Are NS&I Income Bonds better than the "highest interest" easy access savings accounts?

coachman12

colsten said:

I had to put one MSE forumite on my ignore list today, after receiving  an abusive PM from them, accusing me to be working for NS&I because I had pointed out, in this thread, that NS&I detail how they clear money for the various deposit methods.

For the avoidance of doubt, I do not work for NS&I, and never have worked for them. I also won't respond to questions about T&Cs in PMs, and I will put anyone sending me abusive PMs on ignore.

I too have been abused for standing up for NS&I throughout all the many recent threads, simply because I have always used NS&I and think they have always been so good , long before they were recently thrown into the limelight. So I sympathise with and support colsten. But then I am used to being abused for saying practically anything about any subject 

veryintrigued

Sorry to hijack this thread but....
Question regarding the monthly interest paid into the current account?

Is it always in two parts? I have two credits with a reference ending in NSIB showing as of today and these match two 'BACS INCOME PAYMENT' NS&I references.

PS I do not work for NS&I either.

Edit - I wonder if the two parts relate to cleared and uncleared transactions. The split seems about right.

enthusiasticsaver

veryintrigued said:

Another thing to note on the bond type of accounts is that funds transferred in take an age to become cleared such that they show as pending for over a week.

I have two from the 26/27th of July that, whilst still earning interest, are unable to be withdrawn against.

Hence if that causes you difficulty then avoid this type.

As far as I understand with the N S and I investment bond account any deposits between the 20th of the month and the 5th only show on the 5th but they earn interest from the date of deposit.  I cannot imagine why anyone would put money in to the account on the 26th and then want to withdraw it again within the next week.  It is not as if it will earn a fortune in interest in those few days. 

Gers

It's mostly a case of a bad workman etc etc.

I've just opened a Direct Saver online - had a 15 second wait in the online queue and then job done in under a minute. 

Doshwaster

Gers said:

It's mostly a case of a bad workman etc etc.

I've just opened a Direct Saver online - had a 15 second wait in the online queue and then job done in under a minute. 

I opened a Direct Saver last night after my high street savings account went down to 0.01%. Very simple process which only took a couple of minutes. Made an initial deposit of £100 by debit card which went through immediately. I then did a test transfer of £1 by BACS and that hasn't appeared yet. 

RG2015

Doshwaster said:

Gers said:

It's mostly a case of a bad workman etc etc.

I've just opened a Direct Saver online - had a 15 second wait in the online queue and then job done in under a minute. 

I opened a Direct Saver last night after my high street savings account went down to 0.01%. Very simple process which only took a couple of minutes. Made an initial deposit of £100 by debit card which went through immediately. I then did a test transfer of £1 by BACS and that hasn't appeared yet. 

I have deposited by both faster payments (BACS?) and debit card and cannot work out which is quickest. It does seem to vary. However, irrespective of the "cleared" date, interest will be accrued from the payment date. I also like that NS&I also show the value date in their transaction list.

Gers

RG2015 said:

Doshwaster said:

Gers said:

It's mostly a case of a bad workman etc etc.

I've just opened a Direct Saver online - had a 15 second wait in the online queue and then job done in under a minute. 

I opened a Direct Saver last night after my high street savings account went down to 0.01%. Very simple process which only took a couple of minutes. Made an initial deposit of £100 by debit card which went through immediately. I then did a test transfer of £1 by BACS and that hasn't appeared yet. 

I have deposited by both faster payments (BACS?) and debit card and cannot work out which is quickest. It does seem to vary. However, irrespective of the "cleared" date, interest will be accrued from the payment date. I also like that NS&I also show the value date in their transaction list.

From the website -

https://www.nsandi.com/can-i-buy-bank-transfer-or-regular-standing-order

Bank transfer deposits will take two or three banking days to show in your NS&I account.

Also-

If you’re looking to buy Bonds or open a savings account, then you’re already in the right place. You can invest using your debit card right here – it takes less than 5 minutes.

Tip: Your balance may not update straight away. Don't worry if this happens - you can still see your deposit by logging in, clicking on 'View account' then scrolling down to 'Pending transactions' and clicking the plus sign.

RG2015

@Gers, Thanks for your reply. Do you have a take on whether a faster payment or a debit card payment has any benefits over the other?

Gers

No, sorry.  I prefer the debit card route.  Others will be more qualified to give an objective view.  I did debit card payments to two NS&I accounts this morning and they both showed up immediately.  Plus I received confirmation emails within an hour.

AndyPK

Hi

Regarding the 1.2% bond. Can you add money each month ?