Regular Savings Accounts: The Best Currently Available List!

Bridlington1

badger09 said:

Bridlington1 said:

ForumUser7 said:

Not TOTP but for those with it for DD purposes, Ecology Regular Saver -> 3.30% from 3.05% effective 19/05/2023

If this is all Ecology can come up with I'm glad I axed it a few weeks ago to be honest.

Still a useful DD source though😉

I'd agree that it's useful as a DD, this is a point I've raised many times before and I had maintained it for over a year for that purpose, though there are DDs with lower "running costs" so to speak such as plum, moneybox, the Ecology EA account etc. Out of my DDs the Ecology regular saver was the most expensive to maintain, even after this increase, and as I had a surplus of DDs it made sense to give it the chop.

allegro120

Bridlington1 said:

badger09 said:

Bridlington1 said:

ForumUser7 said:

Not TOTP but for those with it for DD purposes, Ecology Regular Saver -> 3.30% from 3.05% effective 19/05/2023

If this is all Ecology can come up with I'm glad I axed it a few weeks ago to be honest.

Still a useful DD source though😉

I'd agree that it's useful as a DD, this is a point I've raised many times before and I had maintained it for over a year for that purpose, though there are DDs with lower "running costs" so to speak such as plum, moneybox, the Ecology EA account etc. Out of my DDs the Ecology regular saver was the most expensive to maintain, even after this increase, and as I had a surplus of DDs it made sense to give it the chop.

By the end of July I will have 2 surplus DDs (end of TSB bonus condition) and I'm going to cancel MoneyBox and stop using my credit card, these can be turned back on quickly if I need them again.  I'm going to keep my Ecology RS for convenience. At current rates (Ecology RS vs Chip) it costs me 1p a month to maintain.

Band7

Staffordshire Railway BS regular saver

If you ever want to request a withdrawal by Faster Payment, you need to first have your nominated account registered and verified which can be done at any time.

On the SRBS upload link, you can upload

1. the completed nomination form and
2. a recent PDF bank statement for the nominated account, showing your name, address, sort code and account number

Alas, to request a withdrawal by Faster Payment, you will still have to post your Faster Payment withdrawal request form, together with your passbook.

Faster Payment withdrawals are promised by the end of the business day following acceptance of your withdrawal request but might arrive on the same day. Your passbook gets posted back by 1st class post. All a bit cumbersome.

Special_Saver2

Hi Folks,

I have updated page 1 of this thread.

- Monmouthshire BS Coronation Regular Saver withdrawn

- Kroo Current Account (feeder account section) interest rate increased to 3.60% AER (3.54% gross) variable on up to £85,000 from 1st June 2023

- Chase Saver Account (feeder account section) interest rate increased to 3.3% AER from 22nd May 2023

- Bath BS 16-25 Regular Saver interest rate increased to 6.95% gross p.a. variable from 1st June 2023

- Bath BS Homestart Regular Saver interest rate increased to 4.24% gross p.a. variable from 1st June 2023

- Principality BS First Home Steps Savings Account (Issue 3) or Principality BS First Home Steps Online Savings Account (Issue 2) interest rate increased to 3.55% - 4.25% gross p.a. variable (3.55% if your balance is £2,500, then 3.75% if your balance is £2,501 - £7,500 then 4.25% from £7,500 to £25,000)

- Principality BS Dylan Gift Saver interest rate increased to 4% gross p.a. variable

- Mansfield BS Regular Savings 30 (1st Issue), Mansfield BS Regular eSaver 30 (1st Issue) and Mansfield BS Young Regular Saver (3rd Issue) interest rate increased to 4.25% gross p.a. variable from 1st June 2023

- Santander Regular eSaver Account (Issue 17) paying 5% fixed on up to £200 per month for 12 months for their current account holders added

I am increasing the required threshold for inclusion on this list by 0.25% given the latest interest rate rise. This means in my first post on page 1, we now have this text: "I am only including accounts where the interest rate is 4.5% or better, or 4% if the account has favourable conditions (e.g. you can pay in £500 per month or more, or if the account matures after at least 2 years)." For the accounts already on page 1, I will wait until next month to see if their interest rate increases before removing any that now pay too low an interest rate for inclusion on this thread.
 
I will do the next update within the next 2 weeks.

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

surreysaver

Bridlington1 said:

badger09 said:

Bridlington1 said:

ForumUser7 said:

Not TOTP but for those with it for DD purposes, Ecology Regular Saver -> 3.30% from 3.05% effective 19/05/2023

If this is all Ecology can come up with I'm glad I axed it a few weeks ago to be honest.

Still a useful DD source though😉

I'd agree that it's useful as a DD, this is a point I've raised many times before and I had maintained it for over a year for that purpose, though there are DDs with lower "running costs" so to speak such as plum, moneybox, the Ecology EA account etc. Out of my DDs the Ecology regular saver was the most expensive to maintain, even after this increase, and as I had a surplus of DDs it made sense to give it the chop.

