Regular Savings Accounts: The Best Currently Available List!

premierfella

I am conducting a regular review of my accounts and was re-reading the posts.

I still hold one of the earlier Loughborough Regular Saver accounts which has a 1% bonus applied to current year subscriptions. Might I suggest that the sentence in red be added to the special conditions note on this account in post #2 to make it clear that the bonus won't always apply to the whole balance in the account?

Loughborough BS Monthly Saver

Interest rate: 3% gross p.a. variable from 1st September 2010 (includes a fixed bonus of 1.5%)
Monthly payment: £10-£250 (amount fixed when you open the account but can be changed on the anniversary of the account opening each year)
Miss any payments: Yes, can miss 1 payment
Penalty-free withdrawals: Yes, one withdrawal per account year
How to open account: Branch or post
Special conditions: One payment per calendar month which must reach them by the 28th of each month. The fixed 1.50% bonus is only payable on payments received in each account year.

johnmoney05

premierfella wrote: »

I am conducting a regular review of my accounts and was re-reading the posts.

I still hold one of the earlier Loughborough Regular Saver accounts which has a 1% bonus applied to current year subscriptions. Might I suggest that the sentence in red be added to the special conditions note on this account in post #2 to make it clear that the bonus won't always apply to the whole balance in the account?

Loughborough BS Monthly Saver

Interest rate: 3% gross p.a. variable from 1st September 2010 (includes a fixed bonus of 1.5%)
Monthly payment: £10-£250 (amount fixed when you open the account but can be changed on the anniversary of the account opening each year)
Miss any payments: Yes, can miss 1 payment
Penalty-free withdrawals: Yes, one withdrawal per account year
How to open account: Branch or post
Special conditions: One payment per calendar month which must reach them by the 28th of each month. The fixed 1.50% bonus is only payable on payments received in each account year.

Does it mean previous years savings only receive 1.5% interest rate? If so, it might be sensible to close the account after one year? Thanks.

premierfella

Reference to closing accounts after one year on accounts with similar terms (e.g. Ipswich Holiday Save) is "best" advice, but isn't always absolutely necessary I believe.

An alternative to closing the account after one year (for accounts with these types of "current year" bonuses) is simply to withdraw the previous year's savings and interest shortly after the interest and bonus are paid.

The difference (and I assume the reason for advising closure after one year) is of course that keeping it open in this way uses up the withdrawal for the current "account year", so the risk is that the variable rate plummets during the year and you are stuck with a choice of either losing the bonus to close the account if the rate drops or keeping it open at the lower rate. But it is a little less admin.

Also, the terms need to be checked to make sure that the building society does not treat the withdrawal, for bonus purposes, as a withdrawal of current year deposits rather than previous year deposits! The way the terms of the Loughborough and Ipswich accounts are worded leads me to believe that the bonus is paid on current year deposits irrespective of the withdrawal of previous year deposits, but I confess that I have not confirmed this with the societies in writing (its only recently become relevant to me with the Ipswich Smart Save and Loughborough Regular Saver+3).

Personally I've found that the building societies tend to maintain "fair" rates on these types of regular savers for a reasonable period after withdrawing them (not forever of course), so I accept that risk and keep the accounts running (depending of course on how much money I could potentially have tied up to a low rate for months).

Special_Saver2

Thanks.

I have moved the account to post 4 (12 month accounts) and put the following information in the entry.

Loughborough BS Monthly Saver

Interest rate: 3% gross p.a. variable from 1st September 2010 (includes a fixed bonus of 1.5%)
Monthly payment: £10-£250 (amount fixed when you open the account but can be changed on the anniversary of the account opening each year)
Miss any payments: Yes, can miss 1 payment
Penalty-free withdrawals: Yes, one withdrawal per account year
How to open account: Branch or post
Special conditions: One payment per calendar month which must reach them by the 28th of each month. The interest rate drops after 12 months as the 1.50% bonus is only payable on payments received in each account year. Any balance retained in the account from previous year(s) will only receive the variable interest rate. See posts 1192-1194 for further discussion of this point.

SS2

Milarky

premierfella wrote: »

The difference (and I assume the reason for advising closure after one year) is of course that keeping it open in this way uses up the withdrawal for the current "account year", so the risk is that the variable rate plummets during the year and you are stuck with a choice of either losing the bonus to close the account if the rate drops or keeping it open at the lower rate.

Most of these accounts (I'd say) offer a first withdrawal before the anniversary also. But then they get you because you can only withdraw the capital and not any added interest in that period. So the advice about closing the account after 12 months instead still makes sense.

premierfella

Milarky wrote: »

Most of these accounts (I'd say) offer a first withdrawal before the anniversary also. But then they get you because you can only withdraw the capital and not any added interest in that period. So the advice about closing the account after 12 months instead still makes sense.

Agreed about withdrawing capital during the first account year. I was simply making the point that not closing the account can also make sense, but I fully understand why people prefer to close after 12 months and open a new one for these types of account (and when they become closed accounts such as the Loughborough Regular Saver+3 keeping the account open may be beneficial).

Special_Saver2

Hi Everybody,

Apart from fixing a broken link, I could not find anything to change for this weekend's update.

I will do another update next weekend.

All the best,
SS2

Special_Saver2

Hi Folks,

Here is this weekend's update.

This page on eMoneyfacts says that Furness BS have launched Monthly Saver Issue 2 paying 3.5%, details as follows:

MONTHLY SAVER withdrawn and Issue 2 launched w.e.f. 26.10.10: a 1 year fixed term regular savings branch based account with a minimum opening investment of £250, maximum £1K with minimum monthly payment of £10, maximum £250 paying 3.50% on maturity. No earlier access. 12 consecutive payments required per annum or account closed. Additional payments permitted provided they are within the minimum and maximum limits.

I cannot find this account listed on the regular savings page of the Furness BS website but I will add this account to page 1 of this thread once it does appear.

I will also mention that Cheshire BS have launched their Regular Saver Issue 6 account. As it only pays 2.5% gross interest, it is not good enough to make it on to page 1 of this thread.

I will do another update next weekend.

All the best,
SS2

Nessie23

First Direct have now increased the interest on their regular saver to 8%

http://moneyfacts.co.uk/news/savings/get-a-gr-eight-rate-with-first-direct/

Baldur

Nessie23 wrote: »

First Direct have now increased the interest on their regular saver to 8%

http://moneyfacts.co.uk/news/savings/get-a-gr-eight-rate-with-first-direct/

There's a 3 page thread on the 8% FD account here - https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/2830388