Notice Accounts

Wheres_My_Cashback

10_66 said:

Rudyson said:

10_66 said:

Rudyson said:

Shedman said:

NameWithheld said:

OakNorth 90 day rate now up to 2.26%. But this time they are also increasing on older issues if you are prepared to wait until 1st September 

Its really good that they're now doing that instead of having to open a new one at the higher rate and move the money from the older one across to the new one, which meant having restart the clock on the notice period.  

Also like that you can (seemingly) continue to top up the existing account but keep the same end of notice date, so effectively getting shorter and shorter period notice accounts the closer you get to the notice end date when you top up, but you get the higher rate regardless (so potentially outstripping even the best 31 / 60 day notice accounts such as Zopa 31 day boost).

"Effective from 01 Sep 2022, the interest rate on your Notice Account ending in *****xxx will increase from 2.02% AER to 2.26% AER.

We’ll apply this higher rate to your account automatically, so you don't need to do anything.

If you wish to top up your account, you can do so by sending funds from your nominated bank account to your OakNorth savings account."

I don't think you can add money to an account to give yourself a shorter notice period. Unlike Zopa. you don't give notice to turn the whole account into instant access, you give notice to withdraw an amount of money (not necessarily the whole account) in 90 days. You can continue to deposit funds at any time, and withdraw funds at any time (with 90 days notice).

You can, you just give notice to close.

You can, but don't have to close the account, and there's nothing to suggest that you can add funds to an account you've asked them to close, and get a shorter notice period for the added money

Where does it say you can’t add funds to an account on which you’ve given notice to “close”? Best to check with them for yourself, but I was told you can do so.

I gave notice to close a few days ago.

2 days later I acquired additional funds and deposited into the account.

The reply back was  

As you placed notice on 23 August 2022, the funds that were in the account at that time (£xxxxxx) will be returned to your nominated bank account on 21 November 2022. However, as you then deposited further funds on 25 August 2022, the closure of your account will be processed on 23 November 2022 (closure will include any accrued interest).
Please note that if you make any further deposits, these funds may not be included in the withdrawal on 23 November 2022 and a separate notice will have to be placed.

Clearly, the request had not been actioned prior to the new deposit, but If it had have been actioned already then I'd expect the final sentence to apply regarding a new instruction.

Daliah

I think you are overthinking this. These days, the blocking of payment is a random affair at any bank. so there is not much you can do to avoid getting caught up.

In my case, I had a first payment to Zopa blocked by Santander, but they let a much higher first payment to Oaknorth go through without check. Lots of people have reported blocked payments by all sorts of banks, some with ridiculous cancellations by the bank, without checking with the account holder (HSBC was one of them IIRC).

The banks have introduced those new checks to minimise their exposure to APP frauds, which they now have to refund to the victims unless they can proof that they did everything in their power to protect the victim.

Starling Bank hold up just about all my larger payments, new and repeat. But the Starling app asks you immediately for further details of the transactions, and they release the payment in 2-3 hours, plus they tell you when they have done so. So if you want to minimise the effort it takes to release blocked payments, you could try Starling. Whether you would have problems transferring money into Starling depends on your bank.

Rudyson

10_66 said:

Rudyson said:

10_66 said:

Rudyson said:

10_66 said:

Rudyson said:

Shedman said:

NameWithheld said:

OakNorth 90 day rate now up to 2.26%. But this time they are also increasing on older issues if you are prepared to wait until 1st September 

Its really good that they're now doing that instead of having to open a new one at the higher rate and move the money from the older one across to the new one, which meant having restart the clock on the notice period.  

Also like that you can (seemingly) continue to top up the existing account but keep the same end of notice date, so effectively getting shorter and shorter period notice accounts the closer you get to the notice end date when you top up, but you get the higher rate regardless (so potentially outstripping even the best 31 / 60 day notice accounts such as Zopa 31 day boost).

"Effective from 01 Sep 2022, the interest rate on your Notice Account ending in *****xxx will increase from 2.02% AER to 2.26% AER.

We’ll apply this higher rate to your account automatically, so you don't need to do anything.

If you wish to top up your account, you can do so by sending funds from your nominated bank account to your OakNorth savings account."

I don't think you can add money to an account to give yourself a shorter notice period. Unlike Zopa. you don't give notice to turn the whole account into instant access, you give notice to withdraw an amount of money (not necessarily the whole account) in 90 days. You can continue to deposit funds at any time, and withdraw funds at any time (with 90 days notice).

You can, you just give notice to close.

You can, but don't have to close the account, and there's nothing to suggest that you can add funds to an account you've asked them to close, and get a shorter notice period for the added money

Where does it say you can’t add funds to an account on which you’ve given notice to “close”? Best to check with them for yourself, but I was told you can do so.