And the other reason I keep the Ecology account open, is because its a faff to open, so saves the hassle in the future if it becomes competitive once again 

OceanSound

surreysaver said:

Bridlington1 said:

badger09 said:

Bridlington1 said:

ForumUser7 said:

Not TOTP but for those with it for DD purposes, Ecology Regular Saver -> 3.30% from 3.05% effective 19/05/2023

If this is all Ecology can come up with I'm glad I axed it a few weeks ago to be honest.

Still a useful DD source though😉

I'd agree that it's useful as a DD, this is a point I've raised many times before and I had maintained it for over a year for that purpose, though there are DDs with lower "running costs" so to speak such as plum, moneybox, the Ecology EA account etc. Out of my DDs the Ecology regular saver was the most expensive to maintain, even after this increase, and as I had a surplus of DDs it made sense to give it the chop.

And the other reason I keep the Ecology account open, is because its a faff to open, so saves the hassle in the future if it becomes competitive once again 

soon after online application saw message on screen  saying await letter for my account details and how to make initial deposit. Waited patiently.

Got letter a few days later with account details and how to make initial payment of £500 within 14 days. 

That was that. No prizes for guessing if I made the £500 initial deposit or not btw.

Bridlington1

surreysaver said:

Bridlington1 said:

badger09 said:

Bridlington1 said:

ForumUser7 said:

Not TOTP but for those with it for DD purposes, Ecology Regular Saver -> 3.30% from 3.05% effective 19/05/2023

If this is all Ecology can come up with I'm glad I axed it a few weeks ago to be honest.

Still a useful DD source though😉

I'd agree that it's useful as a DD, this is a point I've raised many times before and I had maintained it for over a year for that purpose, though there are DDs with lower "running costs" so to speak such as plum, moneybox, the Ecology EA account etc. Out of my DDs the Ecology regular saver was the most expensive to maintain, even after this increase, and as I had a surplus of DDs it made sense to give it the chop.

And the other reason I keep the Ecology account open, is because its a faff to open, so saves the hassle in the future if it becomes competitive once again 

I would agree that the possibility of Ecology becoming competitive again is a good reason to keep it open and it's for that reason that I very nearly decided to keep it.

When I closed the account last month it paid 3.05%, and has since risen to 3.3%, which is still quite some way below the 4% regular savers I shall be emptying on 1st June. As thing stand by July any regular saver paying less than 4.25% will likely be in the firing line.

If Ecology had been paying something like 3.5-3.6% and/or had a lower minimum monthly funding requirement I would likely have kept it open, as I have done with Buckinghamshire BS but when I closed the account the interest rate was so low that I couldn't see it beating 4.25% in that time and I still suspect it won't become that competitive for a while.

Admittedly I have taken a significant gamble that Ecology will remain uncompetitive for the bulk of the next year. It could easily backfire spectacularly on me and I hope it does in a sense for the sake of those who have kept it open, but it is what it is.

OceanSound

surreysaver said:

Bridlington1 said:

badger09 said:

Bridlington1 said:

ForumUser7 said:

Not TOTP but for those with it for DD purposes, Ecology Regular Saver -> 3.30% from 3.05% effective 19/05/2023

If this is all Ecology can come up with I'm glad I axed it a few weeks ago to be honest.

Still a useful DD source though😉

I'd agree that it's useful as a DD, this is a point I've raised many times before and I had maintained it for over a year for that purpose, though there are DDs with lower "running costs" so to speak such as plum, moneybox, the Ecology EA account etc. Out of my DDs the Ecology regular saver was the most expensive to maintain, even after this increase, and as I had a surplus of DDs it made sense to give it the chop.

And the other reason I keep the Ecology account open, is because its a faff to open, so saves the hassle in the future if it becomes competitive once again 

Just out of interest (no pun intended), how competitive was the Ecology RS in it's heyday?

Edit: I tried to open a 90 day notice savings account. Not a RS. 

OceanSound

JamesRobinson48 said:

OceanSound said:

Just out of interest (no pun intended), how competitive was the Ecology RS in it's heyday?

Edit: I tried to open a 90 day notice savings account. Not a RS. 

IMHO, the Ecology RS has almost never offered anywhere close to a market leading interest rate. It's a niche business that would never wish to be swamped with deposits or account applications. One big part of its appeal was the monthly DD payment., and I soon closed the account once I no longer needed that.

I figured. Just wanted to confirm because forumite had said '... if it becomes competitive once again' - implying that it was competitive at one point.

Bridlington1

OceanSound said:

JamesRobinson48 said:

OceanSound said:

Just out of interest (no pun intended), how competitive was the Ecology RS in it's heyday?

Edit: I tried to open a 90 day notice savings account. Not a RS. 

IMHO, the Ecology RS has almost never offered anywhere close to a market leading interest rate. It's a niche business that would never wish to be swamped with deposits or account applications. One big part of its appeal was the monthly DD payment., and I soon closed the account once I no longer needed that.

I figured. Just wanted to confirm because forumite had said '... if it becomes competitive once again' - implying that it was competitive at one point.

I seem to recall it hit 2.85% in autumn last year (November IIRC), which at the time was just above the top EA accounts (only by less than 0.1% though) so that was just about competitive. It was then overtaken by a string of 3% EA accounts a few weeks later.