MSE News: First Direct doubles interest on regular saver to 7% – how to get the new rate

Brewer21

Dh6 said:

@ cold iron 

there is no option on my app to credit
my account. I could send money out ( if I managed to add any credit to it ) but there’s no option to pay money in. 

The live chat has been worse than useless.

regards DH

Paying in is only by standing order, that's set up when opening up the regular saver. You pay the SO from a FD current, hence why you need a current account with them. No other option to pay in I'm afraid.
I've had numerous RS with FD, you can increase/decrease the amount from £25 to £300 max in the app.
You can't withdraw money either from the RS, only if you close it.

ANGLICANPAT

Whats the formula please to work out  the average %  interest  per year with these savers  that restrict your pay in amount per month?

Band7

ANGLICANPAT said:

Whats the formula please to work out  the average %  interest  per year with these savers  that restrict your pay in amount per month?

easiest is to use https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/savings/regular-savings-calculator/

ColdIron

ANGLICANPAT said:

Whats the formula please to work out  the average %  interest  per year with these savers  that restrict your pay in amount per month?

If you mean the amount of interest then this gets you pretty close

Monthly amount * rate/100 * 6.5

E.g. 400 * 0.0525 * 6.5 = £136.50

If you really mean 'the average % interest  per year' then it's the advertised rate, they pay you what they say they will pay you. E.g. if the advertised rate is 5.25% then the average % interest  per year is 5.25%

Many people make the mistake of thinking they pay you half the rate on the full amount but this is wrong. If you want a really rough calculation you can do in your head then it's more accurate to think of the full rate on the average balance (because that's much closer to what actually happens) so £4,800/2 * 0.0525 = £126 but as I say, it's pretty rough

cricidmuslibale

ColdIron said:

ANGLICANPAT said:

Whats the formula please to work out  the average %  interest  per year with these savers  that restrict your pay in amount per month?

If you mean the amount of interest this gets you pretty close

Monthly amount * rate/100 * 6.5

E.g. 400 * 0.0525 * 6.5 = £136.50

If you really mean 'the average % interest  per year' then it's the advertised rate. E.g. if the advertised rate is 5.25% then the average % interest  per year is 5.25%

ANGLICANPAT said:

Whats the formula please to work out  the average %  interest  per year with these savers  that restrict your pay in amount per month?

Monthly amount * rate / 100 * 6.5 slightly overestimates the total annual interest each time. Monthly amount * rate / 100 * 6.44 gives a slightly more accurate estimate, I think.

ColdIron

You could be right

ClaraSolis

I'm debating whether to open one or not. I recently switched to FD thinking I would open their 3.5% regular saver, but then Lloyds upped their interest to over 5% so I opened one with them. 

I have some savings in my Santander easy access account at 2.74% but I am a bit worried about basically locking away my money for a year on 2 regular saver accounts...

Is it likely we'll see any more rate increases on easy access accounts? Or an even better rate than 7% on a regular saver?

jaypers

ClaraSolis said:

I'm debating whether to open one or not. I recently switched to FD thinking I would open their 3.5% regular saver, but then Lloyds upped their interest to over 5% so I opened one with them. 

I have some savings in my Santander easy access account at 2.74% but I am a bit worried about basically locking away my money for a year on 2 regular saver accounts...

Is it likely we'll see any more rate increases on easy access accounts? Or an even better rate than 7% on a regular saver?

You’re not locking your money away really. If you need the money early, you just need to contact FD to close the account. The funds to date will be released, although the interest earned will only be paid at a much lower savings rate and not the 7%

flaneurs_lobster

I set up a first direct current account a couple of months ago (to get a swap bonus) and (successfully) used it as a doner account for a swap bonus. Are they likely to have rules about me opening another current account so soon after swapping/closing the last?

Monzo have allowed me to open another account a month after closing/swapping the last one.

westv

cricidmuslibale said:

ColdIron said:

ANGLICANPAT said:

Whats the formula please to work out  the average %  interest  per year with these savers  that restrict your pay in amount per month?

If you mean the amount of interest this gets you pretty close

Monthly amount * rate/100 * 6.5

E.g. 400 * 0.0525 * 6.5 = £136.50

If you really mean 'the average % interest  per year' then it's the advertised rate. E.g. if the advertised rate is 5.25% then the average % interest  per year is 5.25%

ANGLICANPAT said:

Whats the formula please to work out  the average %  interest  per year with these savers  that restrict your pay in amount per month?

Monthly amount * rate / 100 * 6.5 slightly overestimates the total annual interest each time. Monthly amount * rate / 100 * 6.44 gives a slightly more accurate estimate, I think.

Am I the only one that has a % button on my calculator?