Regular Savings Accounts: The Best Currently Available List!

Bridlington1

According to moneyfacts Nottingham BS will be launching a branch only Summer Regular Saver at 4.5%.

Section62

Bridlington1 said:

According to moneyfacts Nottingham BS will be launching a branch only Summer Regular Saver at 4.5%.

Being still locked into the previous Summer Regular Saver @1.35% until the end of this month I don't feel inclined to rush to my nearest branch to open the new account (although it is always nice to see the staff there).

Notts haven't responded particularly well as interest rates generally went up elsewhere.  And whilst they weren't under any obligation to increase the interest rate on the Summer RS, it has been a bit galling to be earning 1.35% on a current RS account whilst in the same timeframe the easy access account from another long-matured Notts regular saver has gone from 0.05% to a heady 2.2%.

Given some of the loyalty products offered by other building societies, 4.5% from Notts feels rather lame.  I could put the equivalent balance in a 9-month fixed rate account and get 4.75% without moving from my chair... so why would I go to a branch to open the Notts offering? (aside from saying hello to the friendly staff).

where_are_we

After being unable yesterday I was able to log on to Yorkshire Building Society today and open their new Regular e Saver @ 4.5% Variable with a £250/month maximum limit. Funding is to sort code 60-92-04, account number first 8 digits of the 10 digit account number they give you, then reference all 10 digits of your new account number. Very annoying that they insist on verification of ID! I opened it using their link for customer already registered for online banking, logged on, and already have umpteen accounts with them. Has anyone else had this experience and can posting documents be avoided by calling them up?

NorthYorkie

Before getting carried away with the headline rates being quoted, just remember to halve the rate to find the approximate effective rate for the year.
Your first monthly deposit will get, say, 5% for the full year, but the second deposit will only get it for 11 months i.e. 4.58%, the third deposit for 10 months i.e. 4.16%, and so on. The twelfth will only get 1 months interest, 0.41%. 

Section62

NorthYorkie said:

Before getting carried away with the headline rates being quoted, just remember to halve the rate to find the approximate effective rate for the year.
Your first monthly deposit will get, say, 5% for the full year, but the second deposit will only get it for 11 months i.e. 4.58%, the third deposit for 10 months i.e. 4.16%, and so on. The twelfth will only get 1 months interest, 0.41%. 

The "effective rate" is whatever the headline rate is.  You don't have to halve it.

The amount of interest earned can be estimated based on around half the final balance - assuming regular pay-ins of the same amount - as the average balance over the time period will be about half.  On which the headline interest rate is being paid.

In your example, the last payment would get 5% paid on a pro-rata basis for one month.  The interest rate isn't 0.41%.  It is that the duration the money is earning 5% is 1/12th of a year.

Wheres_My_Cashback

NorthYorkie said:

Before getting carried away with the headline rates being quoted, just remember to halve the rate to find the approximate effective rate for the year.
Your first monthly deposit will get, say, 5% for the full year, but the second deposit will only get it for 11 months i.e. 4.58%, the third deposit for 10 months i.e. 4.16%, and so on. The twelfth will only get 1 months interest, 0.41%. 

As you and the majority of people already know the effective rate on all funds in the account is what's advertised so in your  example it's 5%.

A better way to put it would be that assuming a credit payment on the 1st each month you get 5% for 365 days for the first credit, 5% for 334 days on the next credit, 5% for 304 days on the next credit etc 

Don't think this click bait needs any further discussion here

Malchester

Wheres_My_Cashback said:

NorthYorkie said:

Before getting carried away with the headline rates being quoted, just remember to halve the rate to find the approximate effective rate for the year.
Your first monthly deposit will get, say, 5% for the full year, but the second deposit will only get it for 11 months i.e. 4.58%, the third deposit for 10 months i.e. 4.16%, and so on. The twelfth will only get 1 months interest, 0.41%. 

As you and the majority of people already know the effective rate on all funds in the account is what's advertised so in your  example it's 5%.

A better way to put it would be that assuming a credit payment on the 1st each month you get 5% for 365 days for the first credit, 5% for 334 days on the next credit, 5% for 304 days on the next credit etc 

Don't think this click bait needs any further discussion here

Well said. Before I take out a regular saver I do the calculation based on 1/2 the total to be put in the account over the year at the advertised rate and 1/2 the total left in an easy access account (assuming you have the funds in an easy access account already) compared to the whole amount in an easy access account. Did it for the Leeds BS regular saver over the weekend and the rough different in interest between keeping the funds in an easy access account and putting them into their regular saver monthly was, over the year about £17. That, to me was not worth it.

ForumUser7

ForumUser7 said:

On the SRBS adult accounts page, I noticed the RS has changed from saying availability ‘private individuals living in Staffordshire only’ to availability ‘private individuals’. I’ve verified this using the way back machine, and comparing what it said yesterday to what it says today. The summary box still references Staffordshire, as does the application process (yes/no question re residency in Staffordshire), but I’m wondering if perhaps they just need to be updated? Wishful thinking or have they opened the flood gates? I know it used to flick between the two before, but unsure if the application process was updated or not.

Confirmed ~ Flood gates opened! "It is now open to non Staffordshire residents and we will accept your application and I have fed this back to our marketing team to update the website too."

NorthYorkie

Section62 said:

NorthYorkie said:

Before getting carried away with the headline rates being quoted, just remember to halve the rate to find the approximate effective rate for the year.
Your first monthly deposit will get, say, 5% for the full year, but the second deposit will only get it for 11 months i.e. 4.58%, the third deposit for 10 months i.e. 4.16%, and so on. The twelfth will only get 1 months interest, 0.41%. 

The "effective rate" is whatever the headline rate is.  You don't have to halve it.

The amount of interest earned can be estimated based on around half the final balance - assuming regular pay-ins of the same amount - as the average balance over the time period will be about half.  On which the headline interest rate is being paid.

In your example, the last payment would get 5% paid on a pro-rata basis for one month.  The interest rate isn't 0.41%.  It is that the duration the money is earning 5% is 1/12th of a year.

I think we are saying the same thing in different ways! Working out the interest at 5% on half the final balance (say £300 on a £50 pm account) equals £15 interest, whereas applying half the interest rate (2.5%) on the actual final balance of £600 also produces £15 interest. QED.

ForumUser7

N.B. Re SRBS RS ~ "Deposits to this account must come from your nominated bank account via standing order." I was going to fund by internal transfer, but seems like that may not be possible. Anyone done this please?