Bank of Scotland interest

bjbyorkshire

Morning, I have 2 Classic Vantage accounts in my sole name and one in joint names with OH. On all the monthly statements it says that £4000+ earns 2.0% AER, 1.98% Gross. Now my maths are not great but by my calculations the monthly interest each account actually receives is £5.05, which is actually 1.2%. Can anyone shed light on this difference for me please.

Many thanks.

Ed-1

bjbyorkshire wrote: »

Morning, I have 2 Classic Vantage accounts in my sole name and one in joint names with OH. On all the monthly statements it says that £4000+ earns 2.0% AER, 1.98% Gross. Now my maths are not great but by my calculations the monthly interest each account actually receives is £5.05, which is actually 1.2%. Can anyone shed light on this difference for me please.

Many thanks.

The first £4,000 earns 1%. You only get 2% on the £1,000 above that.

colsten

You are right, it works out as a return of no more than 1.2% on a £5,000 lump sum (I make it slightly lower, actually) - which is the reason why lots of people have decided to take their money elsewhere when BOS changed what they pay back in October last year.

bjbyorkshire

Thanks for the prompt answers. I can now see what you are saying is in fact what it says but I read a different slant on it. Hm, me thinks a move is in order.

I'm thinking Marcus for readily available money but this is now only 1.3%. I have to use my 4 credit cards every month to get the Bos and Halifax £5.05. This is a right palaver making sure I use each of the the cards every month to use the direct debits to be sure of the interest. It would be much simpler to use Marcus and just move money back to Halifax as I need it.

Anyone use Marcus? Any negative points I need to consider?

Thanks again for the clarification.

YorkshireBoy

Marcus is currently 1.35% (it all counts )
Had mine since October 2018, and locked in a bonus extension last August to maintain 1.5% for another year.
No complaints with the account whatsoever.

Will weekly PO Savings DDs suffice for Halifax? I use another building society for 2 x monthly DDs to the same account (different dates) and that suffices.

Ballard

I had no problems with my Marcus account. Payments in and out were fairly quick and interest is paid monthly. Unless they’ve released an app recently it’s accessed via a browser which isn’t ideal but it’s fine.

bjbyorkshire

I think that if I consolidate my BOS and Halifax accounts and then only need to use 1 or 2 credit cards each month this will make my life much simpler. Its such a headache remembering pin numbers for so many credit cards etc. I'm needing a de clutter.

I will give Marcus a try.

Many thanks for all the help.

Ballard

In some ways it’s not a bad thing for me that the interest paying current accounts now have paltry interest rates as I no longer need so many direct debits. Up until last year I had a few balance transfer credit cards using direct debits but three of them ended last year so I paid them off.

I don’t maintain any significant balances in current accounts any more. My cash is currently split between BLME & Al Rayan. My interest is significantly lower (2.2% fixed & 1.6) but the taxman took his share the last few years anyway.

adindas

bjbyorkshire wrote: »

I think that if I consolidate my BOS and Halifax accounts and then only need to use 1 or 2 credit cards each month this will make my life much simpler.

Its such a headache remembering pin numbers for so many credit cards etc. I'm needing a de clutter.
.

If you have many credit cards, I wonder why do not use just one PIN number for all of them?
You only need to carry 1-2 Creditcard + 1 debit card in your pocket. The rest will stay in your home or office. You could alternate them if you need them. In the past I also use Curvecard to consolidate them but since recently it stays at home most of the time. That is the way where I could have many credit cards, without the need to memorize so many PIN numbers. But I open for a better way of doing thing, to learn a new good / bad practice.

soulsaver

bjbyorkshire wrote: »

I think that if I consolidate my BOS and Halifax accounts and then only need to use 1 or 2 credit cards each month this will make my life much simpler. Its such a headache remembering pin numbers for so many credit cards etc. I'm needing a de clutter.

I will give Marcus a try.

Many thanks for all the help.

You can change (so harmonise) PINs at most bank atms using pin services.

I say 'most' because Santander, for example, say you can at a Santander atm. It may also work elsewhere but I've not tried it.

bjbyorkshire

Marcus now opened and up and running. An easy process indeed.

thanks for all your input.