Regular Savings Accounts: The Best Currently Available List!

LittleVoice

Special_Saver2 wrote: »

The Halifax Children's Regular Saver account has changed. It is now named Kids' Regular Saver,

So young goats can have an account but not children?! (I know, I know - I'm far too formal.)

DominicH

DragonQ wrote: »

First Direct's Regular Savings Account is 8.0% gross for 12 months with a limit of £300 per month, which means you can get a return of ~4.4% gross on £3600 over 12 months. Not bad but you need a 1st Account and also cannot make any withdrawals in those 12 months without closing the account.

I think it's more accurate to say that the return is 8% gross, because you're not tying up all of that £3600 in First Direct for the whole twelve months. You could keep the remainder in another savings account before it goes into the FD account, for example. If the other account yields 3% gross, your overall return on the £3600 would be ~5.7% gross.

Special_Saver2

Hi Everybody,

There is only one change for this weekend's update.

I have removed the Santander eSaver (issue 4) account from the feeder account section. Unlike the previous (issue 3) account, this account does not allow direct transfers to external accounts.

You can set up a forward-dated internal transfer from an eSaver issue 4 account to a Santander current account and have a standing order from the current account. I should warn you though that last year the Santander online banking system would occasionally unexpectedly delete my forward-dated internal transfers, which caused me a few problems, so this is something that I am avoiding at the moment.

I will do another update next weekend.

SS2

lightbulb2760

Special_Saver2 wrote: »

I have removed the Santander eSaver (issue 4) account from the feeder account section. Unlike the previous (issue 3) account, this account does not allow direct transfers to external accounts.


SS2

That's news to me! I'm able to make faster payments out of my eSaver (issue 4) to external accounts without any difficulty (up to £300 daily); I can also do this with eSaver issues 2 and 3.

Special_Saver2

Thanks for the message above lightbulb2760.

The Santander representative who opened up my account over the telephone told me it was not possible however I have just managed to set up and send an external payment from my eSaver issue 4 account. It has gone via BACS rather than Faster Payments (to an account that I know accepts FP) but hopefully that is just because it is the first payment from this account, as indicated on Santander's FP information page.

The ability to send forward-dated Faster Payments from my eSaver issue 4 account will be very handy!

I have restored the Santander eSaver issue 4 account to the feeder account section on page 1 of this thread. I have also updated it to include a link to the Santander FP information page.

SS2

10_66

Special_Saver2 wrote: »

...The ability to send forward-dated Faster Payments from my eSaver issue 4 account will be very handy!...

Just to clarify, please, if you set up, say, 12 forward dated payments for each month to cover the monthly payments needed for whichever reg saver account, would they not all go as BACS rather than FP as each one would be a new one, or would the remaining 11 go by FP simply because the sort codes and account numbers have been set up for the same receiving bank? (I'm not sure that I've expressed myself very well here with my question!).

I realise you could use the same one each month, (which would then go by FP), but that would rely on having to remember to do this each month.

Special_Saver2

The very first payment that you send will be subject to some extra security requirements, i.e. the Santander online banking system will text you with a "one time passcode (OTP)" that you need to enter and then the payment will go slowly by BACS.

The subsequent 11 payments should go by FP as the sort code, account number and reference details are the same as the first transaction. (That is assuming the receiving account can accept Faster Payments and the amount transferred is £300 or less. You can send up to £10,000 by FP as a standing order from a Santander current account.)

SS2

P.S. I have just tried playing around with the transfer that I set up this morning. The first payment has gone by BACS. It is allowing me to send a second payment by FP if I send it now (the FP symbol and text come up on the "Make a Payment, 2. Confirm details" page). I have placed a future-dated payment under £300 for next month and the online banking system has not offered to send it by FP.

Special_Saver2

Hi Folks,

I cannot find anything to add or remove from the first page of this thread this week.

I will do another update next weekend.

SS2

Wilma33

I opened a Santanders Loyalty Fixed Rate Monthly Saver account today. They set the SO up for me for the 2nd of each month. So the first payment is due tomorrow and will come out Monday. Now I've read this thread and it seems they should have set the first payment to come out next month. I can view the SO intruction online, but not change it (because I'm on A&L online?). Do I need to worry about this?

mrchagle

Wilma33 wrote: »

I opened a Santanders Loyalty Fixed Rate Monthly Saver account today.

Was this done over the phone or in branch as I'm thinking about doing the same myself?