Regular Savings Accounts: The Best Currently Available List!

Reg_Smeeton

Thanks for the responses, will take a chance for the price of a stamp and see how it goes. Will report back!

Wheres_My_Cashback

londoner62 said:

Wheres_My_Cashback said:

londoner62 said:

Wheres_My_Cashback said:

Reg_Smeeton said:

Re: Monmouth Xmas RS

Sorry if I’m being a bit thick, can you make an initial deposit into this account without sending a cheque?

You don't need to make any initial deposit during application. You can wait til you've received account details and then do Faster Payment anytime within 30 days of receiving your passbook.
The official opening date of the a/c is when your fist deposit is received, not when your application is processed.

Sorry to disagree but I interpret the account as being active when opened, not when the deposit is made

What is the interest rate?

5.50% AER/Gross – Annual Interest. Interest is fixed for 1 year. The fixed term will start on the date the account is opened. Interest is calculated on a daily basis on the balance in the account and paid on maturity.

No need to apologise, you're free to disagree but you'd be wrong ! Interpretation is dangerous, fact is better ;-)

By all means call them in the morning to check. 

Wheres_My_Cashback said: The official opening date of the a/c is when your fist deposit is received, not when your application is processed

 https://www.monbs.com/products/christmas-saver-bond-issue-5/  reads

• Interest is fixed for 1 year. The fixed term will start on the date the account is opened.
• 
  

But ok. We shall have to disagree.

The a/c matures 12 months after 1st deposit, not the date the application is processed.

The reason for that is to enable a full 12 months of saving, not a partial 12 months which would only be available to those a/c opened by post due their procedures, hence the official opening date is the 1st deposit date.

Enough said on the matter. Please do call them to confirm this.

Wheres_My_Cashback

IanManc said:

Wheres_My_Cashback said:

londoner62 said:

Wheres_My_Cashback said:

londoner62 said:

Wheres_My_Cashback said:

Reg_Smeeton said:

Re: Monmouth Xmas RS

Sorry if I’m being a bit thick, can you make an initial deposit into this account without sending a cheque?

You don't need to make any initial deposit during application. You can wait til you've received account details and then do Faster Payment anytime within 30 days of receiving your passbook.
The official opening date of the a/c is when your fist deposit is received, not when your application is processed.

Sorry to disagree but I interpret the account as being active when opened, not when the deposit is made

What is the interest rate?

5.50% AER/Gross – Annual Interest. Interest is fixed for 1 year. The fixed term will start on the date the account is opened. Interest is calculated on a daily basis on the balance in the account and paid on maturity.

No need to apologise, you're free to disagree but you'd be wrong ! Interpretation is dangerous, fact is better ;-)

By all means call them in the morning to check. 

Wheres_My_Cashback said: The official opening date of the a/c is when your fist deposit is received, not when your application is processed

 https://www.monbs.com/products/christmas-saver-bond-issue-5/  reads

• Interest is fixed for 1 year. The fixed term will start on the date the account is opened.
• 
  

But ok. We shall have to disagree.

The a/c matures 12 months after 1st deposit, not the date the application is processed.

The reason for that is to enable a full 12 months of saving, not a partial 12 months which would only be available to those a/c opened by post due their procedures, hence the official opening date is the 1st deposit date.

Enough said on the matter. Please do call them to confirm this.

The terms and conditions on the Monmouthshire website say:  "Your Christmas Saver Bond will mature on the first anniversary from the date of opening." They do not say that it matures 12 months after the first deposit.

https://www.monbs.com/products/christmas-saver-bond-issue-5/


@londoner62 has already posted the term from the website: "Interest is fixed for 1 year. The fixed term will start on the date the account is opened."

There doesn't seem to be any room for doubt or need to phone the Monmouthshire.. The terms are explicit and @londoner62 is correct.

Seldom are any terms explicit, hence there is regular discussion on pretty much most RS accounts T&Cs which are mentioned in this forum, as you well know.

Sensory

Terms can be clear and explicit, but it doesn’t mean they’re always accurate in practice. For example, we’re not supposed to be able to open a Lloyds Monthly Saver more than once every 12 months, but many of us have closed existing accounts and immediately opened new ones to benefit from the increased rates (e.g. 5.25%). Sometimes there’s a term stipulating payments must reach the account by the 25th of the month otherwise it won’t count as that month’s payment, but we know that’s not how it works in practice either.

If it works in our favour, we don’t complain; if it doesn’t, we can complain citing the terms and conditions.

