Chase UK discussion

Jopo1

I'm keeping my savings in Chase for the time being - I have opened a couple more savings accounts as interest rates keep increasing, but then Chase increases their rate and the other accounts don't, so I've ended up moving the money back to Chase!  CLosing the other accounts is a PITA so I've stopped bothering.  

crumpet_man

Jopo1 said:

TheBanker said:

I've also noticed, recently, that when I log in, my balance is not up to date. It updates after a few seconds, but this has caught me out before and led to a declined card payment. Has anyone else noticed this?

Yes I've noticed that - and ended up having a payment declined because I thought that at a glance I had enough in the account.  The app is really slow to respond vs  my high street bank apps.

And another thing which really isn't clear.... the round up account pays 5%, but only for 12m from the date you opened it.  After 12m it sweeps whatever you've got in there into your savings account and then it starts again.  So you only get 5% on the first month or so, then anyhting you put in in the next month only earns interest for 11 months, then 10 months then 9 months etc.  
I think the round up money is better off in the savings account.  At least you get 3.3% /12 every month. 

Why do you think 3.3% is better than 5%?

If your round up for month six is £10, you will earn 5% interest on that £10 for six months and then you can put it in the 3.3% savings account for six months.  That will be more in interest than 12 months at 3.3%

Do you have any regular saver accounts?  The round up account is the same principle as those.

Band7

Jopo1 said:

And another thing which really isn't clear.... the round up account pays 5%, but only for 12m from the date you opened it.  After 12m it sweeps whatever you've got in there into your savings account and then it starts again.  So you only get 5% on the first month or so, then anyhting you put in in the next month only earns interest for 11 months, then 10 months then 9 months etc.  
I think the round up money is better off in the savings account.  At least you get 3.3% /12 every month. 

The Chase Roundup account is essentially a 12 month regular saver, and despite its 5% AER a particularly unattractive one, due to the small amounts you can deposit into it. 

However, money in it earns more interest than in a 3.3% account, simply because 5 is greater than 3.3. So you are not better off having the money in the 3.3% account - though the sums involved are very small unless you are a gigantic spender.

There is a pertinent discussion about the merits of regular savers over on the Savings & Investment board:

 https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6447002/7-0-actually-3-69

BarGin

Band7 said:

- though the sums involved are very small unless you are a gigantic spender.

You don't have to spend a lot. Just spend 1p many times!

miller

Band7 said:

I also have an ancient Barclaycard from 2007 (NLA) which only pays 0.5% now - though this is sometimes 0.5% more than I would get from Chase, and if Amex isn't accepted, as I get 0.5% at all retailers without exceptions. They also have an additional rewards scheme, from which I have somehow made a fiver in the last month, though this is probably an outlier as those reward schemes are usually pants.

Sounds like the Barlcaycard Cashback Visa card which used to have the Barlcaycard Cashback Amex alongside it for 1%. I had most of the various incarnations of Egg Credit Cards which were the precursor.

masonic

BarGin said:

Band7 said:

- though the sums involved are very small unless you are a gigantic spender.

You don't have to spend a lot. Just spend 1p many times!

That's true, but it's not a great money-spinner. You'll need to clock up over 200 x 1p transactions per hour to earn at the minimum wage. That's immediately after opening the round up account. It gets progressively worse as time goes by and the money is in the account for a smaller fraction of the 12 months.

Band7

BarGin said:

Band7 said:

- though the sums involved are very small unless you are a gigantic spender.

You don't have to spend a lot. Just spend 1p many times!

I wasn't thinking of unnatural acts but if you are into doing them, you'd be a lot better off at Natwest and at RBS. Not only do they pay 6.12%, you can also do double round-ups. Meaning your 1p spend wouldn't just add 99p but £1.98. Plus you can deposit £150 a month into the account, and the account doesn't get automatically emptied after 12 months. Your risk of getting accounts closed / cards blocked are the same as at Chase.

pochisoldi

My first year comes to an end in the coming weeks. My roundup account has accumulated about £233 excluding interest.
A year ago 5% even on such a piffling amount was worth while, but I can now do better elsewhere.
Combine this with the fact that for 75% of the month, I've been using a credit card, getting 0.5% cash back, plus the interest free period, the amount of money going through the Chase current account has dwindled.

Roundups will be turned off, and the card will continue to be used for the last week and a bit of the monthly credit card cycle (where 1% cashback beats, 0.5% cashback+offset interest).

The savings account has been hovering around zero for a long while - transfers from the main (offset, non-chase) bank account to cover Chase transactions are shown in the Chase current balance immediately, unlike transfers from savings which seem to take a few minutes and card payments get rejected before the Chase app gets its acts together.

Overall I think Chase aren't that bad - the bells and whistles were good when interest rates were lower, but it's been left behind for me as I've reshuffled my finances.
Mind you, there is no way on God's earth that I would use them for my primary bank account unless they introduced some form of online (web browser on a PC) access.

Zaul22

Chase just got added to CASS today. 

km1500

thanks that is interesting news