Best BRANCH managed savings

thedean

What is best branch based easy access saving account, preferably with ATM card?

Post Office Instant Saver 0.75% inc bonus seems to be the only real choice.

bowlhead99

If you are near a Virgin Money branch, they'll do 1.16% for their easy access account (ISA or non-ISA versions) that can be managed by phone, post or instore.

They don't have anywhere near as many branches as the Post Office though.

colsten

thedean wrote: »

What is best branch based easy account, preferably with ATM card?

It will probably depend on where you live, how old/young you are, how much you want to save, and for how long. Smaller, local, Building Societies in some areas have the best deals.

Aretnap

Surely if you want to do your banking in branch, which bank has branches near to you is a bigger factor in your decision making than half a percent on the interest rate here or there. So knowing where you live, it at least what branches are nearby, would be a prerequisite for giving a useful answer.

thedean

This is needed for someone in a North Yorkshire market town. Probably max amount £5k
Nearest Virgin location 23 miles.
HSBC, Barclays, Lloyds the only mainstream banks left, all with pathetic savings rates with branch accounts, as is Nationwide. I'll see if any of the small BS have offices.

bowlhead99

thedean wrote: »

This is needed for someone in a North Yorkshire market town. Probably max amount £5k
Nearest Virgin location 23 miles.
HSBC, Barclays, Lloyds the only mainstream banks left, all with pathetic savings rates with branch accounts, as is Nationwide. I'll see if any of the small BS have offices.

Of those choices the best rate by far is the Nationwide FlexDirect current account. Contingent on a monthly deposit of £1000, it pays 5% on the first £2500 in the account (so over £100 a year, which you wouldn't get on £5k instant access with the other banks you mention). The person could feed it with the £1000 via standing order from another bank current account each month, and then return the £1000 via another standing order from Nationwide to that other bank.

Although it is an account that's designed to be opened and operated online (paperless statements), it comes with a visa card for payments and ATM withdrawals, you can see your balance on the ATM screen, and you can make deposits in-branch.

EarthBoy

thedean wrote: »

What is best branch based easy access saving account, preferably with ATM card?

If you want an ATM card, the interest rate is almost guaranteed to be a pittance, unless you use one of the interest paying current accounts as a savings account.

bowlhead99 wrote: »

Of those choices the best rate by far is the Nationwide FlexDirect current account. Contingent on a monthly deposit of £1000, it pays 5% on the first £2500 in the account.

You only get the 5% on a FlexDirect account for the first year. After that it drops to 1%.

TSB Classic Plus account pays 3% on up to £1500, providing you pay in £500 per month and register for internet banking and paperless statements. You don't have to keep the £500 in the account, -you can take it out again the same day.

20SmthngSver

Look at Building Societies, too. Kent Reliance, Skipton Building Society, Saffron Building Society, or any regional or smaller onesetc. do some good branch savings. Some do cards now, but a passbook is just as efficient.

harrys66

currently coventry building society, 1.46% on isa or normal savings (3 withdrawls per year allowed) they still give a savings book if you want one


https://www.coventrybuildingsociety.co.uk/consumer/savings-accounts.html


excellent traditional branch level of service ... with nice new swanky branches to boot !!

bowlhead99

EarthBoy wrote: »

If you want an ATM card, the interest rate is almost guaranteed to be a pittance, unless you use one of the interest paying current accounts as a savings account.

Agreed with that

You only get the 5% on a FlexDirect account for the first year. After that it drops to 1%.

TSB Classic Plus account pays 3% on up to £1500, providing you pay in £500 per month and register for internet banking and paperless statements. You don't have to keep the £500 in the account, -you can take it out again the same day.

Yes, FlexDirect is a short term solution, similar to other places that have bonuses guaranteed for the first year. Who knows what will be around in a year's time, we don't even know whether we will be in the EU or whether rates will have fallen further or the economy going through a mini-boom allowing them to increase.

The £2500 at 5% is £125 though, while £1500 at 3% in TSB plus another £1000 at 1.5% in somewhere like Coventry BS would be less than half of that in total, for the same £2500 deposited.

So if you were going to compromise the initial hope to get a traditional branch based savings account - to instead get a current account with no paper statements and a monthly pay-in requirement - then Nationwide was the one that immediately jumped to mind. In a year, Nationwide's deal would expire, but there may be some other contender (or NW themselves may have a decent branch based non-current account, but unlikely I expect).

Depending on the person, using a paperless current account with branch access as a substitute for a traditional branch based current account may be more than a step too far.

GreenBitterfly

Yorkshire Building Society has a cash card savings account, although the interest rate is 0.30%