NS&I Green Bonds Issue 4

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If it had gone through ok it would be visible  in your dashboard straight away

poppystar

db3745 said:

I wonder if someone can give me an idea of whether my Green Bond application is likely to have gone through - I suspect it hasn't. I was logged in, filled it all in along with amount, then broke off momentarily to look at T & Cs, then came back to just the confirm button. Pressed it, and was back to my accounts screen with only my present account listed. Nothing appeared to tell me what would happen next; obviously can't think about funding it. I suspect it's been abandoned. Don't really want to call them but they offer nothing else. I've live chatted with 2 other banks today no problem, but these people only have the useless chatbot which is still learning of course.

That so annoys me - they want you to have read something but reading it stops the process. I’ve a similar problem with another provider at the moment and I am seriously thinking of moving my money out because everytime I read a secure message they’ve sent me there is no way to get back to my accounts without logging in and going through all the security again. 

db3745

I've pulled out of applying, so haven't got the terminology to hand, but they clearly say to all applicants, whether registered account holders or new customers that applications should be accepted in 7 - 10 working days, but they require your debit card details at point of application, not when they advise you your application has been accepted. That says to me that you have to put necessary funds in your current account up front, but you'd expect to be losing 7 - 10 working days savings interest that you'd have saved if you could keep your cash in your other savings account until your bond account is opened. I've had their growth bonds in the past but I don't remember this time lag factor. I wouldn't have minded if it was a straight immediate acceptance, immediate funding routine, but their wording shows no indication that an application may be immediately/quickly accepted.

Sorry to be pedantic, but a simple live chat or message which I've had most helpfully with Saffron yesterday would have helped, but they don't offer that.

Band7

db3745 said:

I've pulled out of applying, so haven't got the terminology to hand, but they clearly say to all applicants, whether registered account holders or new customers that applications should be accepted in 7 - 10 working days, but they require your debit card details at point of application, not when they advise you your application has been accepted. That says to me that you have to put necessary funds in your current account up front, but you'd expect to be losing 7 - 10 working days savings interest that you'd have saved if you could keep your cash in your other savings account until your bond account is opened. I've had their growth bonds in the past but I don't remember this time lag factor. I wouldn't have minded if it was a straight immediate acceptance, immediate funding routine, but their wording shows no indication that an application may be immediately/quickly accepted.

Sorry to be pedantic, but a simple live chat or message which I've had most helpfully with Saffron yesterday would have helped, but they don't offer that.

I am not sure whether you are talking about NS&I or about Saffron but with NS&I you get interest from the date you made the deposit.

ForumUser7

Band7 said:

db3745 said:

I've pulled out of applying, so haven't got the terminology to hand, but they clearly say to all applicants, whether registered account holders or new customers that applications should be accepted in 7 - 10 working days, but they require your debit card details at point of application, not when they advise you your application has been accepted. That says to me that you have to put necessary funds in your current account up front, but you'd expect to be losing 7 - 10 working days savings interest that you'd have saved if you could keep your cash in your other savings account until your bond account is opened. I've had their growth bonds in the past but I don't remember this time lag factor. I wouldn't have minded if it was a straight immediate acceptance, immediate funding routine, but their wording shows no indication that an application may be immediately/quickly accepted.

Sorry to be pedantic, but a simple live chat or message which I've had most helpfully with Saffron yesterday would have helped, but they don't offer that.

I am not sure whether you are talking about NS&I or about Saffron but with NS&I you get interest from the date you made the deposit.

Apart from deposits made after 8 pm which don't usually action onto the account until the following morning, as it is outside of their banking hours

eskbanker

Band7 said:

I am not sure whether you are talking about NS&I or about Saffron but with NS&I you get interest from the date you made the deposit.

As soon as you give us your card details and your bank authorises the payment, we know that the money is on its way to us. We calculate the interest from that day, even though we don’t receive the money from your bank straight away. This means you’re earning interest on your savings before the money is actually in your account!

