Regular Savings Accounts: The Best Currently Available List!

RG2015

RG2015 said:

Re NatWest / RBS Digital Regular Savers.

Mine are still showing as 5.12% AER / 5.00% gross online and in app.

I guess these will be updated in due course.

Edit. This is a very good rate, but to get the best out of this account you should never withdraw any money.

They must know this and thus have a constant income stream adding to a decent existing balance.

Both RBS and NatWest now showing in the apps and online at the new rate of 6.00% gross / 6.17% AER.

AmityNeon

chris_the_bee said:

surreysaver said:

Beki88 said:

surreysaver said:

Beki88 said:

If opening the 1st direct regular saver, is it better to open at the end of the month and pay in the full monthly amount, or because interest is paid daily does the opening date not matter? Thanks. 

Makes no difference, as First Direct Regular Saver is based on account month, not calendar month, so you pay in on the same date every month (subject to weekends etc)
Interest isn't paid daily, its paid annually 

Sorry I meant calculated daily. Which I think is what it said. I've looked at that many accounts recently they are all merging in my head. Is it important that it's the same date every month? Thanks. 

If the date you pay in is important, then open it a day or two before the date you want the standing order to be set up.
The standing order is set up by First Direct, and you cannot change the day of the month the standing order goes out 

When is the SO paid if that date falls on a weekend or bank holiday?

The next working day. The SO payments are not limited by calendar months; deposits into the Regular Saver are limited by the Standing Orders.

piker57

surreysaver said:

Beki88 said:

surreysaver said:

Beki88 said:

If opening the 1st direct regular saver, is it better to open at the end of the month and pay in the full monthly amount, or because interest is paid daily does the opening date not matter? Thanks. 

Makes no difference, as First Direct Regular Saver is based on account month, not calendar month, so you pay in on the same date every month (subject to weekends etc)
Interest isn't paid daily, its paid annually 

Sorry I meant calculated daily. Which I think is what it said. I've looked at that many accounts recently they are all merging in my head. Is it important that it's the same date every month? Thanks. 

If the date you pay in is important, then open it a day or two before the date you want the standing order to be set up.
The standing order is set up by First Direct, and you cannot change the day of the month the standing order goes out 

I don't wish to offend you surreysaver, but you can change the date of the standing order, as we did that for both mine and my partner's accounts.

It also makes a difference (albeit not a huge amount) when you pay into the account, because although the interest is only paid 12 months after you opened the account, interest accrued is calculated daily, the details are here  https://www.firstdirect.com/savings-and-investments/savings/regular-saver-account/

ForumUser7

Coventry BS have released their new rates - unfortunately there are no changes to either the first home saver or regular saver issue 5

Expotter

piker57 said:

surreysaver said:

Beki88 said:

surreysaver said:

Beki88 said:

If opening the 1st direct regular saver, is it better to open at the end of the month and pay in the full monthly amount, or because interest is paid daily does the opening date not matter? Thanks. 

Makes no difference, as First Direct Regular Saver is based on account month, not calendar month, so you pay in on the same date every month (subject to weekends etc)
Interest isn't paid daily, its paid annually 

Sorry I meant calculated daily. Which I think is what it said. I've looked at that many accounts recently they are all merging in my head. Is it important that it's the same date every month? Thanks. 

If the date you pay in is important, then open it a day or two before the date you want the standing order to be set up.
The standing order is set up by First Direct, and you cannot change the day of the month the standing order goes out 

I don't wish to offend you surreysaver, but you can change the date of the standing order, as we did that for both mine and my partner's accounts.

It also makes a difference (albeit not a huge amount) when you pay into the account, because although the interest is only paid 12 months after you opened the account, interest accrued is calculated daily, the details are here  https://www.firstdirect.com/savings-and-investments/savings/regular-saver-account/

How did you change it? It didn't allow me to do it, from the T&C you posted it clearly states:

"You can change the amount of the monthly standing order between £25 and £300  (in multiples of £5) but you can only make one standing order payment to your account in any one month. The date of your standing order payment needs to remain the same once set up".

My S.O is on the 30th so my next payment is scheduled for March 1st, and then another on March 30th. I phoned and they said it'd be okay to have two payments in the same month. 

AmityNeon

piker57 said:

surreysaver said:

Beki88 said:

surreysaver said:

Beki88 said:

If opening the 1st direct regular saver, is it better to open at the end of the month and pay in the full monthly amount, or because interest is paid daily does the opening date not matter? Thanks.

Makes no difference, as First Direct Regular Saver is based on account month, not calendar month, so you pay in on the same date every month (subject to weekends etc)
Interest isn't paid daily, its paid annually

Sorry I meant calculated daily. Which I think is what it said. I've looked at that many accounts recently they are all merging in my head. Is it important that it's the same date every month? Thanks.

If the date you pay in is important, then open it a day or two before the date you want the standing order to be set up.
The standing order is set up by First Direct, and you cannot change the day of the month the standing order goes out

I don't wish to offend you surreysaver, but you can change the date of the standing order, as we did that for both mine and my partner's accounts.

