Regular Savings Accounts: The Best Currently Available List!

gwapenut

I would strongly advise anyone considering Ulster Bank not to do so.

They claim "easy access" by phone or web if registered with Anytime Banking. I am registered (for my credit card) but do not have a current account. I cannot access my money by web or phone unless I have a card reader/card, and I cannot have those unless I have a current account.

Thus I have to write a letter so they can send me a cheque.

I have logged a complaint, and will keep following it until they change their highly incorrect website wording (and phone advice) to avoid others being caught out. I see this has been discussed on these forums in the past too, it's been going on for years.

Archi_Bald

gwapenut wrote: »

I cannot access my money by web or phone unless I have a card reader/card, and I cannot have those unless I have a current account.

It is not true that you cannot have a card and card reader without having a current account with them. Their website is not highly incorrect.

If you just have a savings account with them, you can register for Internet access, then request their "Anytime Banking Card" and a card reader. This allows you to make Faster Payments from your savings account. Like most Faster Payments, they arrive literally instantly the other end.

veryintrigued

Archi_Bald wrote: »

It is not true that you cannot have a card and card reader without having a current account with them. Their website is not highly incorrect.

If you just have a savings account with them, you can register for Internet access, then request their "Anytime Banking Card" and a card reader. This allows you to make Faster Payments from your savings account. Like most Faster Payments, they arrive literally instantly the other end.

Concur with this - two of us here do this

gwapenut

Archi_Bald wrote: »

It is not true that you cannot have a card and card reader without having a current account with them. Their website is not highly incorrect.

It is according to what I was told over the phone this morning, by two different people at the same branch. If you managed to get a standalone card for that account, then well done. They refused for me.

In any case, their website IS incorrect because it says "easy access by internet or phone if you have anytime banking" (which I do), and no mention of needing a card reader.

Nor was a card reader suggested when I opened the account.

Milarky

gwapenut wrote: »

It is according to what I was told over the phone this morning, by two different people at the same branch. If you managed to get a standalone card for that account, then well done. They refused for me.

In any case, their website IS incorrect because it says "easy access by internet or phone if you have anytime banking" (which I do), and no mention of needing a card reader.

Nor was a card reader suggested when I opened the account.

Note you ask for the separate Anytime Banking Card (I can confirm from experience that's what you ask for if you just open a savings account) and the card reader is ordered automatically for you (although different banks' card readers are all interchangeable anyway) The bank staff may be unaware of this facility since current account customers have been able to nominate their debit card for use with a UBK card reader instead.

Archi_Bald

gwapenut wrote: »

In any case, their website IS incorrect because it says "easy access by internet or phone if you have anytime banking" (which I do), and no mention of needing a card reader.

There are absolute reams about about the card reader on their website. For example (all highlighting is mine)

http://www.ulsterbank.co.uk/ni/personal/daily-banking/anytime-banking/anytime-internet.ashx

Card-Reader - We provide a free Card-Reader which helps prevent fraud and protect your accounts. It's simple to use, and you only need your Card-Reader for some online transactions.

http://www.ulsterbank.co.uk/ni/personal/saving/regular-savings/sida.ashx

*You are required to register for Anytime Banking to be able to access your funds and manage your account online or over the telephone. If you do not register for Anytime Banking you can manage your account through the branch network.

http://www.ulsterbank.com/microsites/card-reader-user-guide-ri/questions.asp

I don’t have a debit card on my account, can I still get a card reader?
Customers without a debit card are issued with an Anytime Banking card for use with the Card-Reader only. (This card will be issued after you order a reader).

http://www.ulsterbank.co.uk/ni/personal/safe-secure/card-reader/common-questions.ashx#17

If you don't have a debit card, we'll send you an online banking card to use in your Card Reader.

The website is not incorrect. All you need to do is order a card reader and they'll send you both, a card reader and a card, which will then enable you to do everything you could wish to do with your savings account.

It takes about 10 seconds to order the card reader.

Archi_Bald

Milarky wrote: »

Note you ask for the separate Anytime Banking Card (I can confirm from experience that's what you ask for if you just open a savings account)

I did not have to ask for the card. It was sent automatically to me after I ordered the card reader which can be done once logged in.

gwapenut

Where does it say in the Savings account information for that product that a card reader is required?

Nor was it even hinted at, let alone made obvious, in my welcome letter. "We have registered you for Anytime Internet and Telephone Banking, and we'll send your customer number, together with the INFORMATION (not ITEMS or READER or DEVICES) you need to start making use of these services shortly." Which they did. Only, it now turns out that information and passwords and customer numbers wasn't enough. How am I meant to know that from my welcome letter? Please don't point me at the website, because instead I had a letter telling me all about my new account. That should be enough. It didn't tell me to refer to their website, nor would I expect to when I am told I've been set up for telephone banking.

Should anyone with common sense have expected a card reader to be mandatory to operate my account securely? No, for two reasons. Firstly, not all banks require you to use card readers, even those who OFFER them. Secondly, I was asking to withdraw to the account from which I funded the Ulster savings. Not someone else's account, but an account that is indisputably already linked to their account.

Why was the card reader not automatically sent when I registered for anytime banking, if it is so essential?

I'm not someone who requires a lot of spoon feeding in life. Maybe I got it wrong in this instance, or maybe it simply wasn't clear enough.

It's certainly not clear enough to the two members of staff at the branch who *insisted* that I would not be able to order a card / reader for this account. You can pluck as many quotes as you like from the website, but that does not change my personal experience when dealing directly with the branch, nor the implication in my welcome letter.

Money_Man_Steve

Archi_Bald wrote: »

It is not true that you cannot have a card and card reader without having a current account with them. Their website is not highly incorrect.

If you just have a savings account with them, you can register for Internet access, then request their "Anytime Banking Card" and a card reader. This allows you to make Faster Payments from your savings account. Like most Faster Payments, they arrive literally instantly the other end.

Thanks for the heads up. I opened a SIDA account with Ulster a few months ago and had no idea about the need for a card reader when making a withdrawal (I don't have a current a/c with them and do not live in NI). I logged in to Anytime Banking and ordered a card reader in seconds (via the 'cards and alerts' menu).

gwapenut

Glad you found this out in good time before you need your money Steve, otherwise you'd have found that "easy access" wasn't. It seems I'm not the only one who was not psychic enough to know how to operate the account!