But isn't that generic wording applicable to all payments into NS&I accounts, rather than relating specifically to opening one with a 7-10 working day timescale?

In other words, if they take 7-10 working days to open the account, at what stage do they seek payment authorisation from the bank - at the time of application (when there's no guarantee that the account will be opened) or when actually opening it 7-10 working days later?

Band7

eskbanker said:

Band7 said:

I am not sure whether you are talking about NS&I or about Saffron but with NS&I you get interest from the date you made the deposit.

As soon as you give us your card details and your bank authorises the payment, we know that the money is on its way to us. We calculate the interest from that day, even though we don’t receive the money from your bank straight away. This means you’re earning interest on your savings before the money is actually in your account!

But isn't that generic wording applicable to all payments into NS&I accounts, rather than relating specifically to opening one with a 7-10 working day timescale?

In other words, if they take 7-10 working days to open the account, at what stage do they seek payment authorisation from the bank - at the time of application (when there's no guarantee that the account will be opened) or when actually opening it 7-10 working days later?

NS&I take 7-10 working days to clear any debit card deposit. Authorisation happens immediately, the money usually leaves your current account after a couple of days and shows as a pending outgoing payment in the meantime.

eskbanker

Band7 said:

eskbanker said:

Band7 said:

I am not sure whether you are talking about NS&I or about Saffron but with NS&I you get interest from the date you made the deposit.

As soon as you give us your card details and your bank authorises the payment, we know that the money is on its way to us. We calculate the interest from that day, even though we don’t receive the money from your bank straight away. This means you’re earning interest on your savings before the money is actually in your account!

But isn't that generic wording applicable to all payments into NS&I accounts, rather than relating specifically to opening one with a 7-10 working day timescale?

In other words, if they take 7-10 working days to open the account, at what stage do they seek payment authorisation from the bank - at the time of application (when there's no guarantee that the account will be opened) or when actually opening it 7-10 working days later?

NS&I take 7-10 working days to clear any debit card deposit. Authorisation happens immediately, the money usually leaves your current account after a couple of days and shows as a pending outgoing payment in the meantime.

But that's a different window - you're talking about time from authorisation to clearance, but I'm questioning the time from application to authorisation, in the context of an account opening process that coincidentally also happens to take 7-10 working days....

db3745

I'm sorry I'm only coming back to this now but I've kept questioning myself and still think the application process is unhelpful. Firstly if I were dealing with Saffron I wouldn't have a problem; they are excellent at customer service, unlike N S & I. The ONLY way they can be contacted is by telephone or in writing; however general your question is it's too specific for their messaging. They have no live chat or secure messaging.My spouse cannot and will not phone, and shouldn't need to!!

I have seen above that maybe long-time experienced and helpful forum users have slight differences re my problem. I can only say that it might help if N S & I showed a quick guide showing how your application will be handled. Yes they tell you to have a debit card to hand. There is nothing to indicate that your application can/will be immediately accepted - just the opposite. I'm not going to go through the process again to check, but they said 7 to 10 days. Giving them my debit card details seems to me to allow them to take my cash sum from my current account when they accept the application. The only way then for me to be safe is to transfer the amount from outside savings in advance, losing interest if their 7 - 10 days is right. Or does giving them details not allow them to take the money?

I can't be unusual in having little savings interest allowance myself but max in terms of my spouse, and I'd be happy -ish to speak with them, but my spouse could/would not, so no resolution is possible.

eskbanker

I agree with your concerns - I believe that supplying debit card details with the application does allow them to take the money effectively at their leisure, and that, given a 7-10 working day window within which they say they'll open accounts, it does seem that there is potentially a significant loss of interest if a substantial sum is involved.  Happy to be corrected if this interpretation is incorrect, but haven't seen anything so far that contradicts this, and to be honest, even if those who've already applied report predictable opening timescales (whether fast or slow), that doesn't in itself signify that these could be relied on, when the account was only launched earlier in the week.

I guess the bottom line is that if you're unhappy with the product terms and also the difficulties of contacting NS&I, vote with your feet and save elsewhere!