CHASE but it will be handy to have a couple of grand in there once the rate increases on January 4th to 2.7%, which you can transfer instantly to your current account when you have something to pay out.
If you kept the £2000 in AL Rayan you'd get 18p more a month in interest, for me that "advantage" is not worth the hassle but each to their own.

refluxer

Deleted_User said:

jak22 said:

If the Coventry limited or Zopa accounts aren't suitable then maybe Chase is the next best rate, but having a 1% cashback card doesn't make it an any better savings account. The 1% cashback is better than nothing but it is just £50 after spending £5000 and the roundup isn't that much either.

It's the whole package. I've earned £679.94 in cashback so far with 3 months of my year to go. That's not to be sniffed at. 

If you don't mind me asking, how on earth did you manage that, considering you don't get cashback for the usual big expenses like buying cars and houses, plus many other things like insurance etc ?

For reference, I've had my Chase account for a similar length of time, have been putting all of my purchases on it (including family Tesco shops and a new fridge-freezer and washing machine) plus I've got one £25 referral and have yet to reach £100 and, while we obviously all spend differing amounts on different things, I'm wondering if I'm missing a trick somewhere ?!

Nick_C

MisterMotivated said:

As with most things in life, one particular option won't suit all of the people all of the time. 

That's exactly my point.