Ecology Direct Debits

Chadsman

I am trying to find some more easy direct debits so that I can keep as many current accounts with perks as possible. When paying into two different Ecology savings accounts by direct debit do they use the same mandate for both savings accounts? Can you have two DDs from different savings accounts into two different current accounts?

Bridlington1

I've got the Ecology easy access linked up to Natwest and the regular saver linked to Bank of Scotland (to switch to TSB) and I've never had any issues.

I assume they would use the same mandate for 2 different accounts if linked to one current account, so it would not be wise to have 2 ecology accounts linked to one current account.

For the perks, I've got Wealthify x 3 plus a credit card for Co-op, Scottish widows x 2 for RBS, Ecology easy access plus a credit card for Natwest. This has left me with Plum for TSB student account to switch to Barclays for the blue rewards, Moneybox and ecology regular saver on a Bank of Scotland donor account soon to switch to TSB.

Steve_xx

I'm interested in Ecology Building Society and their Easy access account. I'd ideally like to setup two Direct Debit mandates to pull £10 per month from two current accounts. I guess the question is: can you have more than one DD mandate on a single Ecology easy access account?

kaMelo

Steve_xx said:

I'm interested in Ecology Building Society and their Easy access account. I'd ideally like to setup two Direct Debit mandates to pull £10 per month from two current accounts. I guess the question is: can you have more than one DD mandate on a single Ecology easy access account?

No, only one DD mandate per account and the mandate will only pull a deposit via DD once a month. 
It's worth bearing in mind though that if you have more than one account with Ecology you can use a different bank account for each account's DD mandate. 

Also worth noting the variations in terms for each account. The regular saver and cash ISA allows the initial deposit via DD, for the easy access and notice account the initial deposit has to be either bank transfer/cheque. Subsequent deposits can be made via DD for all account but the minimum DD amount varies depending upon the account, the easy access for example has a minimum £10 whereas the regular saver it's £25.

To be honest setting these up is a bit of a faff, the DD mandate has to be printed off their website, filled in and posted back to them. It usually takes around a month before the DD is in place and they rarely (if ever) feature near the top of the interest rates tables.
But, if you think of these more like set and forget DD's for accounts requiring DD's to qualify for whatever it is they are offering or an account you switch regularly then they do a job. Indeed, an Ecology DD allowed me to keep Blue Rewards running at Barclays and subsequently open their new 5% rainy day saver. .

dcs34

Bridlington1 said:

I've got the Ecology easy access linked up to Natwest and the regular saver linked to Bank of Scotland (to switch to TSB) and I've never had any issues.

I assume they would use the same mandate for 2 different accounts if linked to one current account, so it would not be wise to have 2 ecology accounts linked to one current account.

I have the easy access and regular saver linked to the same current account and it has always qualified as two monthly direct debits for the purposes of switching offers etc.

ForumUser7

dcs34 said:

Bridlington1 said:

I've got the Ecology easy access linked up to Natwest and the regular saver linked to Bank of Scotland (to switch to TSB) and I've never had any issues.

I assume they would use the same mandate for 2 different accounts if linked to one current account, so it would not be wise to have 2 ecology accounts linked to one current account.

I have the easy access and regular saver linked to the same current account and it has always qualified as two monthly direct debits for the purposes of switching offers etc.

Do you think this should work for Barclay's Blue Rewards please? I.e. if I do £25 to Ecology RS and £10 to Ecology CA per month both via direct debit the £5 fee would be returned? Thanks

Bridlington1

ForumUser7 said:

dcs34 said:

Bridlington1 said:

I've got the Ecology easy access linked up to Natwest and the regular saver linked to Bank of Scotland (to switch to TSB) and I've never had any issues.

I assume they would use the same mandate for 2 different accounts if linked to one current account, so it would not be wise to have 2 ecology accounts linked to one current account.

I have the easy access and regular saver linked to the same current account and it has always qualified as two monthly direct debits for the purposes of switching offers etc.

Do you think this should work for Barclay's Blue Rewards please? I.e. if I do £25 to Ecology RS and £10 to Ecology CA per month both via direct debit the £5 fee would be returned? Thanks

It should do. You have to pay out 2 direct debits each month, which doesn't necessarily need to be to separate companies.

As an aside, if this is your first time opening an ecology account I would recommend not sending off your direct debit forms straight away. This is because they send you out a customer feedback form when you open your first ecology account, which comes with a prepaid envalope addressed to the same people that set up the direct debits so you can save yourself the cost of a stamp by sending the direct debit forms with the feedback form.

ForumUser7

Bridlington1 said:

ForumUser7 said:

dcs34 said:

Bridlington1 said:

I've got the Ecology easy access linked up to Natwest and the regular saver linked to Bank of Scotland (to switch to TSB) and I've never had any issues.

I assume they would use the same mandate for 2 different accounts if linked to one current account, so it would not be wise to have 2 ecology accounts linked to one current account.

I have the easy access and regular saver linked to the same current account and it has always qualified as two monthly direct debits for the purposes of switching offers etc.

Do you think this should work for Barclay's Blue Rewards please? I.e. if I do £25 to Ecology RS and £10 to Ecology CA per month both via direct debit the £5 fee would be returned? Thanks

It should do. You have to pay out 2 direct debits each month, which doesn't necessarily need to be to separate companies.

As an aside, if this is your first time opening an ecology account I would recommend not sending off your direct debit forms straight away. This is because they send you out a customer feedback form when you open your first ecology account, which comes with a prepaid envalope addressed to the same people that set up the direct debits so you can save yourself the cost of a stamp by sending the direct debit forms with the feedback form.

As always, that's really helpful Bridlington1 - thank you! I have actually opened an easy access with them in the past few days so I'll wait till that feedback form comes and then send off direct debit setting up forms for both with it

adindas

How many Ecology easy access Saving is allowed ?

ForumUser7

adindas said:

How many Ecology easy access Saving is allowed ?

@adindas From the key features section if you wish to verify:

• Limited to one Easy Access account per member

adindaspantai

I recently learned that Ecology BS no longer accepts payments via Direct Debit (DD). Are there any other options to generate a DD that meets the requirements for certain current accounts? I’m already aware of alternatives like PayPal, Moneybox, and using spare credit cards. I recall reading about Henley Building Society and Kroo Money apps. Do they still offer this service? Is there a simple way to generate DDs? TIA