How did you do that? It's common knowledge here that First Direct does not allow the date of the SO to be changed; their interface does not allow it, and neither does customer service. It would be helpful if you provided further details.

piker57 said:

It also makes a difference (albeit not a huge amount) when you pay into the account, because although the interest is only paid 12 months after you opened the account, interest accrued is calculated daily, the details are here https://www.firstdirect.com/savings-and-investments/savings/regular-saver-account/

We know it makes a difference when you can pay into the account due to the nature of how interest is calculated, but if payment intervals are fixed by a Standing Order whose payment date cannot be amended, it does not make a difference (excepting the avoidance of non-working days), hence why the comment was made.

35har1old

35har1old said:

35har1old said:

 Can only be opened by post

I hold a  three year regular saver with the Furness

Phoned this morning to ask for application pack for regular saver was asked a few question and the pack was being printed out.
I was then informed that i would not need to submit ID as i was within the 3 year window but then i asked  a question regarding the  three year account i was a little taken aback by being informed that i at that time would be required to submit ID.

As i would have to submit by post

What identification do I need to open a savings account?

We’re required by law to check the identity of all account holders, on both individual and joint savings accounts.

If you’re opening an account in branch or through the post, one form of identity verification plus one form of address verification is required. 

Identity verification	Address verification
Current and valid passport	Current council tax letter
National identity card	Grant of probate
Current and valid photocard driving licence (full or provisional)	Bank or credit card statement (last 3 months)
Current and valid firearms certificate or shotgun licence                NO	Utility bill (last 3 months)
Valid driving licence (old style) must be accompanied by address verification
Evidence of state pension payment (last 3 months) must be accompanied by address     verification        NO
Evidence of government benefits / tax credit (last 3 months) must be accompanied by address verification     NO THE ONLY  ORIGINAL ONES I WOULD SEND WOULD BE THE BOTTOM TWO  BUT I AM NOT ON STATE PENSION OR GOVERNMENT BENEFITS

Will you need to see original documents or will copies be sufficient?

We’ll need to see the original documents. If they are being sent to us via post, we’ll accept photocopies but they must be certified by a solicitor, accountant, authorized financial advisor, teacher, doctor, minister or post office master and we must be provided with their contact information. 

I have no contacts with any of the above approved people most of which would be expecting payment for there time.

Chances of seeing a doctor are nil

Post Master Cost £12.75 for 1to3 copies

I was left with no alterative but to cancel the request for the new account

I will also have to close the account that i hold shortly before its maturity date.(maybe i should have closed the account already as the interest rate has not kept pace with current times 3.2% and maybe another increase shortly but can't see it being 0.5)

Having to pay the post master would effetely reduce the rate to around 3.5%

UPDATE  
Phoned again this morning to request pack. THIS TIME I WAS TOLD TO SEND IN A COPY NON CERTIFIED

piker57

AmityNeon said:

piker57 said:

surreysaver said:

Beki88 said:

surreysaver said:

Beki88 said:

If opening the 1st direct regular saver, is it better to open at the end of the month and pay in the full monthly amount, or because interest is paid daily does the opening date not matter? Thanks.

Makes no difference, as First Direct Regular Saver is based on account month, not calendar month, so you pay in on the same date every month (subject to weekends etc)
Interest isn't paid daily, its paid annually

Sorry I meant calculated daily. Which I think is what it said. I've looked at that many accounts recently they are all merging in my head. Is it important that it's the same date every month? Thanks.

If the date you pay in is important, then open it a day or two before the date you want the standing order to be set up.
The standing order is set up by First Direct, and you cannot change the day of the month the standing order goes out

I don't wish to offend you surreysaver, but you can change the date of the standing order, as we did that for both mine and my partner's accounts.

How did you do that? It's common knowledge here that First Direct does not allow the date of the SO to be changed; their interface does not allow it, and neither does customer service. It would be helpful if you provided further details.

piker57 said:

It also makes a difference (albeit not a huge amount) when you pay into the account, because although the interest is only paid 12 months after you opened the account, interest accrued is calculated daily, the details are here https://www.firstdirect.com/savings-and-investments/savings/regular-saver-account/

We know it makes a difference when you can pay into the account due to the nature of how interest is calculated, but if payment intervals are fixed by a Standing Order whose payment date cannot be amended, it does not make a difference (excepting the avoidance of non-working days), hence why the comment was made.

We simply cancelled the Standing Orders created by FD when the account was opened & replaced them with new SOs which go across from our 1st Accounts, on the first of the month, rather than the original date of the 26th.

We knew this would work as we did the same thing in the past with HSBC regular savers.

RG2015

Re FD

It appears that common knowledge has been trumped by actual experience.

piker57

Yes interest was earned on the extra days. I only knew to cancel the SO and create a new one by reading MSE Forum posts. 

In the same way that I learnt with Lloyds Regular Savers deliberately opened towards the end of a month, with the SO immediately changed to the 1st, we were able to make 13 deposits with the whole amount earning interest.