Email from the Post Office Savings

Looperp55

I opened a Post Office Savings account at the 1.3% rate on Martin's advice the day before they lowered the rate to 1.25%. I have moved money into it but I have received the following email from them (sorry it doesn't format correctly):

We are reducing the interest rate on your Online Saver Issue 45 account.

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You may have heard that the Bank of England Base Rate has recently fallen. As a result of this, and the current financial market conditions, we have reviewed the interest rate we pay on your Online Saver Issue 45 account.

We are writing to inform you we are reducing the interest rate on your Online Saver Issue 45. The rate on your account ending **** will reduce by 0.49% gross/AER*. The interest rate change will take effect from 17th April 2020. Please take a look at the table below to see your old and new interest rates.

​ ​ ​ ​ Current underlying rate gross^/AER* variable New underlying rate gross^/AER* variable ​ ​ ​ Annual Interest Option ​ ​ 0.50% ​ ​ 0.01% ​ ​ ​ Monthly Interest Option ​ ​ 0.49% / 0.50% ​ ​ 0.01% / 0.01% ​ ​

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What to do next? Do nothing - if you’d like to keep your Online Saver Issue 45 at the new rate, you don’t need to do anything Switch to a new Post Office savings account - we have a range of options available to you. Full information about our interest rates and accounts is available at postoffice.co.uk/savings-accounts/compare-all-accounts Check the market - see what other products are available to suit your needs. If you choose to move your savings to another provider we can help you close your account with us, which will not incur any penalties.

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If you are not happy with the new interest rate, for a period of 30 days from the date of the rate change, you can close your account without paying any penalties that would normally apply. You will need to call us or write in before the 29th May 2020 to make a penalty free withdrawal. Need some help? If you have any questions, please see our website postoffice.co.uk/savings-accounts where you will find useful information, frequently asked questions (FAQs) and information on our products. Thank you for saving with us. Yours sincerely,

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William Hughes

Post Office Money, Service Delivery

Does this mean my 1.3% is going to drop while I'm still in the year term? Should I move to Marcus?

soulsaver

Check the terms of the account you agreed to when you opened it, see in what circumstances PO is allowed to vary the rate.
I keep getting 'technical difficulties' when I try to do anything after log in... which is NOT unusual with the PO.

clivep

Your 1.3% is made up of a variable 0.5% underlying rate + bonus rate of 0.8% for 12 months.

The underlying rate is being reduced to 0.01% which they can do as per t's & c's.

Your bonus rate stays the same so the rate for the first 12 months will be reduced from 1.3% to 0.81%.