If you've been told you can, then fair enough, but there was nothing in Shedman's post that said you could, and that's the one I originally quoted and replied to.

But Shedman did say that when he/she said;

“Also like that you can (seemingly) continue to top up the existing account but keep the same end of notice date, so effectively getting shorter and shorter period notice accounts the closer you get to the notice end date when you top up, but you get the higher rate regardless”. 

The 'seemingly' appeared to be Shedman inferring it from:

"Effective from 01 Sep 2022, the interest rate on your Notice Account ending in *****xxx will increase from 2.02% AER to 2.26% AER.

We’ll apply this higher rate to your account automatically, so you don't need to do anything.

If you wish to top up your account, you can do so by sending funds from your nominated bank account to your OakNorth savings account."

There's nothing in that to suggest notice can be reduced.

As I said, if you've been told it can by Oaknorth, then fair enough.

Report

Rudyson

Bobblehat said:

So this leads me on to some questions that I would appreciate feedback on from you folk with more experience of OakNorth.

Given the problems I had with making deposits, would there be any advantage to, and any way to, keep a small balance in an existing OakNorth 90 Day account after withdrawing the initial deposits and the bulk (but not all) of the interest? Could this enable any future funds to this account (in the unlikely scenario of it still being the best rate) to be made easily, or to then transferred them to a better rate OakNorth 90 Day account (etc), should one exist and be applied for? I'd appreciate your thoughts on this.

As Oaknorth appear to have changed their policy, and are now increasing rates on existing accounts, I will definitely keep an account open with a small amount.

Bobblehat

Daliah said:

I think you are overthinking this. These days, the blocking of payment is a random affair at any bank. so there is not much you can do to avoid getting caught up.

I agree Daliah, I probably am overthinking this and I agree that payment blocking does seem random 

On the other hand, leaving an OakNorth account open probably won't make the blocked payment situation any worse and I wouldn't have to set up a new payee if Oaknorth stopped increasing rates on older Issues and I had to open a new Issue for better rates. Or would I have to set up a new payee anyway .....?

Can you fund an initial payment to a new OakNorth account from an older OakNorth account, or do you have to make at least the first deposit to the new one from your nominated Bank? I seem to remember several pages back that there was a discussion that might have relevance to this, but it might have only been in the case of closing the older account only ... little unsure on this? Can you later send funds to the older account and transfer those funds to a newer account without waiting 90 Days? If you can't, I guess my idea might just as well be dropped!

Thanks Rudyson, how do you leave a small amount in? Set up a withdrawal for the balance plus an estimate of the interest minus a few quid?

Rudyson

Bobblehat said:

Daliah said:

I think you are overthinking this. These days, the blocking of payment is a random affair at any bank. so there is not much you can do to avoid getting caught up.

I agree Daliah, I probably am overthinking this and I agree that payment blocking does seem random 

On the other hand, leaving an OakNorth account open probably won't make the blocked payment situation any worse and I wouldn't have to set up a new payee if Oaknorth stopped increasing rates on older Issues and I had to open a new Issue for better rates. Or would I have to set up a new payee anyway .....?

Can you fund an initial payment to a new OakNorth account from an older OakNorth account, or do you have to make at least the first deposit to the new one from your nominated Bank? I seem to remember several pages back that there was a discussion that might have relevance to this, but it might have only been in the case of closing the older account only ... little unsure on this? Can you later send funds to the older account and transfer those funds to a newer account without waiting 90 Days? If you can't, I guess my idea might just as well be dropped!

Thanks Rudyson, how do you leave a small amount in? Set up a withdrawal for the balance plus an estimate of the interest minus a few quid?

Firstly, yes you can fund an initial payment to a new OakNorth account from an older OakNorth account, but there are conditions. The new account has to be at least the same notice length as the old one. If you transfer cash you've given notice on, that notice is cancelled, and a new notice period needs to be given. If all the money in the old account is under notice, you'll have to add £1 to it, and then all the funds can be transferred.

Re. leaving a small amount in. As far as I know, you can't give notice to withdraw interest that hasn't already accrued, notice on the interest has to be given separately when it accrues. If you do want the interest as well, you have to message them that you want the account closed.

MoTurtle

I'm new to Notice savings accounts. My wife and I want to save two lots of 10% from our regular incomes, for different reasons (savings and giving).

