Regular Savings Accounts: The Best Currently Available List!

happybagger

Not the simplest of RS accounts. Opening deposit must be £1k, which is the minimum balance. Must deposit between 250 and 1000 per month for at least 10 months out of 12, withdrawal only by FP to nominated account, and only 5 a year but the max withdrawal is £10k. So if you do end up with more than 50k in it you'd only be able to withdraw 50k, and that in 5 batches of 10k, before incurring a penalty charge.

grumbler

friolento said:

grumbler said:

refluxer said:

Pkman said:

5.5% is the borderline whether it is 'worth it'. 

Yes, that's true. A (worst-case scenario) gain of £33 for the first year from anyone drip-feeding £1000/month from something like the Metro Instant Access @ 5.22% according to the MSE calculator

I CBA to check MSE calculator, but my own simple calculation is 12000*6.5/12*(5.5%-5.22%)=£18.20

I think it is more like £40-odd because you don't get 5.22% unless you keep the money in the feeder account for 12 months. Which clearly you wouldn't do if you are dripfeeding.

Can you elaborate?

Scenario 1: You have 12K+ in 5.22% account and gradually move money to 5.5%. By doing this you make extra about £18 in interest (compared to not moving).

Scenario 2: Every month you add £1K to 5.5% instead of adding it to 5.22% account. Again, you make extra about £18.

Scenario 3: ?

Is it just me?

Bridlington1

happybagger said:

Not the simplest of RS accounts. Opening deposit must be £1k, which is the minimum balance. Must deposit between 250 and 1000 per month for at least 10 months out of 12, withdrawal only by FP to nominated account, and only 5 a year but the max withdrawal is £10k. So if you do end up with more than 50k in it you'd only be able to withdraw 50k, and that in 5 batches of 10k, before incurring a penalty charge.

I seem to recall from when they offered the branch saver earlier this year that internal transfers had no £10k limit so if you wanted to withdraw over £50k you could open an instant access account, transfer the funds to it and then make a £10k faster payment from the instant access account each day until the funds have been withdrawn. It's still a bit of a faff but it would preserve some of your withdrawals for later use.

happybagger

Yes I remember that discussion, and I went to branch and asked about it. Up to £10k by FP or over £10k by CHAPS at £25. I took a cheque which clears in Santander by end of next day anyway.
BUT the t&c's for this RS account specifically state withdrawals only to the nominated account, and it's designated as an "online" account.

AmityNeon

friolento said:

grumbler said:

refluxer said:

Pkman said:

5.5% is the borderline whether it is 'worth it'.

Yes, that's true. A (worst-case scenario) gain of £33 for the first year from anyone drip-feeding £1000/month from something like the Metro Instant Access @ 5.22% according to the MSE calculator

I CBA to check MSE calculator, but my own simple calculation is 12000*6.5/12*(5.5%-5.22%)=£18.20

I think it is more like £40-odd because you don't get 5.22% unless you keep the money in the feeder account for 12 months. Which clearly you wouldn't do if you are dripfeeding.

Whether the £12K remains in one account or is drip-fed into a regular saver, 5.22% is earned on £12K regardless, so it's irrelevant in the comparison. Only the difference needs to be calculated, which is specifically isolated to the extra 0.28% on the average annual balance of the regular saver: £1,000 * 6.5 * 0.28% = £18.20.

The rate's on the low side for a regular saver, although the account could serve a purpose as another option for making debit card deposits straight into a high-interest account, whilst making liberal use of the five withdrawals a year to feed better regular savers. That would probably be the most legitimate use of my Halifax debit card 'spending' yet.

refluxer

These were the figures from the MSE RS calculator, which I just used for ease. Looks like it isn't calculating the easy access interest correctly ?

Drip-feeding the regular saver (5.50%)

After drip-feeding the cash for 12 months, you'd have earned...

£645 in interest
£355 from the regular saver + £290 from the normal savings account

Leaving it in normal savings (5.22%}

If you'd kept the cash in normal savings without drip-feeding it, you'd have earned...
£612 in interest

Kim_13

Would open if the minimum monthly deposit was lower, as I’d like a competitive Hanley BS account that isn’t a closed issue, but while I can save £300 per month at 7.5%+ fixed, this account doesn’t make any sense. I maintain SRBS despite it not being as competitive as it once was as I am a fan of open ended accounts.

grumbler

refluxer said:

These were the figures from the MSE RS calculator, which I just used for ease. Looks like it isn't calculating the easy access interest correctly ?

Drip-feeding the regular saver (5.50%)

After drip-feeding the cash for 12 months, you'd have earned...

£645 in interest
£355 from the regular saver + £290 from the normal savings account

6500*5.5%=357.50

5500*5.22%=287.10

small discrepancies can possibly be explained by varying number of days in months

Leaving it in normal savings (5.22%}

If you'd kept the cash in normal savings without drip-feeding it, you'd have earned...
£612 in interest

12000*5.22%=626.40

MSE 'geeks' never excelled in mathematics. Have they fixed their Premium Bonds calculator at last?

357.50+ 287.10-626.40=...

ForumUser7

Kim_13 said:

Would open if the minimum monthly deposit was lower, as I’d like a competitive Hanley BS account that isn’t a closed issue, but while I can save £300 per month at 7.5%+ fixed, this account doesn’t make any sense. I maintain SRBS despite it not being as competitive as it once was as I am a fan of open ended accounts.

SRBS seems worth maintaining too, as the monthly min pay in is 10% of Hanley's. Shame Hanley didn't opt for a lower monthly pay in and minimum balance.

Malchester

Just looked at Hanley account. It seems that it doesn't accept direct transfer from nominated account, only by debit card. Is that correct? Thanks