The Top Easy Access Savings Discussion Area

Band7

flaneurs_lobster said:

Minty33 said:

andyhicks88 said:

Think Coventry is still the best option. I wish they had an app, but I think the .25% difference between that and the closet rival with an app is too much to turn down. Any less and I might not go for it.

Do we think the Coventry BS will be busy on Friday / over the weekend? (or does the 6 access put people off)
Website potentially busy with people late to the party opening accounts, and those already in moving money and trying to check their balance?

Might move some money over tomorrow instead incase the website can't cope with heavy traffic on Friday

FWIW the two deposits I made into the Coventry BS FHS account today took about 90 minutes to appear online. First time using Fast Transfer so no idea if this is the usual timescale.

What's this Fast Transfer please?

Band7

mattywallace121 said:

dgpur said:

Band7 said:

dgpur said:

I understand that CHIP are going to pay their bonuses as proper, compounding, FSCS covered interest soon.

I have heard rumours of that, too. Have you seen anything concrete though, and do you know how soon is soon?

Annoyingly the only thing I can remember about the source was that it was a trustworthy one. Possibly the MSE website itself?

Spokesperson from the company has confirmed this is a priority in a post onto their investor community page.

I found this in the CHIP community forum, dated November 22 2022. Doesn't fill me with confidence that it's something that will happen soon, but I'd be happy to be proven wrong.

flaneurs_lobster

Band7 said:

flaneurs_lobster said:

Minty33 said:

andyhicks88 said:

Think Coventry is still the best option. I wish they had an app, but I think the .25% difference between that and the closet rival with an app is too much to turn down. Any less and I might not go for it.

Do we think the Coventry BS will be busy on Friday / over the weekend? (or does the 6 access put people off)
Website potentially busy with people late to the party opening accounts, and those already in moving money and trying to check their balance?

Might move some money over tomorrow instead incase the website can't cope with heavy traffic on Friday

FWIW the two deposits I made into the Coventry BS FHS account today took about 90 minutes to appear online. First time using Fast Transfer so no idea if this is the usual timescale.

What's this Fast Transfer please?

Faster Payment, sorry.

Band7

Ta, thought I had missed something

Bridlington1

I rang Monmouthshire BS this evening and after half an hour on hold, they said that I could make withdrawals by faster payment by post, provided I sent them a signed letter, my passbook and a cancelled cheque. Needless to say these three things are now in an envalope with a 1st class stamp and are currently at the mercy of Royal Mail.

mebu60

Bridlington1 said:

happybagger said:

Newbury BS

These have removed their postcode restrictions. They usually have one of two sets of restrictions that they impose. They are now available throughout England and Wales.

They have two decent instant access products - Welcome to Newbury 2.8% and Existing Members Account 3.00%, but both have some deposit restrictions.

However, neither have had any rate increases yet following the December rate rise, so some may think it worth getting Welcome to Newbury now, as the EMA (one year membership) is a consistently good rate

source

I'm in. I've just opened a welcome to Newbury account, which only took 5 minutes to complete. I shall fund the account tomorrow.

Welcome account 2.8% max balance £3k.
Existing Members account 3.0% £2k pa up to £4k max subscription. 

Bridlington1

mebu60 said:

Bridlington1 said:

happybagger said:

Newbury BS

These have removed their postcode restrictions. They usually have one of two sets of restrictions that they impose. They are now available throughout England and Wales.

They have two decent instant access products - Welcome to Newbury 2.8% and Existing Members Account 3.00%, but both have some deposit restrictions.

However, neither have had any rate increases yet following the December rate rise, so some may think it worth getting Welcome to Newbury now, as the EMA (one year membership) is a consistently good rate

source

I'm in. I've just opened a welcome to Newbury account, which only took 5 minutes to complete. I shall fund the account tomorrow.

Welcome account 2.8% max balance £3k.
Existing Members account 3.0% £2k pa up to £4k max subscription. 

Thanks for mentioning this, but as was not an existing member at the time I opened the account, I opted for welcome to Newbury. I shall have to wait till January 2024 before I can get hold of the existing members account. Even then, I only opened the account to get a foot in the door as it were, so that I could get hold of higher paying accounts with them in the future.

The £50 I sent to Newbury via faster payment this morning is now showing in online banking. I think it's fair to say that after dealing with Monmouthshire lately, Newbury feels like Red Rum.

soulsaver

Just maybe worth repeating an observation on the YBS Rainy Day Saver, which is a limited (double) access account, open to 'all' and has been featured in the 'small(er) balances' section in the ToTP for a while. 

From 17/01 - 3.35% to £5k then 2.85% on the bal above that.

Currently it's lower rate doesn't make the ToTP main list, but it may do from 17/01.

ATBE then, the 2.85% alone will put it equal/above Al Rayan in the ToTP; the aggregated rate would put it even higher.

For example/comparison, £40k would earn 2.91%; or £30k would get 2.93%;
£85k would get 2.87% and I'm planning to treat it as that for ranking purposes whilst it qualifies.

Yorkshire BS Online Rainy Day Iss2  (Double access) currently 3.0% to £5k, then 2.5% (09/12)  ->3.35% to £5k then 2.85% wef 17/01.  
YBM1607RC.pdf (ybs.co.uk)

Section62

soulsaver said:

Just maybe worth repeating an observation on the YBS Rainy Day Saver, which is a limited (double) access account, open to 'all' and has been featured in the 'small(er) balances' section in the ToTP for a while. 

I agree with the sentiment - recent months have seen the better rates coming from accounts with a catch, and particularly the limited access accounts. I'm envisaging the situation where I could run out of free accesses on the best accounts, so my strategy at the moment is to open accounts that provide me with additional 'free' withdrawal opportunites, as well as accounts that may not look good on paper today, but might come into their own in future months.

To that end I've just opened the Coventry Limited Access Saver 6 and the YBS Internet Saver Plus 12, despite the fact neither account currently offers a 'good' rate (today) compared to the accounts I'm currently using.

I don't want to wait and hope the accounts remain on sale, especially after the new rates kick in.

The YBS Rainy Day Saver is a good example of this kind of account... it may not be there anymore when people decide they want it.

EssexHebridean

Coventry limited access 6 applied for here. Annoyingly they have to send us something in the post as it's a joint account (in spite of the fact that we are both existing account holders and they could simply email OH to ask him if he's OK with it!) so allowing for the state of our postal service currently it is pretty likely to be next month before we actually see the account being opened. Annoying as I wanted it to dump the contents of the soon to be maturing regular savers from the same provider into. Sigh.