I saw ZOPA recommended in MSE, but I have several basic questions about ZOPA Smart Savings. I've read their T&C's but can't find answers there and their website just says 'download the app'. I'm asking questions as some here have experience with ZOPA and seem very knowlegeable. (but can create a new thread if needs be):

1)  Is the App easy to use (I read Trustpilot reviews saying it was basic, and buggy, but they were dated 2021 mostly)
2) Must there be a single Nominated current account to send/receive funds to the App, or can you send from any account (my wife and are are both going to contribute funds: she has individual account, I have business account, and we have a joint account - but a hoping to avoid the extra steps of transferring to a nominated account first).
3)  can you set up standing orders/direct debits to pay the Smart Savings app?
4) does each pot have its own sort code and account no?
5) if you have money in a boosted pot (say 95 days), and want it sooner, can you do this and pay a penalty, or are you stuck with the full 95 days - I ask because the funds may be used for property purchase and 95days is just that bit longer, but not exactly sure when will buy so might take risk of having in 95 days)
6) can you have several 95 day pots, with different names, or is it just one pot for each notice period?
7) One final general question: I've picked up on this thread that it seems to be a strategy to open a notice account, then give notice straight away. I take it this is to ensure you take advantage of rising rates, or is there any other reason? Sorry if silly question.

Many thanks and hoping to learn from you with experience here!

Rudyson

MoTurtle said:

I'm new to Notice savings accounts. My wife and I want to save two lots of 10% from our regular incomes, for different reasons (savings and giving).

I saw ZOPA recommended in MSE, but I have several basic questions about ZOPA Smart Savings. I've read their T&C's but can't find answers there and their website just says 'download the app'. I'm asking questions as some here have experience with ZOPA and seem very knowlegeable. (but can create a new thread if needs be):

1)  Is the App easy to use (I read Trustpilot reviews saying it was basic, and buggy, but they were dated 2021 mostly)
2) Must there be a single Nominated current account to send/receive funds to the App, or can you send from any account (my wife and are are both going to contribute funds: she has individual account, I have business account, and we have a joint account - but a hoping to avoid the extra steps of transferring to a nominated account first).
3)  can you set up standing orders/direct debits to pay the Smart Savings app?
4) does each pot have its own sort code and account no?
5) if you have money in a boosted pot (say 95 days), and want it sooner, can you do this and pay a penalty, or are you stuck with the full 95 days - I ask because the funds may be used for property purchase and 95days is just that bit longer, but not exactly sure when will buy so might take risk of having in 95 days)
6) can you have several 95 day pots, with different names, or is it just one pot for each notice period?
7) One final general question: I've picked up on this thread that it seems to be a strategy to open a notice account, then give notice straight away. I take it this is to ensure you take advantage of rising rates, or is there any other reason? Sorry if silly question.

Many thanks and hoping to learn from you with experience here!

1. Yes, very easy to use, and I speak as someone who only has this one banking app.

2. You can fund the account from multiple accounts, but each account must be verified by Zopa before you transfer from it.

3. I assume you can set up a standing order to the account.

4. No. You pay in to the primary account and transfer to different pots from within the app. It only takes a few minutes to arrive in your account, and you get an alert on the app and an email to tell you the money's been received.

5. No, you have to serve the full notice, but see 6.

6. Yes. You can have any number of pots for each notice period.

7. You may as well give notice straight away, as notice can be cancelled at any time, or the pot simply boosted again at the end of the notice period if the rate still suits you. Giving notice immediately gives you maximum flexibility.

Bobblehat

Rudyson said:

Re. leaving a small amount in. As far as I know, you can't give notice to withdraw interest that hasn't already accrued, notice on the interest has to be given separately when it accrues. If you do want the interest as well, you have to message them that you want the account closed.

Thanks Rudyson .... got your first point. The 2nd point ... that does complicate things! It would presumably mean withdrawing the original funded amount after 90 days from today (in my case the sum of the 2 deposits) and then the interest in stages 90 days after it is added each month. I'll have to ponder on whether it's worth the faff or not!

Daliah

Bobblehat said:

Rudyson said:

Re. leaving a small amount in. As far as I know, you can't give notice to withdraw interest that hasn't already accrued, notice on the interest has to be given separately when it accrues. If you do want the interest as well, you have to message them that you want the account closed.

Thanks Rudyson .... got your first point. The 2nd point ... that does complicate things! It would presumably mean withdrawing the original funded amount after 90 days from today (in my case the sum of the 2 deposits) and then the interest in stages 90 days after it is added each month. I'll have to ponder on whether it's worth the faff or not!

The account you can withdraw to can be any of your linked accounts. There is no limit to the number of accounts you can link. So not sure why this would complicate matters?

I am also not clear what you mean about withdrawing the interest in stages - can you explain?

Some further notes:

You cannot hold a Smartsaver as a joint account

You can deposit from linked account only.

Linked accounts must be in  the name of the Zopa account holder. In other words,

1. you cannot make deposits from your business account unless it is a sole trader account in your name - but it would be terrible mess if you mixed personal and business savings. Ask your accountant.
2. your wife cannot deposit into your Smartsaver and you can't deposit into hers

Best download the app and have a play with it yourself. I find it the easiest banking app I have ever used and I don't think it's buggy. You don't have to deposit much to play about - just a fiver or a tenner, but as above, you have to link the account first and it must be in your name.