Metro Bank 2% savings account

comeandgo

I have just opened my fixed rate yearly account and it went extremely smoothly. Got my letter with my magic word and then a few days later my customer number. Went online to transfer money into account and got an email to say fixed rate account successful. I'm going to suggest to my husband that he opens one too. At 2% interest it's one of the highest interest rates around.
As for the bank being in trouble you are protected for up to £85k.

dosh37

I eventually managed to get my Customer Number following a phone call to Customer Services. It arrived in the post a day or two later and I was able to register and login online.



I then transferred my deposit using a number of separate BACS transfers (£20K limit per transfer). Nothing then happened for several days. My deposit remained frozen in the instant access feeder account earning just 0.55%



I eventually phoned customer services to ask why the initial deposit had not been transferred into the 12 month bond.
I discovered that Metro Bank have reduced their 12 month bond interest rate from 2% to 1.9%
Luckily my final BACS transfer took place just one day before the change took place, so I was told I would get the 2% rate.
Hopefully the money has now been transferred from the instant access feeder account into the fixed bond account. (Still to be confirmed).



In summary, I found the bond account setup to be time consuming and frustrating. Although customer services did a reasonable job in sorting things out, I think their processes are not up to scratch. I don't think I would recommend Metro Bank to a friend.

dosh37

I logged into the Metro Bank website again today.
Despite my phone call to Customer Services a few days ago, the deposit had still not been transferred from the instant access account into a new fixed bond account.

I had to make yet another phone call to sort it out.


It's taken 23 days and three phone calls to open the instant access account, receive the Magic Word and Customer ID through the post, transfer the deposit using several BACS transfers, open the bond account and arrange the money transfer.

I am dissapointed with the process and the service.

xxdeebeexx

dosh37 wrote: »

I logged into the Metro Bank website again today.
Despite my phone call to Customer Services a few days ago, the deposit had still not been transferred from the instant access account into a new fixed bond account.

I had to make yet another phone call to sort it out.


It's taken 23 days and three phone calls to open the instant access account, receive the Magic Word and Customer ID through the post, transfer the deposit using several BACS transfers, open the bond account and arrange the money transfer.

I am dissapointed with the process and the service.

I was very disappointed too, with the fussing I had to do to get things sorted.
Maybe it might have been easier if I had opened a Metro bank account first, or even at the same time, but I didn't want yet another bank account to add to my collection.
Hopefully now things are set up it will be easier in the future.


If there was a referral system for Metro Bank or a switching incentive I might well open a bank account with them in the future , but not yet.


d x

dosh37

Just to annoy me even further...


The reason I applied for a Metro Bank 12 month bond in the first place is that my Charter Savings Bank bond recently matured. They only offered me 1.8% to transfer to another 12 month bond, so I opted to withdraw the money to try and find a better rate.


Charter Savings are now offering 2.1% - which is better than Metro Bank.
So all that time and effort spent transferring accounts was for nothing.
When you consider that the inflation rate is 2% in any case, I ask myself why do I bother? It feels like I'm running just to stay still, running around and grovelling on the floor for crumbs from the lord's table.

qbs

Two 12 month Fixed Rate accounts opened on 17/08/19. Received welcome email on completion which stated

"We will send you the terms and conditions and an Important Information Summary in a separate email for you to read. Your 12 digit Internet Banking Customer Number will be sent to you by post – so you can log in and view your account online."

Since then, nothing. Emails to welcome@metrobank.plc.uk and CEO have gone unanswered.

And, conveniently, the rates have dropped since we opened our accounts.

Our cash will be going elsewhere

tunde10

Can someone help. I just opened their 1.8% 12month account today.

I initially transferred £1,000 as a first deposit to see if everything goes smoothly.

Now i want to transfer the remaining £24,000 but it's not letting me. I'm confused, as i never had this issue with any other savings account before on same day its opened. Am i now limited to £1,000? Usually you have a few days to transfer up to a max limit.

It's really frustrating as i had to go to the branch and wait 1hr just for them to open the Instant access and the guy couldn't open the 12 month saver and transfer the full funds due to an error. This is why i couldn't trust transferring the full £25,000 in one go.

eskbanker

tunde10 wrote: »

Can someone help. I just opened their 1.8% 12month account today.

I initially transferred £1,000 as a first deposit to see if everything goes smoothly.

Now i want to transfer the remaining £24,000 but it's not letting me. I'm confused, as i never had this issue with any other savings account before on same day its opened. Am i now limited to £1,000? Usually you have a few days to transfer up to a max limit.

It's really frustrating as i had to go to the branch and wait 1hr just for them to open the Instant access and the guy couldn't open the 12 month saver and transfer the full funds due to an error. This is why i couldn't trust transferring the full £25,000 in one go.

You can only make one deposit into their fixed term products, as explained at https://www.metrobankonline.co.uk/savings/products/fixed-term-savings/ (and the full Ts & Cs):

Can I top up my savings during the fixed term?

No. You can only pay one lump sum into the Fixed Term Deposit Account. But you can have more than one Fixed Term Deposit Account at a time.

The latter sentence gives the clue about what to do next, and you're still within the cooling-off period if you want to get all your pot into one account....

stewie1098

Thinking of opening one of these, how do I transfer 85K in one amount from my Nationwide current account. They have a 10K daily limit, so when I have done this with other banks I just do 8 x 10 K transfer? Any advice gratefully appreciated.

tunde10

eskbanker wrote: »

You can only make one deposit into their fixed term products, as explained at https://www.metrobankonline.co.uk/savings/products/fixed-term-savings/ (and the full Ts & Cs):The latter sentence gives the clue about what to do next, and you're still within the cooling-off period if you want to get all your pot into one account....

Thanks, i went into branch and they opened a 2nd account for me. So that will do.