Regular Savings Accounts: The Best Currently Available List!

Steve_xx

redux wrote: »

I can't really see why they are making the change. I suppose in theory someone might have £100k in a long-lived account, but there probably won't be many like that.

Nobody could have 100k in it because it hasn't been around long enough for that. You can only add 1k a month to it! But I understand the gist of what you say.

Archi_Bald

Nobody should have over £85K in a single financial institution, either.

alanq

redux wrote: »

I was half hoping to pay in up to £1000 in March.

The monthly maximum for Issue 2 is £500. For Issue 3 it is £250.

Flexible Regular Saver allows up to £1000pm but only pays 1.50% including bonus.

MARTYM8`

IanManc wrote: »

I'm disappointed with the Leeds Building Society. They recently ruined my Albion Cheque Account by removing the cheque book facility which was the whole point of it, and now they're terminating a regular savings account which was always marketed as not having a term, so you could save for as long as you wanted.

Yes - its a shame they are closing issue 2. But its nationally available and is a good rate so they are presumably losing money on it. I haven't had my letter yet - but presumably that's to come.

I am assuming from 31 March the issue 2 account will be closed and the entire balance will be moved to this new instant access account paying base rate +0.35% - albeit you can presumably pay £250 into a new issue 3 account paying the 3.05% rate? Is that right. Makes you wonder however how long the issue 3 will last - they make clear it can be withdrawn at any time without notice?

http://www.leedsbuildingsociety.co.uk/_resources/pdfs/savings-pdfs/regularsaver-uk.pdf

I remember when Mansfield closed their 3.1% regular saver for up to £500 a month last year they let people keep the accumulated balance at that rate indefinitely but stopped new investments - albeit you could open up to three issue 3 accounts paying 2.75% on up to £250 a month. Maybe they are just more generous in Nottinghamshire than Yorkshire?!

ctdctd

I haven't had my letter yet - is the Leeds RS 2 closing on March 1st when interest is paid or at some later date?

alanq

ctdctd wrote: »

I haven't had my letter yet - is the Leeds RS 2 closing on March 1st when interest is paid or at some later date?

MARTYM8` wrote: »

I am assuming from 31 March the issue 2 account will be closed

Unless you notify Leeds BS beforehand of other plans they "will be closing your Regular Saver Issue 2 and transferring your balance on 3rd March 2015 to a Flexible Tracker Account including 2014/15 bonus (if applicable)."

Normal interest earned will be credited 28th February and then a couple of extra days will be added on 3rd March .

Milarky

The letter is ambiguous about interest earned from 1st March to 3rd March (yes, I know it's petty, but) they don't say the bonus-inclusive rate will be payable for those dates rather than the basic rate alone and it should be included IMO because

• i) They have elected to remove the product on a non-bonus anniversary date for whatever reason (but beyond the control of the customer)
• ii) you can't receive the bonus for the year ending 28th Feb if you now close your account early so you have to 'sit it out' till 1st March at the earliest
• iii) 1st March is a Sunday and they are electing to transfer closing balances on the Tuesday rather than the Monday (So I suppose you can request payment on 2nd in advance) but they are cutting it fine.

Yes Leeds does have a streamlined operation for account redemptions/closures - which is a good thing admittedly.

I repsonded to this letter by asking them over the phone to consider allowing me to transfer my closing balance to a RS Iss 3 instead of taking their 0.85% with access or their tied in bonds at 2%/2.6%. My arguments were:

• a) The letter explains the closure is: "to simplify our savings range, and streamline the number of accounts we offer" (and does not mention interest rates)
• b) on checking with them, the Regular Saver Iss 3 will remain available after this exercise, paying 3%+ comparing more favourably to the rates offered by the transfer.
• c) A regular saver (i.e. an account offering limited access for a better rate and allowing further additions also) is closer to my existing product and more closely meets my needs than any of the alternatives being suggested.[Leeds may point out they you can add without the obligation to do so to their 'Tracker' paying 0.85% in repsonse to that. In response to that, you could say that they are only porviding this account until 31/07/16 - for 18 months anyway, at which point you'll have a decision of whether to 'move it' again]
• d) There's also the question of how they propose streamlining the accounts they 'offer' (market?) by launching three new accounts in this way?

The real reason Leeds wants to close these (and other?) closed issue accounts is to save interest - except they don't give that as the reason in their letter. Thus, they can't resist the argument that a transfer into a regular saver Iss 3 instead would not meet both their 'stated needs' as well as the customer's needs. They don't need to launch new products (whose features guarantee they wouldn't be selected by customers with that choice) anyway - again confirming they are acting in a unstated fashion aimed at cost cutting.

redux

alanq wrote: »

The monthly maximum for Issue 2 is £500. For Issue 3 it is £250.

Flexible Regular Saver allows up to £1000pm but only pays 1.50% including bonus.

The original regular saver, shall we now call it issue 1, allows up to £1000 a month, has interest rate 0.05% and bonus of 3.0%

Steve_xx wrote: »

Nobody could have 100k in it because it hasn't been around long enough for that. You can only add 1k a month to it! But I understand the gist of what you say.

I'm not sure exactly when it started. My account was opened in 2002.

About then the monthly limit was £250, increasing to £500 in maybe 2004, and was £1000 by 2007 or 2008.

GreenBitterfly

Thank you to all the posters regarding the Leeds Building Society Regular Saver, I haven't received my letter yet. No doubt that will drop onto the doormat this morning, instead of other letters I was expecting!

I was looking to withdraw the majority of my funds this ISA season anyway into a long term fixed rate ISA. As I wasn't sure how long the savings account would last, guess I was right! Urggh, think I will be putting the money in the First Direct Regular saver now.

premierfella

I for one wasn't surprised by the lack of honesty in the letter (I have the issue 1 account). I don't really expect them to write "we're losing too much money on the account as balances continue to build up at a rate of £x a month). It would have been nice of them not to lie about it though.

It surely wouldn't have been beyond their capabilities to offer to open new issue 3 accounts on request to allow a smooth transition for customers. From reading the letter you'd be forgiven for thinking issue 3 didn't even exist - which is probably intentional as it raises too many difficult questions.

I'll probably virtually empty the issue 1 now and transfer that balance to a P2P account and open an issue 3 in March just to keep membership and voting rights, for what they are worth.