The Top Fixed Interest Savings Discussion Area

wmb194

auser99 said:

wmb194 said:

1socrates1 said:

I fixed my money earlier for 3.5% interest for 1 year and 3.75% for 2 years at HSBC. Now that Banks have been forced to increase their rates, should we be given the option to dissolve the fixes created recently and be able to fix at their better rates without incurring any penalty? 

I doubt HSBC offered the best rates when you fixed: there were other options.

Some people are only comfortable with high street banks they can get into in the flesh and won't use online.
I know my folks are in that boat. 

They make their choices; that's a market for you.

necronom

BooJewels said:

Malchester said:

BooJewels said:

necronom said:

If anyone else here has the problems I have opening accounts, then avoid FirstSave, as like some others, it won't let me join as I don't have photo ID.

I was thinking about that after you'd asked, as I've just opened a FirstSave fix and it asked for driving licence or passport details - even though it said it was optional, I wondered if it would make a difference if you didn't supply the details.

I opened a First Save account and ignored the 'optional' driving licence/ passport questions and account opened immediately OK.

Yet @necronom wasn't able to open an account without valid details.

Yeah, I always have problems.  The automatic check they do never works.  Maybe it's because I don't have a credit score.  I'm not sure, but opening bank accounts is usually a pain and takes me a couple of weeks.  Occasionally it works without too much trouble.
Why can't there be a central place they can check instead of me going through all this hassle every time?  Or just contact any of my banks and ask them.

VNX

I have a friend who has a good job is far from daft but not great with being on top of finances he said he has a ISA for his kid he opened when they are born and made regular payments he said he is glad he did he has built up a nice lump sum 

I said good idea, who is it with he said Natwest (alarm bells rang for me) I said what’s the rate, he said he didn’t know he checked, 1.1% I said you can get far more! He said shall I see what NatWest’s best ISA rate is?

I sent him moneyfactscompare website he said he found many 5%+ and thanked me, 

I asked him how he had got on he said he had looked into a few but hasn’t heard of any of them so didn’t switch. 

Goes to show the apathy which must be hugely widespread amongst savers, I said as long as they are FSCS protected go with anyone.

and without being disingenuous this guy is clever and switched on it really surprised me just how apathetic he was with regards to savings rates

i personally don’t agree it’s for government to intervene, don’t get me wrong I agree it’s wrong that the main banks are profiteering but it’s a free market, switching is easy as is searching for the best deal.

I guess those of us here are the switched on brigade but peoples misunderstanding and apathy amazes me.

gt94sss2

1socrates1 said:

The point is that the Bankers are being shown to be corrupt fat cats and having their hands forced. Therefore I thought it might be a good time to be able to do this Anyway it is just a mental exercise.

The banks haven't been forced to do anything.

1socrates1

gt94sss2 said:

1socrates1 said:

The point is that the Bankers are being shown to be corrupt fat cats and having their hands forced. Therefore I thought it might be a good time to be able to do this Anyway it is just a mental exercise.

The banks haven't been forced to do anything.

The word 'force' can take on many shades of grey. It is interesting that all the banks suddenly changed the interest rates before the meeting with the government. 

Doctor_Who

1socrates1 said:

gt94sss2 said:

1socrates1 said:

The point is that the Bankers are being shown to be corrupt fat cats and having their hands forced. Therefore I thought it might be a good time to be able to do this Anyway it is just a mental exercise.

The banks haven't been forced to do anything.

The word 'force' can take on many shades of grey. It is interesting that all the banks suddenly changed the interest rates before the meeting with the government. 

Did they? Maybe the main high street banks did, but the myriad of other banks have been increasing rates regularly for the past year. This link shows the historic rates with Paragon Bank, which I picked at random.

bristolleedsfan

1socrates1 said:

gt94sss2 said:

1socrates1 said:

The point is that the Bankers are being shown to be corrupt fat cats and having their hands forced. Therefore I thought it might be a good time to be able to do this Anyway it is just a mental exercise.

The banks haven't been forced to do anything.

The word 'force' can take on many shades of grey. It is interesting that all the banks suddenly changed the interest rates before the meeting with the government. 

Lloyds launched what was at the time best buy fixed rate ISA on 26th June, due to market conditions they are increasing fixed rate ISA in a week or so time to what would currently be best buys.

Some building societies increased rates on range of accounts yesterday/today, Halifax/Lloyds are doing the same from next week.

GlasgowExpat2

I’ve opened a FirstSave 1 year bond this morning. When I go to login it’s asking for my User ID - do I need to wait for this to arrive in the post?

Thumbs_Up

1socrates1 said:

gt94sss2 said:

1socrates1 said:

The point is that the Bankers are being shown to be corrupt fat cats and having their hands forced. Therefore I thought it might be a good time to be able to do this Anyway it is just a mental exercise.

The banks haven't been forced to do anything.

The word 'force' can take on many shades of grey. It is interesting that all the banks suddenly changed the interest rates before the meeting with the government. 

Coerce would be the word. The government have this big lever labeled up as windfall tax.

janusd

GlasgowExpat2 said:

I’ve opened a FirstSave 1 year bond this morning. When I go to login it’s asking for my User ID - do I need to wait for this to arrive in the post?

yes - I opened a notice account with them on Wednesday (partly to make it easier to potentially open fixes with them later in the year) and the successful application email states...

Welcome to Firstsave your User ID is now on its way to you in the post. Your User ID is unique to you and you will require this before you can login to your Firstsave account online. Please allow 3-5 working days from the date of your application for this to be received. If you do not receive this within 7-10 days, please contact us and we will re issue you it for you.