Regular Savings Accounts: The Best Currently Available List!

kaMelo

How the hell did you find an account to apply for before it is listed any where?

ForumUser7

kaMelo said:

How the hell did you find an account to apply for before it is listed any where?

Just change the number at the end of the link - you can also apply for previous issues, but you may find it has a lower rate (maturity rate)

Bridlington1

kaMelo said:

How the hell did you find an account to apply for before it is listed any where?

Whenever Principality launch a new regular saver the link for the form is the same as the one before but with 1 added to the product code so I knew what the link to the next regular saver would be. It had been a while since Principality launched a new regular saver so I had a feeling that Principality would be launching a new one soon so a fortnight or so ago I bookmarked the application link for the new regular saver.

Now whenever I search for anything beginning with p, the link comes up so I had checked it once every couple of days since then.

ForumUser7

Starting to wonder if perhaps rather than paying into 5% RSs without penalty free access/closure (such as HSBC, Loughborough BS), I should be paying those funds into 1 year bonds, which pay a higher rate (up to 5.20% on £750 deposit). I would leave open the RSs, and then have the security of the fixed rate down the line if the rates available on new FRBs dropped. Unfortunately I don't think I can get the funds out of Loughborough or HSBC penalty free, but I could stop paying in from here on out. Thoughts?

Bridlington1

ForumUser7 said:

Starting to wonder if perhaps rather than paying into 5% RSs without penalty free access/closure (such as HSBC, Loughborough BS), I should be paying those funds into 1 year bonds, which pay a higher rate (up to 5.20% on £750 deposit). I would leave open the RSs, and then have the security of the fixed rate down the line if the rates available on new FRBs dropped. Unfortunately I don't think I can get the funds out of Loughborough or HSBC penalty free, but I could stop paying in from here on out. Thoughts?

It's difficult to say given that there are so many factors at play here, such as when you opened them, what other regular savers you hold, where you think fixes will end up in the next year or so, when you will need the funds etc. There's too many unknown variables at play the answer without relying on speculation.

I am personally holding off fixing large amounts for now since I hope to buy my first home in a year or so. I opened HSBC in December so for me it makes more sense to compare HSBC to a 6 month fix. The top 6 month fix I can find pays 4.9%. I shall continue funding HSBC for this reason. If you opened HSBC later than this and/or won't need the funds for comfortably over a year I would say reduce to the minimum and possibly fix now though it depends when you think fixes will peak (I don't know when this will be).

For Loughborough it's more difficult to judge. I currently hold a fair few regular savers and once I open Loughborough at 5% it will be joint 9th if you go purely on interest rate with 4 other regular savers (3 of which are fixed). In terms of my funding priorities it would sit at number 13 out of 27 that I am currently funding fully if I go purely on interest rate so if it allowed penalty free withdrawals/closure or paid a higher interest rate I'd be fully funding it but the lack of withdrawal ability means I shall pay the minimum in for now and reassess later on.

One thing that I would say is that the top 1Y fix that lets you deposit £500 (Loughborough's max monthly deposit) pays 5.2% according to moneyfacts so for the first month's deposit at least it would make more sense to deposit the minimum in Loughborough and put £500 in a 1Y fix since the maturity date would be about the same. After that who knows.

phillw

t1redmonkey said:

I've never really understood the whole feeder account thing. 

What's wrong with just having an instant access account with a much higher rate (e.g. Chip), and then just moving the money for the RS into any old account (in my case a Barclays current account) either the day before an RS is due to collect (if you have a standing order that's collecting it) or even just moving it across on the day itself? 

Is there a bigger advantage that I'm not seeing or do people just use feeder accounts for convenience even if they're getting a lower rate?

What you've described is drip-feeding. It's what you're already doing

Feeder accounts are a different thing, but when discussing regular savers then it's most likely people mean drip-feeding.

Growingold

Bridlington1 said:

Principality will be launching a new Regular Saver Bond Issue 33 soon. I don't know what the interest rate will be but I've opened and sent some money across to it by faster payment so should be able to update you with what the interest rate will be soon. See:
https://online.principality.co.uk/Originations/launchpage.aspx?productType=RegularSaver&productCode=6078#!

How can they open an account though if it has not yet been launched let alone you have actually funded it?

someone

Growingold said:

How can they open an account though if it has not yet been launched let alone you have actually funded it?

I would be a little cautious of this route, if you haven't provided the relevant details then they will have failed to meet the regulators requirements. It may appear a minor transgression but either the sale of a product is compliant or not.

Bridlington1

Growingold said:

Bridlington1 said:

Principality will be launching a new Regular Saver Bond Issue 33 soon. I don't know what the interest rate will be but I've opened and sent some money across to it by faster payment so should be able to update you with what the interest rate will be soon. See:
https://online.principality.co.uk/Originations/launchpage.aspx?productType=RegularSaver&productCode=6078#!

How can they open an account though if it has not yet been launched let alone you have actually funded it?

I've done it before. When they launched one of their earlier regular saver bonds I noticed it on moneyfacts shortly after midnight the night before it was launched so applied using the relevant link, funded it then went to bed. The funds had arrived by the time I woke up the next morning even though the old regular saver was still showing on their website at that point and continued to be shown until later that morning.

I was given an account number and funding instructions for this new account and the account shows in my online banking:
I sent £10 across soon after I opened the account so it will be interesting to see if the funds plus interest rate appear later today (they usually take a couple of hours).

Either way I had been quite intrigued to see exactly how far in advance the application forms for new Principality BS savings accounts appear on their website so this exercise should satisfy my own curiosity if nothing else.

wiseonesomeofthetime

someone said:

Growingold said:

How can they open an account though if it has not yet been launched let alone you have actually funded it?

I would be a little cautious of this route, if you haven't provided the relevant details then they will have failed to meet the regulators requirements. It may appear a minor transgression but either the sale of a product is compliant or not.

Like Bridlington1, Principality already have my details, so regulatory requirement already met.

Might be different if trying to apply as a new customer.