Regular Savings Accounts: The Best Currently Available List!

cricidmuslibale

eskbanker said:

cricidmuslibale said:
I don't anticipate the market complying but I still think my fervent belief that 1% fixed should be the minimum interest rate offered by regular savers is entirely reasonable to say the very least, especially when not long ago 2.75% fixed was available on regular savers from very conservative big banks like HSBC! I don't think many people with good financial sense will waste their time and money opening and saving funds in regular savers paying less than 1% tbh.

I don't claim the right to speak for others, but for me it depends entirely on what options are available at the time - there's no point in reminiscing about what rates were available in the past as that's completely irrelevant to decisions to be made now. 

Recent past interest rates are not necessarily completely irrelevant. One could fairly argue that savers should think twice about saving in a big bank's regular saver offering only 0.75% now if only around 6 months ago that same big bank was willing to offer an interest rate of 2.5% for the same or a very similar regular saver. Clearly the big bank now doesn't seem to want to acquire savers' money to anywhere near the extent it used to in the recent past so there is a strong argument for savers to say 'Stuff that big bank and its now very miserly regular saver. I'll deposit my money elsewhere with a savings provider that values my savings considerably more.' 

Of course it's your prerogative to set an arbitrary figure below which you're not interested (no pun intended), just as it is for this thread's 'owner' to set their own criteria, but there's no reason to believe that others will adopt the same view....

I see a perfectly valid reason to believe that others will adopt a similar view, not everybody clearly, but a significant number of people nonetheless; namely that regular savings interest rates have dropped very significantly across the board in the last 6 months or so, even more so in relative terms than general savings rates, when there has been no change in Bank of England base rate during this time! To make the most effective use of a regular savings account requires a commitment on behalf of the saver to fund it on a regular basis in order to build up relatively small monthly amounts (usually no more than £250 to £500) to a much larger final amount saved. To get less than 1% interest now for doing all this when c. 6 months ago the very same bank was offering c. 2.5% interest for doing the same thing clearly appears in relative terms to be an unreasonably low rate of return and this is a very good reason for drawing the line and refusing to save in below 1% interest rate regular savers! If enough savers do something similar to this, banks and building societies will have to start lifting regular savings interest rates again to 1% or above when they need to attract significant amounts of new money from savers. 

Please see above.

eskbanker

cricidmuslibale said:
Recent past interest rates are not necessarily completely irrelevant. One could fairly argue that savers should think twice about saving in a big bank's regular saver offering only 0.75% now if only around 6 months ago that same big bank was willing to offer an interest rate of 2.5% for the same or a very similar regular saver. Clearly the big bank now doesn't seem to want to acquire savers' money to anywhere near the extent it used to in the recent past so there is a strong argument for savers to say 'Stuff that big bank and its now very miserly regular saver. I'll deposit my money elsewhere with a savings provider that values my savings considerably more.' 

In which case you seem to be agreeing with me that someone needing to find a home for savings now should pick the best option currently available, regardless of what rates were previously offered.  If, on the other hand, you're suggesting that a saver should prioritise an account with an institution offering, say, 0.6%, down from 0.8%, over, say, a 0.75% one that's been reduced more heavily from 2.5%, then that's your prerogative if you feel you're claiming some sort of moral victory over 'the big bank' but again I'd question your right and ability to speak for others on that.

cricidmuslibale said:
To get less than 1% interest now for doing all this when c. 6 months ago the very same bank was offering c. 2.5% interest for doing the same thing clearly appears in relative terms to be an unreasonably low rate of return and this is a very good reason for drawing the line and refusing to save in below 1% interest rate regular savers! If enough savers do something similar to this, banks and building societies will have to start lifting regular savings interest rates again to 1% or above when they need to attract significant amounts of new money from savers. 

I don't disagree with the principle that those who are minded to do so can vote with their feet and avoid regular savers that they feel aren't generous enough, although it's a bit of a pyrrhic victory if such savers lose money by doing so, but still don't see any evidence that others share your view that a completely arbitrary figure of 1% is some sort of accepted threshold for such action.


Anyway, this is all getting some way off topic for a thread intended to highlight offerings currently available in the market, so I'd suggest leaving it there....

what7

Does anyone know if these bank/bs are accepting postal application due to COVID ?????

Kent Reliance Regular Savings (Issue 6)

Interest rate: 1% gross p.a. variable from 11th December 2020

Monthly payment: £25-£500

Miss any payments: No, the terms and conditions say they may close the account if you stop making regular payments

Penalty-free withdrawals: Yes, as many as you want.

Age of applicant: No minimum age (adults can open the account on behalf of a child)

How to open account: Branch only

Special conditions: Maximum balance £6,000.


West Bromwich BS Adult's Fixed Rate Regular Saver (Issue 4)

Interest rate: 2% gross p.a. fixed

Monthly payment: £10-£100

Miss any payments: Yes, miss as many as you like, no penalties

Penalty-free withdrawals: No, and no withdrawals prior to maturity

Age of applicant: 16 years or older

How to open account: Branch only

colsten

Why not call them and ask? You’d need to do that anyway, to obtain an application form.

wiseonesomeofthetime

@what7 - My local West Bromwich Building Society made it clear last month, when I opened mine, that they are only available to open in Branch, as all branches are open, albeit with reduced hours (mine closes at 14:00 weekdays).

