We'd like to remind Forumites to please avoid political debate on the Forum. This is to keep it a safe and useful space for MoneySaving discussions. Threads that are - or become - political in nature may be removed in line with the Forum’s rules. Thank you for your understanding.

ChipLite - 0% bonus

Money Saving Expert states that the free ChipLite savings plan from Chip pays a 1.25% bonus (interest in effect). Well, on the strength of that, I've opened a ChipLite account and their app indicates the bonus as 0.00%. It only shows the fee-costing Chip+1 option as having a 1.25% bonus.

So it seems like I've wasted my time, as I only want a free account (with bonus). I thought it was too good to be true! Silly me for trusting MSE and not reading the small print, I suppose.

Note. The default you'll get to start with if you sign up is a free trial of the Chip+1 plan. This can then be switched to ChipLite. 
«13

Comments

  • masonic
    masonic Posts: 24,590 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Photogenic Name Dropper
    edited 30 December 2020 at 3:51PM
    The title of the paragraph in the weekly tips email is "Bag 1.25% easy-access savings via special MSE code"
    The top savings account article warns "(click links to read more)" for the savings accounts available by other routes and then mentions the code in the first paragraph of the description.
    Did you or did you not use the MSE code during sign-up as instructed?
  • Thanks for the quick reply.

    Yes I had to enter the code to open the account.
  • tomla
    tomla Posts: 144 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 100 Posts Combo Breaker
    edited 30 December 2020 at 4:04PM
    The code is to open the account at all, not to access a different rate.

    From the MSE website: Alternatively, you can opt for the fee-free ChipLite plan which pays 1.25% variable on up to £2,000 and here there's no autosaving – you just choose to put your cash in.

    As long as you're saving more than £3,575/yr you're better off paying the fee, as it's covered by the extra interest.

    Seems like what you are seeing in the App is either incorrect or misleading. The above is pretty specific.
  • masonic
    masonic Posts: 24,590 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Photogenic Name Dropper
    Biggsy1 said:
    Thanks for the quick reply.

    Yes I had to enter the code to open the account.
    Suggest you complain to Chip then. Their own website makes it quite clear what is on offer: https://www.getchip.uk/chip-1-mse

  • ctdctd
    ctdctd Posts: 1,089 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper
    Strange, I opened from the same offer and followed the process to open a Chip-1 account and currently have it showing in the Chip app as funded and with 1.25% bonus.
    It defaults to the auto save settings which might attract a charge, but it's easy to set it to the lite version in the app.
    Do Money Saving sites make you buy more bargains - and spend more money?
  • It is a bit odd - they can withdraw the bonus at their discretion if they suspect abuse of the account.  There are two ways, to have multiple accounts, or potentially to link to a bank account that has minimal transactions - so you gain access to the full 5k deposit option, but the AI saving never saves you over the £100 before you get charged.

    Similarly its non compounding, so the returns are diminishing over time.

    Their fees if you would like to pay a computer to save for you, are also confusing.  I think its a charge every 28 days, so 13x a year potentially.
  • Ed-1
    Ed-1 Posts: 3,932 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper
    edited 30 December 2020 at 6:55PM
    Biggsy1 said:
    Money Saving Expert states that the free ChipLite savings plan from Chip pays a 1.25% bonus (interest in effect). Well, on the strength of that, I've opened a ChipLite account and their app indicates the bonus as 0.00%. It only shows the fee-costing Chip+1 option as having a 1.25% bonus.

    So it seems like I've wasted my time, as I only want a free account (with bonus). I thought it was too good to be true! Silly me for trusting MSE and not reading the small print, I suppose.

    Note. The default you'll get to start with if you sign up is a free trial of the Chip+1 plan. This can then be switched to ChipLite. 
    You're confusing the plan with the account.

    Chip+1 is the account that pays a 1.25% bonus on up to £2,000 (on the ChipLite plan) or £5,000 (on the ChipAI plan which can be free if you never autosave more than £100).

    Chip also have a non-interest account which is opened by default when you sign up to Chip. Funds in this are non-FSCS protected.

    You need to open the Chip+1 account to get the bonus.

    You can also open another interest account with Chip too.
  • I wonder if the rate is only showing as 0% because I've only just signed up today? Perhaps it'll change after a few days. Also I've only deposited £2 so far (to test it out). Maybe that's insufficient.

    Anyway I have messaged Chip and will post what they say here so other people can be informed/warned.
  • I'm a bit confused and not sure if I'm doing this correct, i have opened a chip+1 account with a £5000 deposit and a level 5 auto save and currently i have £5,177.43, so my question is once i have the max deposit  £5000 in account is it best to keep it at that figure and not to auto save any more money or is it best to auto save at level 5 as I'm now doing, thanks for any help offered.
  • Ed-1
    Ed-1 Posts: 3,932 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 1,000 Posts Name Dropper
    greendot said:
    I'm a bit confused and not sure if I'm doing this correct, i have opened a chip+1 account with a £5000 deposit and a level 5 auto save and currently i have £5,177.43, so my question is once i have the max deposit  £5000 in account is it best to keep it at that figure and not to auto save any more money or is it best to auto save at level 5 as I'm now doing, thanks for any help offered.
    You won't accrue bonus on anything in excess of £5k on the ChipAI plan.
Meet your Ambassadors

Categories

  • All Categories
  • 346.7K Banking & Borrowing
  • 251.4K Reduce Debt & Boost Income
  • 451.5K Spending & Discounts
  • 238.9K Work, Benefits & Business
  • 614.5K Mortgages, Homes & Bills
  • 174.9K Life & Family
  • 252.2K Travel & Transport
  • 1.5M Hobbies & Leisure
  • 16K Discuss & Feedback
  • 15.1K Coronavirus Support Boards

Is this how you want to be seen?

We see you are using a default avatar. It takes only a few seconds to pick a picture.