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AskAsk

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maxsteam

If you have no experience of dealing with the bank, then you should not invest.
It's not unreasonable to suggest that, before you put your savings into a bank, you should walk into a branch and ask to change a £20 note just to see what sort of people you are dealing with. If you can't complete a simple, low value transaction then you should not consider them for a high value transaction imho.

Ballard

It seems bizarre to want to change a bank note before dealing with someone but I would want to know whether fscs protection was applicable. As I understand it that's not always the case with bonds.

Al Rayan Bank are currently offering 0.65% one year fixed or 0.60% instant access. The fixed account might suit as you're likely to get that rate whereas the instant access will be variable. Note that it's sharia compliant so they can't actually guarantee the rate but if it is lowered they permit you to withdraw early without penalty. I have an earlier version of the instant access account which has had the interest rate reduced a couple of times (after a notice period) but still remains relatively high so my take on them is that they're reliable. BLME are another sharia compliant bank and offer 0.60% 1 year fixed. Both of these accounts have fcsc protection.

These two are just off the top of my head because I have an account with Al Rayan and have previously had one with BLME. You may well find better options out there. Just ensure that the fscs protection is there.

maxsteam

high street banks offer very poor rates.  the best rates are from banks that do not have a high street presence.  

The best rates always come from the banks who are most desperate for funds. People simply looking for the best rates should Google Icesave. I believe that their most recent rate is 6.2%. With a time machine and the benefit of hindsight, I am sure that there are people out there willing to invest.

maxsteam

AskAsk said:

high street banks also have more expenses with staff payroll and high street presence, whereas the ones without a high street presence have less expenses and so again can pass this saving on to their customers.

But Union Bank of India have a huge high street presence. They have over 4000 branches. I stand by what I wrote earlier, if you can pop into a branch to change a note, you can make a judgement. If you can't, you should put the money elsewhere.
Time will be better spent finding a good provider rather than finding the highest rate imho.

wmb194

maxsteam said:

AskAsk said:

high street banks also have more expenses with staff payroll and high street presence, whereas the ones without a high street presence have less expenses and so again can pass this saving on to their customers.

But Union Bank of India have a huge high street presence. They have over 4000 branches. I stand by what I wrote earlier, if you can pop into a branch to change a note, you can make a judgement. If you can't, you should put the money elsewhere.
Time will be better spent finding a good provider rather than finding the highest rate imho.

How many of those branches are in Britain? Changing a note won't tell you anything about its account opening process, its online banking or anything else. 

OP: Like the other Indian banks, if its second-rate website is anything to go by any experience with it will be woeful and you'll be better off looking elsewhere.

maxsteam

AskAsk said:

 banks are not obligated to give you change unless you are a customer of theirs.  they will only do so as a gesture of goodwill and are well within their rights to refuse to give you change if you just walked off the high street. 

they are a bank and not a cash change machine!

Exactly the point that I am making. If a bank is not interested in dealing with my £20 note then I am not interested in trusting them with my investments.

Alexland

maxsteam said:

Exactly the point that I am making. If a bank is not interested in dealing with my £20 note then I am not interested in trusting them with my investments.

So does your pension provider also change £20 notes?

maxsteam

Alexland said:

maxsteam said:

Exactly the point that I am making. If a bank is not interested in dealing with my £20 note then I am not interested in trusting them with my investments.

So does your pension provider also change £20 notes?

My pension provider is not a bank but I saw how they dealt with a small transaction before trusting them with anything large.

I noticed that there have been a couple of recent threads on this board from people who bought a fixed term bond with foreign banks who were top of the interest rate list at the time they invested. One thread mentions the State Bank of India, the other thread mentions Habib Bank. Both threads mentions problems encountered getting the funds at the end of the term. While I expect that the funds will eventually be received, my opinion is that the prospect of such problems is not worth trading a few extra pennies of interest for.

eskbanker

AskAsk said:

I have opened a savings account with Al Ryan bank

Are they a low-cost low-service Irish outfit, or just an unconvincing clone of a well-known sharia institution?