First payment by cash or cheque, no electronic transfer allowed initially, though subsequent monthly payments can be made by those means in addition to cash/cheque.

cricidmuslibale

eskbanker said:

cricidmuslibale said:
Recent past interest rates are not necessarily completely irrelevant. One could fairly argue that savers should think twice about saving in a big bank's regular saver offering only 0.75% now if only around 6 months ago that same big bank was willing to offer an interest rate of 2.5% for the same or a very similar regular saver. Clearly the big bank now doesn't seem to want to acquire savers' money to anywhere near the extent it used to in the recent past so there is a strong argument for savers to say 'Stuff that big bank and its now very miserly regular saver. I'll deposit my money elsewhere with a savings provider that values my savings considerably more.' 

In which case you seem to be agreeing with me that someone needing to find a home for savings now should pick the best option currently available, regardless of what rates were previously offered.  If, on the other hand, you're suggesting that a saver should prioritise an account with an institution offering, say, 0.6%, down from 0.8%, over, say, a 0.75% one that's been reduced more heavily from 2.5%, then that's your prerogative if you feel you're claiming some sort of moral victory over 'the big bank' but again I'd question your right and ability to speak for others on that.

I'm suggesting that, regardless of any previous interest rates, at the present time picking the best option currently available often means choosing (a) regular saver(s) from banks other than those often known as 'the big banks' and/or from building societies. If whilst doing so you're at least starting a process of removing all your money from (a) recently matured regular saver(s) with (a) now far less generous big bank(s) in order to fund (a) slightly better interest rate regular saver(s) with newer and/or smaller banks and building societies then you are effectively saying 'Stuff that big bank etc.' as I've written above.

To be absolutely clear, no I would not suggest most savers should prioritise an account with an institution offering a lower interest rate than another institution, even if this latter institution has reduced its interest rate much more than the former one has. A few savers may still wish to opt for the former institution despite the current lower interest rate because that former institution may be considerably more ethical and/or environmentally conscious than than the latter one is. Most savers will require the highest interest rate(s) available at the time but this/these can often (although sadly not always) be sourced from building societies and banks other than the very biggest ones and I would strongly encourage any saver that asked me for advice on their savings in general to consider building societies and newer and/or smaller banks (as long as they have full FSCS protection of course) before looking at 'the big guys and gals'!

cricidmuslibale said:
To get less than 1% interest now for doing all this when c. 6 months ago the very same bank was offering c. 2.5% interest for doing the same thing clearly appears in relative terms to be an unreasonably low rate of return and this is a very good reason for drawing the line and refusing to save in below 1% interest rate regular savers! If enough savers do something similar to this, banks and building societies will have to start lifting regular savings interest rates again to 1% or above when they need to attract significant amounts of new money from savers. 

I don't disagree with the principle that those who are minded to do so can vote with their feet and avoid regular savers that they feel aren't generous enough, although it's a bit of a pyrrhic victory if such savers lose money by doing so, but still don't see any evidence that others share your view that a completely arbitrary figure of 1% is some sort of accepted threshold for such action.  At the moment at least there thankfully appear to be enough savings options elsewhere (not just in savings accounts) that such savers will not need to lose money by doing so. 1% is my threshold, others may well have a different percentage in mind; the point I'm really making is that if/when regular savers pay such a low interest rate that it's simply not worth you the individual saver taking the time and effort to save in them anymore, it can be a very good thing in these circumstances to simply draw the line and say 'No, thank you!' to them.


Anyway, this is all getting some way off topic for a thread intended to highlight offerings currently available in the market, so I'd suggest leaving it there....Very happy to leave it there now.

Very last comments from me on this discussion above. Mainly for clarification and avoidance of doubt.

Nick_C

what7 said:

Considering I am getting 0.778% with BOS Lloyds current account. I'm not gonna bother with 0.75% RS

But of course you will only get 0.778% on your Club Lloyds account if you keep exactly £5000 in it.
The Lloyds Monthly Saver pays you 0.75% regardless of the balance, and gives easy access to your money.

finance4all

what7 said:

Does anyone know if these bank/bs are accepting postal application due to COVID ?????

Kent Reliance Regular Savings (Issue 6)

Interest rate: 1% gross p.a. variable from 11th December 2020

Monthly payment: £25-£500

Miss any payments: No, the terms and conditions say they may close the account if you stop making regular payments

Penalty-free withdrawals: Yes, as many as you want.

Age of applicant: No minimum age (adults can open the account on behalf of a child)

How to open account: Branch only

Special conditions: Maximum balance £6,000.

They used to do it around a month ago. I contacted them because it wasn't clear if you will have to visit a branch at some point, but I didn't get a clear answer. 

colsten

Nick_C said:

what7 said:

Considering I am getting 0.778% with BOS Lloyds current account. I'm not gonna bother with 0.75% RS

But of course you will only get 0.778% on your Club Lloyds account if you keep exactly £5000 in it.
The Lloyds Monthly Saver pays you 0.75% regardless of the balance, and gives easy access to your money.

Except it would take you 20 months to get £5K into the Monthly Saver - by which time it would long have matured.

finance4all

colsten said:

Nick_C said:

what7 said:

Considering I am getting 0.778% with BOS Lloyds current account. I'm not gonna bother with 0.75% RS

But of course you will only get 0.778% on your Club Lloyds account if you keep exactly £5000 in it.
The Lloyds Monthly Saver pays you 0.75% regardless of the balance, and gives easy access to your money.

Except it would take you 20 months to get £5K into the Monthly Saver - by which time it would long have matured.

The best option is to have both. Everyone can open whatever they want.