Regular Savings Accounts: The Best Currently Available List!

CooperSF

A quick question regarding the Halifax Regular Saver (4.5%)

If I were to close the account within 12 months of opening, would I still receive any interest earned?

Bridlington1

CooperSF said:

A quick question regarding the Halifax Regular Saver (4.5%)

If I were to close the account within 12 months of opening, would I still receive any interest earned?

You would. I am living proof of this.

changearound1

kaMelo said:

@Special_Saver,
I noticed in the Homebuyer List that The Cumberland BS First Home Saver, now paying 2.5%, has dropped off but Coventry BS First Home Saver paying 2.25% is still on it. An oversight or am I missing something?

It probably comes down to this:

'- Interest rates that I use for inclusion on this thread updated to 2.75% (2.25% if the account terms are particularly good, e.g. you can pay in £500 per month or more, or if the account matures after at least 2 years)'

ForumUser7

changearound1 said:

kaMelo said:

@Special_Saver,
I noticed in the Homebuyer List that The Cumberland BS First Home Saver, now paying 2.5%, has dropped off but Coventry BS First Home Saver paying 2.25% is still on it. An oversight or am I missing something?

It probably comes down to this:

'- Interest rates that I use for inclusion on this thread updated to 2.75% (2.25% if the account terms are particularly good, e.g. you can pay in £500 per month or more, or if the account matures after at least 2 years)'

I agree, with the Coventry BS FHS (at least when I opened it) you can pay in £1000 per month, it matures after 3 years, and you get a £500 bonus if you take out a mortgage with them

surreysaver

Millyonare said:

IanManc said:

dekkard said:

"You can save £25 - £250 every month by one standing order. This needs to reach your account before the 25th of the month

You could have quoted the whole paragraph, which qualifies the first sentence somewhat:

"You can save £25 - £250 every month by one standing order. This needs to reach your account before the 25th of the month. You can also make a bank transfer to top up your savings as long as the total amount of your deposits does not exceed the monthly limit of £250. The amount that you save each month can vary but needs to stay between the £25 to £250 monthly limit. 

The Halifax site also says, in a different place: "Ideal for savers who want to save £25-£250 every month by one standing order. This needs to reach your account by the 25th of the month."

And it says: "You can change the amount you save at any time. You can top up your savings by bank transfer as long as you don’t exceed the £250 monthly limit."

I interpret the Halifax 4.50% regular saver as:

* Standing order = 1st to 25th of month
* Bank transfer = 1st to 31st of month

Given the (sometimes) lag for a standing order (SO), I would be inclined to setup the payment before the 20th of each month, to be on the safe side, in case there are long weekends, processing delay, etc.

Dyor, etc.

The reason they say the 25th is to account for the lag/weekends etc.

happybagger

and to cover February as the short month!

kaMelo

ForumUser7 said:

changearound1 said:

kaMelo said:

@Special_Saver,
I noticed in the Homebuyer List that The Cumberland BS First Home Saver, now paying 2.5%, has dropped off but Coventry BS First Home Saver paying 2.25% is still on it. An oversight or am I missing something?

It probably comes down to this:

'- Interest rates that I use for inclusion on this thread updated to 2.75% (2.25% if the account terms are particularly good, e.g. you can pay in £500 per month or more, or if the account matures after at least 2 years)'

I agree, with the Coventry BS FHS (at least when I opened it) you can pay in £1000 per month, it matures after 3 years, and you get a £500 bonus if you take out a mortgage with them

The Cumberland First Home Saver
Postitives;
2.5%
£100 - £1500 deposit per month
Not time limited but maximum balance of £25,000
£250 bonus if you take a mortgage with them.

 The negatives:
Requires minimum deposit of £100 per month (unless your balance is maxed out at £25000)
90 days notice for withdrawal without loss of interest.

 Of course Special_Saver is free to set the parameters for inclusion in the list but taking everything into account I'd consider The Cumberland First Home Saver at least equal to the Coventry First Home Saver.

gt94sss2

kaMelo said:

ForumUser7 said:

changearound1 said:

kaMelo said:

@Special_Saver,
I noticed in the Homebuyer List that The Cumberland BS First Home Saver, now paying 2.5%, has dropped off but Coventry BS First Home Saver paying 2.25% is still on it. An oversight or am I missing something?

