Regular Savings Accounts: The Best Currently Available List!

Milarky

Chadsman wrote: »

It is a long way off market leading but may be of interest to some...
Dudley BS now offers a Monthly Savings account currently paying 3% p.a. with a minimum opening/operating balance of £100 and minimum monthly payment of £10...
http://www.dudleybuildingsociety.co.uk/savemonthlysavings.htm

Detracted from by the need to be an existing member or live locally. Non-locals need not apply or should first open another Dudley account for £1000 then apply for this product then close their 'existing member' account (I assume)

LongTermLurker

Milarky wrote: »

Non-locals need not apply

"are you 'local' "?

steady__eddie

Thanks Chadsman, I can use this one.
Fortunately, (or otherwise), I am "local" and had my statement for my Transfer in ISA this week . The gloom was suppressed a little when I read that they had increased rates by 0,5% :j but closer inspection revealed that it was only for balances in excess of £25k .
This one will at least enable me to retain membership and achieve a better tax free rate elsewhere.

jimbow25

The Derbyshire / Cheshire / Dunfermline 4% account details are here, they may need to be included in the next update:

http://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/showthread.html?t=2022107

Special_Saver2

Hi Folks,

Here is this weekend's update.

- Dunfermline BS Monthly Saver Issue 4 withdrawn
- Dunfermline BS Monthly Saver Issue 5 launched
- Derbyshire BS Monthly Saver launched
- Cheshire BS Monthly Saver launched

The terms and conditions are a little complicated. This is my take on it. If you think I have misunderstood any of it then I am happy to change it. These accounts are only attractive for the first 12 months so I have grouped them with the accounts that mature in 12 months on the first page of this thread.

Dunfermline BS Monthly Saver (Issue 5)

Interest rate: 4% gross p.a. variable from 19th October 2009
Monthly payment: £10-250
Miss any payments: Yes, can miss 1 payment per account year
Penalty-free withdrawals: Yes, one per account year
How to open account: Branch
Special conditions: The interest rate (including a first year bonus) is guaranteed to be at least Bank of England base rate + 3.5% for the first year. The interest rate is then guaranteed to be at least Bank of England base rate + 1.5%. As the interest rate drops significantly after the first year, this account is included with the 12 month maturity accounts for the purposes of this thread.

Derbyshire BS Monthly Saver

Almost identical details to the Dunfermline account above except that the 2% bonus runs until 31st October 2010.

Cheshire BS Monthly Saver

Almost identical details to the Dunfermline account above except that the 2% bonus runs until 31st October 2010.

I shall do another update next weekend.

All the best,
SS2

Dagobert

Milarky wrote: »

Confirmed. If, like me, you stopped paying in after they let rates slid you can top the balance back up to what it would have been @£150 per month.

Unfortunately, I closed mine.

Can the Santa Saver be opened any time of year or do I have to wait until December?

Special_Saver2

Hi Dagobert,

The terms and conditions seem to have disappeared from their website now but my summary of the details that used to be there are reproduced below (see quote). I do not remember seeing any restrictions on when you open the account so I think you could open one now. Provided you are not worried about them withdrawing the account in the near future, the best date to open the account would be 27th November - that way the money would sit in the account for a full year and not get sweeped into the linked account until 26th November 2010.

SS2

Special_Saver2 wrote: »

Chorley BS Santa Saver

Interest rate: 5% gross p.a. variable from 13th October 2009
Monthly payment: £0-150, minimum opening balance £1
Miss any payments: Yes, and in fact missed payments can be made up at a later date
Penalty-free withdrawals: No, cannot make any withdrawals at all
How to open account: By post
Special conditions: The balance of the account will transfer automatically each year on the 26th November to a nominated account of your choice within the Society. The nominated account must be current at the time of the Santa Saver application and remain open until this account is closed.
The best account to link this to is probably the Paid Up Share Account as it has a minimum opening balance of just £25.

anna42hmr

skipton have opened their christmas saver too, from their website the below:

Watch your savings sparkle next Christmas

Start preparing for next Christmas now with a Skipton Building Society Christmas Saver Account.
Whether it's for your Christmas dinner, presents for the grandchildren or a gift for that special someone, money is often an issue at Christmas. With Skipton's Christmas Saver Account, you can save each month and know your money is working hard, and is safe and secure until it's time to go shopping.
Simply open your account online today

• Easy access before Christmas gives you plenty of time to organise your perfect celebration.
• You can open your account with as little as £10, up to a maximum of £250
• You can pay in between £10 and £250 each month, whatever amount suits you
• Make as many payments in as you like, providing they meet the minimum and maximum monthly amount requirements.
• For your convenience you can make payments in by cash, cheque or standing order.
• Your money stays invested until 25 November 2010 to ensure you get the most out of your savings.
• Access your money from 25 November 2010 when interest has been capitalised and transferred automatically into our easy access account.
• Security and peace of mind when you need it most.

AER stands for Annual Equivalent Rate and illustrates what the interest rate would be if interest was paid and added each year.

Dagobert

Special_Saver2 wrote: »

Chorley BS Santa Saver

Miss any payments: Yes, and in fact missed payments can be made up at a later date

Missed payments count from the beginning of the account deposit period (1st Dec).

For example, if you opened the account in Oct 2009, you can add another 10 x £150 in Oct (Dec08 - Sep09).

Special_Saver2

Dagobert wrote: »

Missed payments count from the beginning of the account deposit period (1st Dec).

For example, if you opened the account in Oct 2009, you can add another 10 x £150 in Oct (Dec08 - Sep09).

Is that what it says in the terms and conditions? They are no longer online.

Even if you can do this, would you want to do it?

If you opened this account on 2nd November and paid in £1,500 then it would all get transferred on 26th November to an account paying minimal interest. You will only get 5% interest on that money for less than a month and you will lose interest whilst transferring the money to the Chorley Building Society and then transferring it out again after 26th November when you have to rescue it from the linked Chorley account paying minimal interest.

anna42hmr, thanks for the post about the Skipton BS Christmas Saver. I have updated post 7 with the details and the updated link.

When you open this account, make sure they give you issue 4 (which matures on 25th November 2010). Last year, I opened a Christmas Saver account in early November and I did not realise that they had opened an issue 2 account by mistake. I only realised what had happened when they sent me a statement a few months later for the account which ended up maturing just a few weeks after I opened it! My local branch sent my passbook to Head Office and they changed the account from issue 2 to issue 3 and corrected the interest payment but it is a shame I did not notice the mistake at the time they opened the account.

All the best,
SS2

Edit: I have put a copy of the Skipton BS Christmas Saver details into post 3 as it does mature after more than 12 months .