Regular Savings Accounts: The Best Currently Available List!

veryintrigued

Ecology Regular Savings account % drop

---

• Rate until 2 March 2021 (% gross p.a.*/ AER**): 1.10
• Rate from 2 March 2021 (% gross p.a.*/ AER**): 0.80
• Change (%): -0.30

veryintrigued

j.p said:

veryintrigued said:

Ecology Regular Savings account % drop

---

• Rate until 2 March 2021 (% gross p.a.*/ AER**): 1.10
• Rate from 2 March 2021 (% gross p.a.*/ AER**): 0.80
• Change (%): -0.30

Strictly speaking it can't be "until" and "from" the 2nd of March simultaneously. The 2nd of March is either in or out.

Christ alive.

lightbulb2760

veryintrigued said:

j.p said:

veryintrigued said:

Ecology Regular Savings account % drop

---

• Rate until 2 March 2021 (% gross p.a.*/ AER**): 1.10
• Rate from 2 March 2021 (% gross p.a.*/ AER**): 0.80
• Change (%): -0.30

Strictly speaking it can't be "until" and "from" the 2nd of March simultaneously. The 2nd of March is either in or out.

Christ alive.

He is indeed!
I would imagine that the first date should read "until 1 March" rather than 2nd March, as j.p points out.

Fingerbobs

lightbulb2760 said:

veryintrigued said:

j.p said:

veryintrigued said:

Ecology Regular Savings account % drop

---

• Rate until 2 March 2021 (% gross p.a.*/ AER**): 1.10
• Rate from 2 March 2021 (% gross p.a.*/ AER**): 0.80
• Change (%): -0.30

Strictly speaking it can't be "until" and "from" the 2nd of March simultaneously. The 2nd of March is either in or out.

Christ alive.

He is indeed!
I would imagine that the first date should read "until 1 March" rather than 2nd March, as j.p points out.

Not wanting to get dragged into this argument, but I fundamentally disagree.

"Until 2 March" would include the 1st of March.

"Until <condition>" refers to the state prior to <condition> becoming true.

happybagger

Always used to have this problem with customers in my newsagents
"Stop the papers until Monday" some would want a paper on Monday, others from Tuesday. Was very difficult to get staff trained to use "restart on" for clarity

And it is no wonder SS and others hate this thread for all the drivel. Which I am now guilty of too. Sorry. Goes away again ->

cricidmuslibale

veryintrigued said:

Ecology Regular Savings account % drop

---

• Rate until 2 March 2021 (% gross p.a.*/ AER**): 1.10
• Rate from 2 March 2021 (% gross p.a.*/ AER**): 0.80
• Change (%): -0.30

This is a classic example of why one needs to beware of Regular Savers paying a variable interest rate just above 1%! I almost applied for this account a few days ago before realising that it was very likely that the 1.1% interest rate would be reduced significantly at some point during the account's lifespan. Obviously I had no idea that it would be reduced as soon as 2 March though! I don't know about anyone else but for me any Regular Saver that pays less than 1% interest is not worthwhile because the discipline of making regular monthly payments over a 12 month period is not acknowledged i.e. rewarded sufficiently with at least a reasonable interest payment after 12 months. After all even the typically not very generous big banks such as HSBC, Lloyds, Halifax etc. pay a fixed interest rate of 1% (at the moment at least) on their standard Regular Savers!

veryintrigued

cricidmuslibale said:

veryintrigued said:

Ecology Regular Savings account % drop

---

• Rate until 2 March 2021 (% gross p.a.*/ AER**): 1.10
• Rate from 2 March 2021 (% gross p.a.*/ AER**): 0.80
• Change (%): -0.30

This is a classic example of why one needs to beware of Regular Savers paying a variable interest rate just above 1%! I almost applied for this account a few days ago before realising that it was very likely that the 1.1% interest rate would be reduced significantly at some point during the account's lifespan. Obviously I had no idea that it would be reduced as soon as 2 March though! I don't know about anyone else but for me any Regular Saver that pays less than 1% interest is not worthwhile because the discipline of making regular monthly payments over a 12 month period is not acknowledged i.e. rewarded sufficiently with at least a reasonable interest payment after 12 months. After all even the typically not very generous big banks such as HSBC, Lloyds, Halifax etc. pay a fixed interest rate of 1% (at the moment at least) on their standard Regular Savers!

And in reality:
The product is open ended so it was always certain the rate would have changed before it's 'life span' ended.

The rate was even better than the 1.1 even a few months ago if you'd have opened one then!

This account allows for two withdrawals per year. That means some of us are fortunate to be able to withdraw some and feed it into +1% accounts (other RS or closed instant access).

It's also an account with such flexibility that will allow me to tweak the payments down to a minimum in the hope that they improve at some point (or if 0.8 becomes the best rate around) I'll increase my monthly payment.

Oh and it also allows a couple of non payment months too.

Most of us on here are fortunate to have this account in addition to the ones you quote and are constantly teeming and ladelling bits and bobs across from account to account.