It probably comes down to this:

'- Interest rates that I use for inclusion on this thread updated to 2.75% (2.25% if the account terms are particularly good, e.g. you can pay in £500 per month or more, or if the account matures after at least 2 years)'

I agree, with the Coventry BS FHS (at least when I opened it) you can pay in £1000 per month, it matures after 3 years, and you get a £500 bonus if you take out a mortgage with them

The Cumberland First Home Saver
Postitives;
2.5%
£100 - £1500 deposit per month
Not time limited but maximum balance of £25,000
£250 bonus if you take a mortgage with them.

 The negatives:
Requires minimum deposit of £100 per month (unless your balance is maxed out at £25000)
90 days notice for withdrawal without loss of interest.

 Of course Special_Saver is free to set the parameters for inclusion in the list but taking everything into account I'd consider The Cumberland First Home Saver at least equal to the Coventry First Home Saver.

As your say, Special Saver is free to do what he wants.

Personally, I dislike the inclusion of accounts in the tables which have geographic restrictions.

I would also prefer it if age related accounts (<18 etc) were in their own category 

So not to go totally off topic, the Chase Savings account at 2.1% makes a good feeder account.

veryintrigued

Special_Saver2 said:

Hi Everybody,

I have changed the following items on page 1 of this thread for this weekend's update.

- Removed several accounts from the Feeder Account section as the interest rate they are paying is no longer very good in comparison to general savings accounts

- Halifax Regular Saver interest rate updated to 4.5% for new applicants

- Halifax Kids' Monthly Saver interest rate updated to 5% for new applicants

- Saffron BS Small Saver interest rate updated to 3.5%

- Saffron BS 12 Month Fixed Rate Members Regular Saver interest rate updated to 3%

- Interest rates that I use for inclusion on this thread updated to 2.75% (2.25% if the account terms are particularly good, e.g. you can pay in £500 per month or more, or if the account matures after at least 2 years)

- Removed several accounts whose interest rates no longer merit inclusion in this thread (I re-checked all of their interest rates before removing them)

I will do the next update next weekend.

SS2

---

For those new to this thread, the first few posts are constantly updated and are on the first page
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6106986/regular-savings-accounts-the-best-currently-available-list/p1

Thank you from me,.SS2, for your continued efforts in wading through the duplicate questions and myriad of off-piste posts in keeping this '

Regular Savings Accounts: The Best Currently Available List!' 

updated.

Bridlington1

kaMelo said:

ForumUser7 said:

changearound1 said:

kaMelo said:

@Special_Saver,
I noticed in the Homebuyer List that The Cumberland BS First Home Saver, now paying 2.5%, has dropped off but Coventry BS First Home Saver paying 2.25% is still on it. An oversight or am I missing something?

It probably comes down to this:

'- Interest rates that I use for inclusion on this thread updated to 2.75% (2.25% if the account terms are particularly good, e.g. you can pay in £500 per month or more, or if the account matures after at least 2 years)'

I agree, with the Coventry BS FHS (at least when I opened it) you can pay in £1000 per month, it matures after 3 years, and you get a £500 bonus if you take out a mortgage with them

The Cumberland First Home Saver
Postitives;
2.5%
£100 - £1500 deposit per month
Not time limited but maximum balance of £25,000
£250 bonus if you take a mortgage with them.

 The negatives:
Requires minimum deposit of £100 per month (unless your balance is maxed out at £25000)
90 days notice for withdrawal without loss of interest.

 Of course Special_Saver is free to set the parameters for inclusion in the list but taking everything into account I'd consider The Cumberland First Home Saver at least equal to the Coventry First Home Saver.

Another negative:

How do I open and manage my account?

This account is available to open for first time buyers, over the age of 16, who are Cumberland current account customers, living in our operating area.

Most of the population of Britain live outside of their operating area, which is a bit of a snag to many of those who wish to open the account. So I personally would have omitted this from a list of top regular savers on this basis, particularly given that I'm already getting 2.81% easy access with Al Rayan at the moment..