Aldermore 1 year fix at 1%

flossy_splodge

Please be aware if anyone is thinking of applying for this account:
1. it is the single most convoluted application I have EVER seen
2. Their phone number is an 0845 number which is ordinarily charged at 9p per minute. I first tried to get hold of them earlier this morning and after 10 minutes on hold (and a wasted 90p I gave up. I have just tried again and it took 25 mins to be answered and a total of 30 mins to complete my call - another £2.70 lost. At this rate the benefit of a slightly increased interest rate is soon lost.
3. The main reason I wanted to call them was to establish what they meant by 'beneficiary'. I'm sure many out there understood but for the others like me who had NEVER come across this before all it means is that as Aldermore are not a clearing bank the money is first allocated to their holding account (at Barclays) and then sent on to your new personal account. As I say I have never come across this situation before and was not happy making a payment of a very large amount to a payee who seemed not to be me!!
Hope this helps someone and saves them time in the process.

eskbanker

flossy_splodge said:

2. Their phone number is an 0845 number which is ordinarily charged at 9p per minute.

https://www.aldermore.co.uk/help-centre/contact-us/contact-us-personal-savings/ publishes an 0345 number, which should be charged at standard local rates, i.e. the cheapest non-free option, used extensively throughout most organisations nowadays....

ColdIron

flossy_splodge said:

1. it is the single most convoluted application I have EVER seen

Making a phone call isn't that convoluted is it?

flossy_splodge

Gosh there's always someone trying to be clever isn't there! Just to clarify as you haven't understood, the phone call was NOT part of the application form, therefore my comment does not apply to the phone call.  Hope you can understand now?

flossy_splodge

eskbanker: I am so sorry but I can't see your response clearly but to clarify, I checked with my telephone service provider who told me about the charge. I then found an 01 number which will come within my included minutes. This does not work for everyone so I was merely trying to give a heads up for anyone who might get caught out by the charge. Trying to be money saving, that's all! 

eskbanker

flossy_splodge said:

eskbanker: I am so sorry but I can't see your response clearly but to clarify, I checked with my telephone service provider who told me about the charge. I then found an 01 number which will come within my included minutes. This does not work for everyone so I was merely trying to give a heads up for anyone who might get caught out by the charge. Trying to be money saving, that's all! 

I'm not sure where you found an 0845 number from but my point was that Aldermore's published contact number is an 0345 one (as used by their competitors too), and Ofcom make it clear that:

Calls to 03 numbers cost no more than a national rate call to an 01 or 02 number and must count towards any inclusive minutes in the same way as 01 and 02 calls.

These rules apply to calls from any type of line including mobile, BT, other fixed line or payphone.

https://www.ofcom.org.uk/phones-telecoms-and-internet/advice-for-consumers/advice/what-are-03-numbers

wmb194

It's not unusual for small institutions to use collection accounts. The "beneficiary" is just the account name you enter when setting up the payee/payment. If you enter the correct name it will pass the confirmation of payee check but if you wanted to you could enter your own name. The only things that really matter are the sort code, account number and reference.

Aldermore is fine, I've had a couple of accounts with it.

ChilliBob

Note, can also be setup from HL active savings platform  

trickydicky14

ChilliBob said:

Note, can also be setup from HL active savings platform  

Yes this is what I did, pressed a few buttons sorted in seconds.
Mind you if you go via HL, the min deposit is 5k 

wiseonesomeofthetime

I opened my Aldermore Bank Savings account yesterday online and within five minutes. Wasn't complicated at all.

I am used to seeing the beneficiary comment with Building Society accounts though, and so knew how that worked.

Plus I have held accounts with Alderrmore previously, although all now matured and closed.

The only pain is having to wait up to a week for your Customer ID to arrive through the post before you can access online banking.

That said, they send you an email confirming receipt of funds anyway.

Oh, and don't worry if you get two reference numbers for deposits.

The first reference is your application number, and can be used to fund your account.

The second is your actual account reference, which also goes in the reference field on your payee transaction.

I used Business, instead of Personal, and Aldermore Bank PLC, instead of my own name, per the clear instructions, to successfully fund my account.

And their emails quote a contact phone number for questions of 0345 604 2678.

Just for info.

Albermarle

As above opened a savings account with Aldermore on line in 5 minutes . Could not have been more simple.