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Band7

Monmouthshire regular savers: is there really a £10 monthly minimum? All I can find is that the minimum opening amount is £20 for the 3.75% one, and £10 for the 5.5% one.



EDIT: I have today (12/12) spoken to MONBS. They advise there is no minimum monthly deposit requirement. Only a minimum opening amount, as above; and obviously the maximums, too. 

dcs34

Special_Saver2 said:

- Beehive (part of Nottingham BS) Home Starter Regular Saver updated interest rate to 3.5% fixed and maturity date to 14th March 2024 for new applicants

May be worth noting this is a new issue (Issue 2) and previous accounts (Issue 1) will not see an increase in interest rates, unlike other "fixed rate" accounts where providers have upped their rate for both new and existing customers.

Velvet_Monkey

ctdctd said:

First Direct RS up to 7% - and the increase is applied to existing accounts from 1st December.

I am looking at opening one of these, but have been put off slightly by the Ts&Cs, which if I'm reading them correctly say that FD can reduce the interest rate more or less whenever they like. They'd give you notice of course, but if you decide to withdraw your cash at that point you'd forego almost all the interest earned to date, and would only get the standard savings rate since opening (currently stands at 0.65%). 
I'm wondering if these terms are really legal, and would not be deemed 'unfair'? Is it only reputational damage then that would prevent FD from getting loads of investment on this product on the promise of 7%, but in the event only pay out far less?
I've had one of these regular saver products before with no issue, but on principle don't like signing up to things which expose one to such bad practice! Thoughts anyone?

PRAISETHESUN

Velvet_Monkey said:

ctdctd said:

First Direct RS up to 7% - and the increase is applied to existing accounts from 1st December.

I am looking at opening one of these, but have been put off slightly by the Ts&Cs, which if I'm reading them correctly say that FD can reduce the interest rate more or less whenever they like. They'd give you notice of course, but if you decide to withdraw your cash at that point you'd forego almost all the interest earned to date, and would only get the standard savings rate since opening (currently stands at 0.65%). 
I'm wondering if these terms are really legal, and would not be deemed 'unfair'? Is it only reputational damage then that would prevent FD from getting loads of investment on this product on the promise of 7%, but in the event only pay out far less?
I've had one of these regular saver products before with no issue, but on principle don't like signing up to things which expose one to such bad practice! Thoughts anyone?

https://www.firstdirect.com/savings-and-investments/savings/regular-saver-account/

The interest rate is fixed for the duration of the product - not sure where you're reading that the rate is variable?? I've held this on a number of previous occasions and never seen them reduce the fixed interest rate, even when BoE rates have fallen.

Band7

JamesRobinson48 said:

Yorkshire BS has today pulled its two Loyalty RS products (variable 5%) which were first launched in July 2022.

Two 5% savers at YBS? I was only aware of one. What have I missed?

ForumUser7

Band7 said:

JamesRobinson48 said:

Yorkshire BS has today pulled its two Loyalty RS products (variable 5%) which were first launched in July 2022.

Two 5% savers at YBS? I was only aware of one. What have I missed?

One was post/branch, the other was online. There was some discussion re if people could apply for both, but I don’t think anyone posted if it was possible that or not.

liamcov

Principality (9) 1 Year Regular Saver Bond (Issue 25) @ 1.05% - I know this doesn't allow withdrawals but can I close it and still get the correct interest? If possible, how do I ask them to close?

rallycurve

liamcov said:

Principality (9) 1 Year Regular Saver Bond (Issue 25) @ 1.05% - I know this doesn't allow withdrawals but can I close it and still get the correct interest? If possible, how do I ask them to close?

Yes, you can close it with no penalty. And you can do it online, just go to Account services > Close an account.
If you send the request early enough it might be completed on the same day.

Velvet_Monkey

PRAISETHESUN said:

Velvet_Monkey said:

ctdctd said:

First Direct RS up to 7% - and the increase is applied to existing accounts from 1st December.

I am looking at opening one of these, but have been put off slightly by the Ts&Cs, which if I'm reading them correctly say that FD can reduce the interest rate more or less whenever they like. They'd give you notice of course, but if you decide to withdraw your cash at that point you'd forego almost all the interest earned to date, and would only get the standard savings rate since opening (currently stands at 0.65%). 
I'm wondering if these terms are really legal, and would not be deemed 'unfair'? Is it only reputational damage then that would prevent FD from getting loads of investment on this product on the promise of 7%, but in the event only pay out far less?
I've had one of these regular saver products before with no issue, but on principle don't like signing up to things which expose one to such bad practice! Thoughts anyone?

The interest rate is fixed for the duration of the product - not sure where you're reading that the rate is variable?? I've held this on a number of previous occasions and never seen them reduce the fixed interest rate, even when BoE rates have fallen.

Yes, in the traditional fixed/variable sense, the interest rate is 'fixed' (I didn't say it was variable). However, In the Ts&Cs (section 18, page 29, sorry I can't post links, but you can read them from the product page) it says they can reduce the interest rate more-or-less whenever they want. If they do that, you can either accept the rate cut, or withdraw your money. If you withdraw your money you would only get 0.65% from product opening. Now, I trust that they wont do that, but that's all it is...trust. Unless someone can tell me a regulatory reason why they couldn't?

ForumUser7

Velvet_Monkey said:

PRAISETHESUN said:

Velvet_Monkey said:

ctdctd said:

First Direct RS up to 7% - and the increase is applied to existing accounts from 1st December.

I am looking at opening one of these, but have been put off slightly by the Ts&Cs, which if I'm reading them correctly say that FD can reduce the interest rate more or less whenever they like. They'd give you notice of course, but if you decide to withdraw your cash at that point you'd forego almost all the interest earned to date, and would only get the standard savings rate since opening (currently stands at 0.65%). 
I'm wondering if these terms are really legal, and would not be deemed 'unfair'? Is it only reputational damage then that would prevent FD from getting loads of investment on this product on the promise of 7%, but in the event only pay out far less?
I've had one of these regular saver products before with no issue, but on principle don't like signing up to things which expose one to such bad practice! Thoughts anyone?

The interest rate is fixed for the duration of the product - not sure where you're reading that the rate is variable?? I've held this on a number of previous occasions and never seen them reduce the fixed interest rate, even when BoE rates have fallen.

Yes, in the traditional fixed/variable sense, the interest rate is 'fixed' (I didn't say it was variable). However, In the Ts&Cs (section 18, page 29, sorry I can't post links, but you can read them from the product page) it says they can reduce the interest rate more-or-less whenever they want. If they do that, you can either accept the rate cut, or withdraw your money. If you withdraw your money you would only get 0.65% from product opening. Now, I trust that they wont do that, but that's all it is...trust. Unless someone can tell me a regulatory reason why they couldn't?

Here is the document I believe is being referred to: https://www.firstdirect.com/content/dam/wpb/fsdt/en/documents/pdf/fdAccTandC.pdf

I can't see anything that states they can cut fixed rates, but I have only skim read it so hopefully another forumite knows the answer.