Chip+1 Account moving to Allica Bank

quirkydeptless

I got an email from Chip recently regarding changes to their fees...

https://www.getchip.uk/the-blog/chip-is-becoming-free

My account plus accrued bonus was moved Today, as scheduled, to a 0.7% interest easy access Alicia account with no fees and FSCS protection up to £85K

moneysaver1978

What's wrong with the Lite Plan (free) which has the same easy access 0.70% as AI plan (£1.50)?

According to the Chip app, I cannot see a difference between the two other than automatic savings and investment features. So if you aren't interested in these, then perhaps Lite is best option.

Nardge

Good afternoon,

I think the attached link will address all of the above queries, and is worth a read!

• Free access to all current and future savings accounts (inc. the current 0.7% Easy Access account)
• Rise in the deposit caps to £85,000 (and with FSCS protection) in all of the same

I understand CHIP are scheduled to release another chart-topping savings account in addition to the 0.7% Alicia quite soon.
 
More of Chip is becoming free to use (getchip.uk)

With Kind Regards

StockportSaveree

Thanks Nardge

Unfortunately I got chips email after I had moved, but they are still not the best as their mission states.  I spread my cash between Investec 0.71% and Aldermore 0.75% to get the best savings.  If chip did it’s job properly then I wouldn’t need to keep watch for the best savings account.
I don’t use Chips autosave as it still needs development to match others and doesn’t work for me.  It can only link to 1 account and analyse 1 account which makes their autosave suggestions useless.  Other apps on open banking link to multiple accounts as well as credit cards, and in different currencies if you want, which gives them a much better picture of my spending and gives more sensible suggestions on what I can afford to save. Chip needs to fix that!

I do not rate chip as an investment platform as it is expensive.  MSE reports don’t recommend app-based investment platforms either. For example, Vanguard charges 0.15% compared to Chip and Plum who charge a lot more, as well as taking a fee for doing so.  And Vanguard gives a wider range of funds and caters for safer investing with prebuilt portfolios, and more importantly, it gives analysis information so that people can make a more informed choice which is important when self-investing.  Chip doesn’t give their customers this level of support, and there’s no one to talk to either (I really don’t like their delayed chat service, it’s not a chat service but a work queue for their agents).

So Chip is now just another savings account that I watch like others to get the best rate given inflation is rising and eroding my cash savings.  If it becomes the best, then I’ll move, like I would with others.  I don’t know why Savingschampion and MSE do not put them in the leaderboards, as these are where I go to find the best savings accounts.

VXman

StockportSaveree said:

VXman said:

Found this when looking through the terms and conditions.

Good spot and technically correct,

But the Chip Fee is not for holding money in a specific account.  The Fee is for The Plan that you are on (AI or X) and covers the costs for the chip team to go out on a daily basis and negotiate the best deals with banks.  They can attach lots of different account deals to a specific plan and the ‘fee’ allows you access to all the accounts in that plan.  Subtle definition of what it covers means that chip will continue charging the flat rate fee whether you have money in the account or not, as it’s the plan that you are paying for.

Nope - definitley no fees.... 

Standard Chip membership will be free

The standard Chip membership plan will have no monthly fee. This will be the default plan for all new users and users currently on the ChipLite plan.

This gives full access to all our FSCS-eligible savings accounts (notably our easy-access account with 0.70% variable AER), with unlimited withdrawals and deposits from £1 up to £85,000. Our team is constantly negotiating with banks to improve the rates, so watch this space for rate increases too.

We’re also including our auto-saving tech and three investment funds powered by BlackRock.* Remember, your capital is at risk when investing.

No messing about, no complexity, no monthly fees. The best savings account in the world….. for FREE.

See the image below for everything you get.

HardCoreProgrammer2

In my current account, I notice that a direct debit payment of £1.50 was taken on 2020-12-29. I wonder if other people also have the same payment taken.

The chip mobile app shows a "Transfer" on 2020-12-07 and the account now says "Allica Bank". On 2021-12-08, the interest (believed to be the 1.25% up to 2020-12-07) was paid to my current account. So I should not have anything to do with chip anymore. Why are they still taking money from me?
I have Cynergy also at 0.70% and no monthly fee, so probably just best to close the Allica Bank account and be done with it.

HHarry

HardCoreProgrammer2 said:

In my current account, I notice that a direct debit payment of £1.50 was taken on 2020-12-29. I wonder if other people also have the same payment taken.

The chip mobile app shows a "Transfer" on 2020-12-07 and the account now says "Allica Bank". On 2021-12-08, the interest (believed to be the 1.25% up to 2020-12-07) was paid to my current account. So I should not have anything to do with chip anymore. Why are they still taking money from me?
I have Cynergy also at 0.70% and no monthly fee, so probably just best to close the Allica Bank account and be done with it.

Have you actually closed your Chip account?  If not, it’s still open and they’ll collect their fee.

I closed mine on Friday - expecting confirmation this week.  I did video the process so I have proof.  You can do it through the App details are in the FAQ.

HardCoreProgrammer2

I just found the time to check and the account seems to be still open with zero balance. This is most probably the reason.
Could you please clarify where is the FAQ? I cannot find it in their website but only found the below.
If the procedures are correct, I do not know why you need to video the entire process.


https://intercom.help/get-chip/en/articles/4219388-how-do-i-close-delete-my-account#:~:text=If you would like to,the bottom of the screen.

How do I close/delete my account?

If you would like to close your Chip account please select "Contact us" on the profile tab to get through to our Customer Success Team. From here please select "Send us a Message" and then 'I want to close my Chip account' down the bottom of the screen.
Now please carefully follow through the steps on screen and one of the team will assist you will finalising the closure of your account.

HHarry

Yes, that’s the proceedure I followed.  It asks a number of questions to confirm you want to close your account.

Why did I video it?  On the remote chance that Chip play silly beggars, fail to close my account and try to keep charging me, I’ve got some proof.