First Direct's 7% Savings Account

happybagger

For balance, you should really remove from that £311.50 what you would have got from wherever that money going into the RS would have otherwise gone, whether that be instant access, fixed rate, or an alternative RS. But I agree, whatever it is, with the switch payment it was worth doing in your case.

mrkds

I love these threads where someone will argue repeatedly how it's too much  effort it is to open a regular saver account until they are blue in the face, expending way more time and energy arguing their case than it would take just to open the account. Most RSs take very little effort to open. 

In exchange for a few mins of form filling and 12 month of waiting, you get £135. That to me is a no brainer! The most annoying  bit is waiting for the internet password to be posted to you, but that still requires very little effort on your part, just a few days extra waiting. 

But i guess some people may get more out of arguing on MSE forums than bagging themselves some easy money. 

subjecttocontract

To provide some balance to the discussion, I'd like to share my experiences over the last couple of months. I've opened a few regular savers, FD was very easy but there are a couple that stand out 
*  Monmouth b/soc......26/11- 30/12 = 34 days......and I'm still waiting for the activation key to give me online access.
*  HSBC......6/12 - to date......still waiting for telephone banking card. Without that I have no online banking and can't open the regular saver.
These are the sorts of delays that put many off from even bothering with regular savers. Lucky for me that when I get annoyed about the delays im not totally OTT.

Band7

mrkds said:

I love these threads where someone will argue repeatedly how it's too much  effort it is to open a regular saver account until they are blue in the face, expending way more time and energy arguing their case than it would take just to open the account. Most RSs take very little effort to open. 

To be fair, those making a case against Regular Savers are vastly outnumbered by those who can't get enough of them 

AmityNeon

subjecttocontract said:

To provide some balance to the discussion, I'd like to share my experiences over the last couple of months. I've opened a few regular savers, FD was very easy but there are a couple that stand out 
*  Monmouth b/soc......26/11- 30/12 = 34 days......and I'm still waiting for the activation key to give me online access.
*  HSBC......6/12 - to date......still waiting for telephone banking card. Without that I have no online banking and can't open the regular saver.

It's been five weeks for me and I'm still waiting... except it'll be useless when it finally does arrive because I already set up my Telephone Banking Security Number over the phone; you can do the same as long as you have your account number and sort code. You should have received their Welcome Pack in an email which states the following:

Set up your telephone banking security number
Your telephone banking security number is a 6 to 10 digit number that only you will know. It is what we use to verify you when you call us. If you haven’t already done this, give us a call on +44 3457 404 404 to set up or visit one of our branches.

HSBC does not provide a telephone banking "card".

makemerich12

I read up on this got lost when martin says you don't get the full 7%,ive got bout 20k to put away but unsure how much id get back a month

subjecttocontract

Looks like we have been provided with different info. I wasn't given the option of a telephone number. I was asked to complete a form and send it back......done it, still waiting. In the meantime I have a bank account I can't access and a regular saver I can't open. Let's hope they send me a customer satisfaction questionnaire .......then I could tell them how happy I am with their performance, so far.

Band7

makemerich12 said:

I read up on this got lost when martin says you don't get the full 7%,ive got bout 20k to put away but unsure how much id get back a month

You can pay a maximum of £3,600 into the First Direct Regular saver, in 12 x max £300 monthly instalments. Read the MSE Regular Saver blog for more on how these sort of accounts work.

Assuming you have £3,600 in a 2.86% instant access account (e.g. Zopa), you would make £182 interest [a year] by dripfeeding the £3,600 from Zopa [via current accounts] into the FD Regular Saver. If you just left your £3,600 in the Zopa 2.86% account, you would only get £102 interest [a year].

Your money, incl the interest, in the FD account cannot be withdrawn before maturity. If you can't afford to lock the £3,600 away for this length of time, you can get £180 in the Barclays Rainy Day Saver, which is instant access and pays monthly interest but requires a few hoops to jump through. 

Where do you have your £20k now, and what are your plans for the £20k? Do you need your interest paid monthly or is annual payment ok? There are currently plenty of options for good interest.

 

AmityNeon

subjecttocontract said:

Looks like we have been provided with different info. I wasn't given the option of a telephone number. I was asked to complete a form and send it back......done it, still waiting. In the meantime I have a bank account I can't access and a regular saver I can't open.

The option is also right here: https://www.hsbc.co.uk/register/

Telephone Security Number queries

• What if i don't have a Telephone Banking Security Number?

If you do not currently hold a Telephone Banking Security Number and would like to set one up please contact us on 03457 404404.

Have you tried phoning them? If you'd rather continue relying on the disastrous post then you have no other option, but I wasn't going to sit back and allow Royal Mail to affect my agency. I set up my mobile and online banking access immediately after the phone call, and opened the Regular Saver minutes later.

subjecttocontract

I understand that only approx' 30% of the mail countrywide is handled by Royal Mail. The other 70% isnt, which means they have alternative options available.