ChipLite - 0% bonus

tomla

All of this is the reason I stopped using Chip shortly after starting - months ago.  Chip control autosaving and they will try their best to make themselves a fee (like any company)- but it's all so opaque as to the amounts that are saved (£100+ first save etc.) that you end up feeling out of the loop on what and why.
It's a good rate for £5k but in my experience not worth the confusion and the feeling that Chip will change their model tomorrow and simply remove the bonus (careful to avoid the word interest I notice).

Emmia

You can set the autosaving to a different level, or cancel the autosave on the day if you don't want to do it - personally I'm happy with Chip and the autosave feature as it means I tuck a little bit more away each month.

Ed-1

tomla said:

All of this is the reason I stopped using Chip shortly after starting - months ago.  Chip control autosaving and they will try their best to make themselves a fee (like any company)- but it's all so opaque as to the amounts that are saved (£100+ first save etc.) that you end up feeling out of the loop on what and why.
It's a good rate for £5k but in my experience not worth the confusion and the feeling that Chip will change their model tomorrow and simply remove the bonus (careful to avoid the word interest I notice).

There's easy ways to avoid autosaving £100+. You link Chip to a current account that has a minimal or nil balance. Or you pause autosaving in the app (you need to keep extending the pause). Or you cancel autosaves as they are generated.

Emmia

Ed-1 said:

tomla said:

All of this is the reason I stopped using Chip shortly after starting - months ago.  Chip control autosaving and they will try their best to make themselves a fee (like any company)- but it's all so opaque as to the amounts that are saved (£100+ first save etc.) that you end up feeling out of the loop on what and why.
It's a good rate for £5k but in my experience not worth the confusion and the feeling that Chip will change their model tomorrow and simply remove the bonus (careful to avoid the word interest I notice).

There's easy ways to avoid autosaving £100+. You link Chip to a current account that has a minimal or nil balance. Or you pause autosaving in the app (you need to keep extending the pause). Or you cancel autosaves as they are generated.

And you set the autosave to level 1 (the lowest) in case any of that fails.

DireEmblem

@ED/Emma, they have in their T&C that they can reduce the bonus if they suspect abuse, so I would also suspect they would do the same.

Its a really odd way to get new customers in - decent if not complicated offer, but what happens once its gone - what is left to keep your money there.  I don't get it.

Emmia

DireEmblem said:

@ED/Emma, they have in their T&C that they can reduce the bonus if they suspect abuse, so I would also suspect they would do the same.

Its a really odd way to get new customers in - decent if not complicated offer, but what happens once its gone - what is left to keep your money there.  I don't get it.

Are you suggesting that I abuse Chip?

I'm an active user, and pay the fees as my normal auto saves are more than £100 a month - however as the autosave account doesn't have FSCS protection and doesn't pay interest, I normally save £1000 or so using that method and then either transfer that "lump" to another provider, or into their interest bearing account which is does have the protection.

I was making the point that if someone wanted to avoid the fees, then as well as pausing auto saves, they could set the save level to 1 which is super low (I save at 5 mostly) - this isn't against the T&Cs as it's just a setting in the app. 

If they want to get rid of inactive users in the future, then they could change the T&C's to require minimum monthly deposits, or like any bank or financial services provider they are free to close someone's account if they want.

bowlhead99

DireEmblem said:

Its a really odd way to get new customers in - decent if not complicated offer, but what happens once its gone - what is left to keep your money there.  I don't get it.

Someone who is a rate tart, carpet bagger, bonus wh0re etc, who only temporarily uses financial products found via a promotional link and then moves on after meeting the bare minimum criteria for the minimal amount of time, will probably think, "I'm no longer getting free money, why would I keep using the product ?! I must take my money elsewhere and get an offer from someone else".

But perhaps the people working in marketing for the business think that after people have been introduced to the product under promotional conditions, the product may be of some use to them in the future on its own merits.   That has after all been the rationale for many introductory offers, sales and 'bonus' promotions since the dawn of commerce.

Ed-1

Emmia said:

DireEmblem said:

@ED/Emma, they have in their T&C that they can reduce the bonus if they suspect abuse, so I would also suspect they would do the same.

Its a really odd way to get new customers in - decent if not complicated offer, but what happens once its gone - what is left to keep your money there.  I don't get it.

Are you suggesting that I abuse Chip?

I'm an active user, and pay the fees as my normal auto saves are more than £100 a month - however as the autosave account doesn't have FSCS protection and doesn't pay interest, I normally save £1000 or so using that method and then either transfer that "lump" to another provider, or into their interest bearing account which is does have the protection.

I was making the point that if someone wanted to avoid the fees, then as well as pausing auto saves, they could set the save level to 1 which is super low (I save at 5 mostly) - this isn't against the T&Cs as it's just a setting in the app. 

If they want to get rid of inactive users in the future, then they could change the T&C's to require minimum monthly deposits, or like any bank or financial services provider they are free to close someone's account if they want.

You can autosave directly into a Chip+1 or Chip interest account you know

DireEmblem

Emmia said:

Are you suggesting that I abuse Chip? 

Not at all, just that it's not a normal 'Interest bearing' account in the offer, more the bonus is not guaranteed so manipulating the system to get the most out of it may not be wise advice.

Emmia

Ed-1 said:

Emmia said:

DireEmblem said:

@ED/Emma, they have in their T&C that they can reduce the bonus if they suspect abuse, so I would also suspect they would do the same.

Its a really odd way to get new customers in - decent if not complicated offer, but what happens once its gone - what is left to keep your money there.  I don't get it.

Are you suggesting that I abuse Chip?

I'm an active user, and pay the fees as my normal auto saves are more than £100 a month - however as the autosave account doesn't have FSCS protection and doesn't pay interest, I normally save £1000 or so using that method and then either transfer that "lump" to another provider, or into their interest bearing account which is does have the protection.

I was making the point that if someone wanted to avoid the fees, then as well as pausing auto saves, they could set the save level to 1 which is super low (I save at 5 mostly) - this isn't against the T&Cs as it's just a setting in the app. 

If they want to get rid of inactive users in the future, then they could change the T&C's to require minimum monthly deposits, or like any bank or financial services provider they are free to close someone's account if they want.

You can autosave directly into a Chip+1 or Chip interest account you know

That option isn't available to all yet.