Having those accounts in the first place is the key IMO.

cricidmuslibale

veryintrigued said:

cricidmuslibale said:

veryintrigued said:

Ecology Regular Savings account % drop

---

• Rate until 2 March 2021 (% gross p.a.*/ AER**): 1.10
• Rate from 2 March 2021 (% gross p.a.*/ AER**): 0.80
• Change (%): -0.30

This is a classic example of why one needs to beware of Regular Savers paying a variable interest rate just above 1%! I almost applied for this account a few days ago before realising that it was very likely that the 1.1% interest rate would be reduced significantly at some point during the account's lifespan. Obviously I had no idea that it would be reduced as soon as 2 March though! I don't know about anyone else but for me any Regular Saver that pays less than 1% interest is not worthwhile because the discipline of making regular monthly payments over a 12 month period is not acknowledged i.e. rewarded sufficiently with at least a reasonable interest payment after 12 months. After all even the typically not very generous big banks such as HSBC, Lloyds, Halifax etc. pay a fixed interest rate of 1% (at the moment at least) on their standard Regular Savers!

And in reality:
The product is open ended so it was always certain the rate would have changed before it's 'life span' ended.

The rate was even better than the 1.1 even a few months ago if you'd have opened one then!

This account allows for two withdrawals per year. That means some of us are fortunate to be able to withdraw some and feed it into +1% accounts (other RS or closed instant access).

It's also an account with such flexibility that will allow me to tweak the payments down to a minimum in the hope that they improve at some point (or if 0.8 becomes the best rate around) I'll increase my monthly payment.

Oh and it also allows a couple of non payment months too.

Most of us on here are fortunate to have this account in addition to the ones you quote and are constantly teeming and ladelling bits and bobs across from account to account.

Having those accounts in the first place is the key IMO.

I accept the vast majority of what you've posted above although I don't have anywhere near enough available income or savings at the moment to have more than a maximum of 6 Regular Savers if I'm going to fund them fully throughout their 12 month lifespan! I'm sure that there are others on this forum who like me are freelancers, have lost a lot of income due to COVID this year and haven't been eligible for any of the furlough money! When you can only fund a limited number of Regular Savers at any one time interest rates of less than 1% are simply not high enough to justify the regular savings discipline involved in these accounts!

Rich2808

cricidmuslibale said:

veryintrigued said:

Ecology Regular Savings account % drop

---

• Rate until 2 March 2021 (% gross p.a.*/ AER**): 1.10
• Rate from 2 March 2021 (% gross p.a.*/ AER**): 0.80
• Change (%): -0.30

This is a classic example of why one needs to beware of Regular Savers paying a variable interest rate just above 1%! I almost applied for this account a few days ago before realising that it was very likely that the 1.1% interest rate would be reduced significantly at some point during the account's lifespan. Obviously I had no idea that it would be reduced as soon as 2 March though! I don't know about anyone else but for me any Regular Saver that pays less than 1% interest is not worthwhile because the discipline of making regular monthly payments over a 12 month period is not acknowledged i.e. rewarded sufficiently with at least a reasonable interest payment after 12 months. After all even the typically not very generous big banks such as HSBC, Lloyds, Halifax etc. pay a fixed interest rate of 1% (at the moment at least) on their standard Regular Savers!

The ecology regular saver is operated by direct debit - so a useful source if you need extra DDs for current account interest or cashback incentives. That may make it useful for some despite the lower rate. And you are also helping them to help save the planet - although they do send out lots of paperwork including paying in slips if I recollect from when I opened it!

cricidmuslibale

Rich2808 said:

cricidmuslibale said:

veryintrigued said:

Ecology Regular Savings account % drop

---

• Rate until 2 March 2021 (% gross p.a.*/ AER**): 1.10
• Rate from 2 March 2021 (% gross p.a.*/ AER**): 0.80
• Change (%): -0.30

This is a classic example of why one needs to beware of Regular Savers paying a variable interest rate just above 1%! I almost applied for this account a few days ago before realising that it was very likely that the 1.1% interest rate would be reduced significantly at some point during the account's lifespan. Obviously I had no idea that it would be reduced as soon as 2 March though! I don't know about anyone else but for me any Regular Saver that pays less than 1% interest is not worthwhile because the discipline of making regular monthly payments over a 12 month period is not acknowledged i.e. rewarded sufficiently with at least a reasonable interest payment after 12 months. After all even the typically not very generous big banks such as HSBC, Lloyds, Halifax etc. pay a fixed interest rate of 1% (at the moment at least) on their standard Regular Savers!

The ecology regular saver is operated by direct debit - so a useful source if you need extra DDs for current account interest or cashback incentives. That may make it useful for some despite the lower rate. And you are also helping them to help save the planet - although they do send out lots of paperwork including paying in slips if I recollect from when I opened it!

Yes I completely accept that Ecology are a 'green' business and therefore worthy of support if one can afford to do so. In normal earning times for me I would look to save with them if at all possible and I do like the direct debit feature of their Regular Saver for exactly the reasons you state above. In fact I've recently opened a 'green' savings account although not a regular savings one, Saffron Building Society's Enviro Saver Issue 1, just a few days before they withdrew it from sale. At the moment though, with much reduced earnings and only limited available savings, the few Regular Savers I'm able to contribute regularly to need to pay interest of 1% minimum for it to be worthwhile for me.