Highest Savings Rate

jaypers

MikeJXE said:

I've been wondering about all the hype and clamber to open one, It surprised me with all the very smart people on here. Not that I'm getting at the smart ones so it must have been from the not so smart. 7% rate on that account is nothing special if you have a lump sum to invest. 

So why even bother discussing Regular Saver accounts here? Let’s just ignore them eh?!! 7% is market leading and will hopefully be the start of others upping their game.

I’m pretty savvy with investments and savings. I also worked for a Major Bank for over 40 years. Yes, in isolation we all know that Regular Saver accounts are a bit pants. What they are good for is to filter money into when you’ve maxed out other options. They are also accessible, so if someone wants to filter money out of a top Easy Access account, they can be a good option for a few extra pounds. 

Perspective people. 

Sensory

MikeJXE said:

I've been wondering about all the hype and clamber to open one, It surprised me with all the very smart people on here. Not that I'm getting at the smart ones so it must have been from the not so smart. 7% rate on that account is nothing special if you have a lump sum to invest. 

If it's nothing special, what's better for £3600 as a lump sum right now? Providing you need the money after a year.

msallen

MikeJXE said:

I've been wondering about all the hype and clamber to open one, It surprised me with all the very smart people on here. Not that I'm getting at the smart ones so it must have been from the not so smart. 7% rate on that account is nothing special if you have a lump sum to invest. 

Well of course all the "smart ones" will have many many regular savers all maturing in different months across the year. I don't do that any more as I'm carrying less cash nowadays, but it used to fairly easy to get a decent rate on £40-£50K across the best ones, and I assume it still is.

RG2015

MikeJXE said:

I've been wondering about all the hype and clamber to open one, It surprised me with all the very smart people on here. Not that I'm getting at the smart ones so it must have been from the not so smart. 7% rate on that account is nothing special if you have a lump sum to invest. 

Now I may, or may not be smart, but a lump sum is slightly different to a £300 per month for 12 months.

And I am sure that someone noted elsewhere that a lump sum of £3,600 drip fed to the FD RS would earn over 5% in a year. There are currently no 1 year fixed savers offering 5% 

jak22

It's not Olympic level, despite the number of posts here and elsewhere. It's for a very limited amount of savings and needs a current account. Sometimes posts on fixed rates seem to be all about winning some prize for having secured the highest %ge rate - so maybe for some 7 being a higher number than 4.9 is all that matters - rather than to maximising the £s returned in interest across a number of accounts over a number of years.

eskbanker

jak22 said:

It's not Olympic level, despite the number of posts here and elsewhere. It's for a very limited amount of savings and needs a current account. Sometimes posts on fixed rates seem to be all about winning some prize for having secured the highest %ge rate - so maybe for some 7 being a higher number than 4.9 is all that matters - rather than to maximising the £s returned in interest across a number of accounts over a number of years.

But the mathematical fact remains that only using accounts paying less than 7% AER will give a lower overall £ return than using those same accounts plus a 7% regular saver, however restricted it may be....

Nebulous2

Well I'm happy. I joined them about 10 days ago, logged in to see if my 7% regular saver had been set-up yet and discovered that my £175 joining incentive has been paid today. 

My biggest problem now is working out where to get £300 a month, on top of my £400 a month to my Lloyds regular saver..... 

ZeroSum

grumbler said:

RG2015 said:

7.00% for the First Direct regular saver is currently the highest savings rate on any UK savings account.

It's not actually a 'savings rate'. It's a marketing gimmick,  about £30 £60 p.a. bribe to their customers that are prepared to perform some actions to get this bribe.

Any bank can easily beat this 'rate' by offering, say, 20% on, say, £10 balance.

Like the 6,000% rate I get on my Halifax Reward accounts as I only keep £1 in them 

EssexHebridean

MikeJXE said:

I've been wondering about all the hype and clamber to open one, It surprised me with all the very smart people on here. Not that I'm getting at the smart ones so it must have been from the not so smart. 7% rate on that account is nothing special if you have a lump sum to invest. 

The “very smart people” presumably realise that a regular saver isn’t intended for a lump sum deposit, though. For someone who has £300 a month surplus after their bills are paid, are they going to get anything better?

grumbler

EssexHebridean said:

MikeJXE said:

I've been wondering about all the hype and clamber to open one, It surprised me with all the very smart people on here. Not that I'm getting at the smart ones so it must have been from the not so smart. 7% rate on that account is nothing special if you have a lump sum to invest. 

The “very smart people” presumably realise that a regular saver isn’t intended for a lump sum deposit, though. For someone who has £300 a month surplus after their bills are paid, are they going to get anything better?

That's true. But why on earth does this amazing interest rate disappear after a year if you want to keep saving?

The answer is obvious - because it's a marketing gimmick, not a real 'interest rate'. Even flexible rates don't drop suddenly from 7% to 0% (or so).