Regarding the Monmouthshire BS Christmas Saver Bond, whilst it’s clear the term starts from the date of account opening, what’s not explicitly clear from those account-specific terms is when an account is considered opened. Is it the date of application processing, or the date of first deposit? If we check their general savings T&Cs:

To open an account with the Society, you will need to provide:

• a completed application form if applying by post/online or if in a Branch, a signed application form produced by the staff member.

• at least the minimum investment amount for the type of account; and

• proof of your identity and your address.

This implies an account cannot be considered opened until the first deposit (meeting the minimum investment amount) is made.

silvercar

I’m new to this regular savings game, attracted by the interest rates. This maybe a stupid question, but if there are 2 savings accounts with MBS one paying 5.5% and one paying 3.75%, is the latter one only aimed at people who are maxing out after opening the higher paying one? Why would anyone want the 3.75% interest if they can open the 5.5%?

Section62

silvercar said:

I’m new to this regular savings game, attracted by the interest rates. This maybe a stupid question, but if there are 2 savings accounts with MBS one paying 5.5% and one paying 3.75%, is the latter one only aimed at people who are maxing out after opening the higher paying one? Why would anyone want the 3.75% interest if they can open the 5.5%?

Yes, 3.75% is better than many of the alternatives on offer, so is worth considering.  The question is if the 5.5% account didn't exist, would you open the 3.75% one?

Band7

silvercar said:

I’m new to this regular savings game, attracted by the interest rates. This maybe a stupid question, but if there are 2 savings accounts with MBS one paying 5.5% and one paying 3.75%, is the latter one only aimed at people who are maxing out after opening the higher paying one? Why would anyone want the 3.75% interest if they can open the 5.5%?

The 3.75% account may be of interest to people who have enough money to have maxed the 5.5% one, and all the other regular savers which pay more than 3.75%. 

adindas

I remember Monmouthshire BS used to allow payment by DD. I still have one active but if my memory serves well they do not allow you to switch it

Is it still the case with  this two new RSAs with a new set up link account ??

silvercar

Section62 said:

silvercar said:

I’m new to this regular savings game, attracted by the interest rates. This maybe a stupid question, but if there are 2 savings accounts with MBS one paying 5.5% and one paying 3.75%, is the latter one only aimed at people who are maxing out after opening the higher paying one? Why would anyone want the 3.75% interest if they can open the 5.5%?

Yes, 3.75% is better than many of the alternatives on offer, so is worth considering.  The question is if the 5.5% account didn't exist, would you open the 3.75% one?

Band7 said:

silvercar said:

I’m new to this regular savings game, attracted by the interest rates. This maybe a stupid question, but if there are 2 savings accounts with MBS one paying 5.5% and one paying 3.75%, is the latter one only aimed at people who are maxing out after opening the higher paying one? Why would anyone want the 3.75% interest if they can open the 5.5%?

The 3.75% account may be of interest to people who have enough money to have maxed the 5.5% one, and all the other regular savers which pay more than 3.75%. 

Thanks, just wanted to check if I was missing something.

My bench mark for going down this route is currently 5%, so I wouldn't open the lower paying one. This is only my third one, I've recently opened NatWest and RBS regular savers.

t1redmonkey

silvercar said:

Section62 said:

silvercar said:

I’m new to this regular savings game, attracted by the interest rates. This maybe a stupid question, but if there are 2 savings accounts with MBS one paying 5.5% and one paying 3.75%, is the latter one only aimed at people who are maxing out after opening the higher paying one? Why would anyone want the 3.75% interest if they can open the 5.5%?

Yes, 3.75% is better than many of the alternatives on offer, so is worth considering.  The question is if the 5.5% account didn't exist, would you open the 3.75% one?

Band7 said:

silvercar said:

I’m new to this regular savings game, attracted by the interest rates. This maybe a stupid question, but if there are 2 savings accounts with MBS one paying 5.5% and one paying 3.75%, is the latter one only aimed at people who are maxing out after opening the higher paying one? Why would anyone want the 3.75% interest if they can open the 5.5%?

The 3.75% account may be of interest to people who have enough money to have maxed the 5.5% one, and all the other regular savers which pay more than 3.75%. 

Thanks, just wanted to check if I was missing something.

My bench mark for going down this route is currently 5%, so I wouldn't open the lower paying one. This is only my third one, I've recently opened NatWest and RBS regular savers.

Lloyds and Principality also have 5%+ regular savers if you want to look into those.