Union bank of India - 3.2% 1 year fix

Frequentlyhere

On the face of it, this looks a very tempting offer indeed for an FSCS protected 1 year bond. Thoughts?

In my view, I'm typically quite happy to store my cash with little-known banks, but I am hesitating here. Their website looks like it was designed 20 years ago, and their English isn't great either. Something tells me I'm going to find this more pain than it's worth.

I also find it a bit weird that they've opted not only to smash the 3% barrier when the highest rate otherwise is 2.85%, but also to take it all the way to 3.2%. I hope that marks a new wave of higher rates, we'll see...

EthicsGradient

I would say it's best to see it as the first of a wave after the 0.5% base rate rise - then beating the previous rates by 0.35% is quite understandable. In which case waiting a few days to see how each provider moves is probably worth it.

With a fixed length bond, the customer service doesn't matter so much to me - you don't expect anything beyond "it's a year later, here's the money, and here's how much interest we paid you". Though I suppose ID requirements are becoming stricter, and sorting that out can now be part of customer service.

wmb194

Frequentlyhere said:

On the face of it, this looks a very tempting offer indeed for an FSCS protected 1 year bond. Thoughts?

In my view, I'm typically quite happy to store my cash with little-known banks, but I am hesitating here. Their website looks like it was designed 20 years ago, and their English isn't great either. Something tells me I'm going to find this more pain than it's worth.

I also find it a bit weird that they've opted not only to smash the 3% barrier when the highest rate otherwise is 2.85%, but also to take it all the way to 3.2%. I hope that marks a new wave of higher rates, we'll see...

There was a thread earlier in the year where, in amongst the CoP stuff, one poster criticised its professionalism.

 https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/6333082/problem-depositing-funds-with-union-bank-of-india-uk-ltd

Olinda99

One newspaper money section reaction:

"'I think the pricing is a mistake by Union Bank and therefore I expect those rates will be gone very soon – probably by the end of this week,' said Blower.

There was no need to price so far above existing competitors, therefore, I don't think we will see a reaction to it and most competitors will sit and wait for them to drop their rates."

wmb194

Olinda99 said:

One newspaper money section reaction:

"'I think the pricing is a mistake by Union Bank and therefore I expect those rates will be gone very soon – probably by the end of this week,' said Blower.

There was no need to price so far above existing competitors, therefore, I don't think we will see a reaction to it and most competitors will sit and wait for them to drop their rates."

Probably because it needs deposits fast. It appears to be a bit of a small operation.  If you look at its latest results posted to Companies House you'll see that it relies almost completely on customer deposits for funding.

https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/company/07653660/filing-history

bristolleedsfan

EthicsGradient said:

Though I suppose ID requirements are becoming stricter, and sorting that out can now be part of customer service.

I applied today, was not asked to upload any ID, sadly missed 1pm interest starting today deadline for a variety of reasons including Halifax needing to verify transaction.

Millyonare

A whole article on UBI, here.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/money/saving/article-11091663/Union-Bank-India-UK-launches-one-year-savings-account-paying-3-2.html

bristolleedsfan

bristolleedsfan said:

EthicsGradient said:

Though I suppose ID requirements are becoming stricter, and sorting that out can now be part of customer service.

I applied today, was not asked to upload any ID, sadly missed 1pm interest starting today deadline for a variety of reasons including Halifax needing to verify transaction.

24 hours after Halifax sent F.P. I received email confirming U.B India received payment yesterday.

5/6 hours after that email Your Login Details for accessing Union Premier Bond account are enclosed as an encrypted PDF attachment, followed by another email  Your Login Details for accessing Union Premier Bond account are enclosed as an encrypted PDF attachment.Union Premier Bond Deposit - Login Password.

When I signed up I chose maturity funds be paid back to same account deposit was made from. 

Bigwheels1111

A year ago I got a 1.5% fixed with Atom.
Most banks then were offering 0.01% or 0.5%.

I thought at the time it was the best rate ever.
Now I’m holding out until December or January for 5% for 5 years fixed.
I can hope.

waryandscary

Opened a UBI Bond yesterday but Halifax blocked the transfer.  Spoke to 2 separate people in fraud dept who both said it was 'a scam'.  It's good that banks are checking large transfers but the 'confirmation of payee' system is obviously blocking some otherwise valid accounts.  Spoke to UBI who would only confirm that the sort code and account number were 'correct' but were otherwise not helpful.  They must be losing quite a lot of business.  Anyway, looking elsewhere as UBI seem less than professional.

poppy10_2

wmb194 said:

Olinda99 said:

One newspaper money section reaction:

"'I think the pricing is a mistake by Union Bank and therefore I expect those rates will be gone very soon – probably by the end of this week,' said Blower.

There was no need to price so far above existing competitors, therefore, I don't think we will see a reaction to it and most competitors will sit and wait for them to drop their rates."

Probably because it needs deposits fast. It appears to be a bit of a small operation.  If you look at its latest results posted to Companies House you'll see that it relies almost completely on customer deposits for funding.

https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/company/07653660/filing-history

Union Bank of India is one of the biggest banks in India.

Not sure if Union Bank of India (UK) is a legit sub-operation