Funding the 7% first direct regular saver? P.S. Changing the standing order date will lose you cash

dingling68

intalex said:

Thank you for your sacrifice in trialling this, I also learnt from these forums (and believed) that there would be no gains, but the question still recently cropped up in my mind for an upcoming maturity / new cycle...

On a related note, keen to learn how fast matured accounts are being closed now (with/without follow-up) and new ones opened (once applied for on the app)...

My FD monthly saver is due to mature 7/5/25, so will report back unless someone beats me to it   

ThePirates

My last closure, reopening took 5 working days

Yorkshire_Pud

intalex said:

Yorkshire_Pud said:

2025 Update!

Having done the open RS at month end, delete standing order that 1st direct set up for you and then myself setting up a standing order manually for the first of the month workaround in the hope of garnering the £154.36 interest instead of the usual £136.50 I have to say I agree with the interest free loan to first direct ‘hearsay’ theory. I got £140.36 at maturity so less than £4 extra for my efforts and way short of the additional £17.86 one could theoretically get. In fact even that £3.86 may be from the account maturing over a Easter weekend, so basically I got nothing and one could also say that had the £300 I ‘lent’ by paying four weeks early for the next 11 payments been invested elsewhere I could have got say 4% interest on it for a year so about £12 lost 😞 

Can’t really complain though. Thems the rules and it seems FD have indeed turned the supposed workaround back on me!

That was two years ago and I compared to the last year where I didn’t try and game the system and got £136.

It was only comparing the matured amounts for the last two years that I realised the workaround doesn’t/didn’t work. 

Has anyone actually got the mythical £154 bumped up interest?

Thank you for your sacrifice in trialling this, I also learnt from these forums (and believed) that there would be no gains, but the question still recently cropped up in my mind for an upcoming maturity / new cycle...

On a related note, keen to learn how fast matured accounts are being closed now (with/without follow-up) and new ones opened (once applied for on the app)...

It was about three or four working days for the matured funds to appear in the related savings account they open for you. The new RS opened on a Saturday showed in my accounts list on Sunday and funded with the £300 I had put in my fd current account even though it said it would take a couple of working days.

Just cancelled my standing order for the 1st May and set up a new one for account opening day + 1 month, near month end, i.e. back to what fd did for me in the first place 😜 I didn’t realise it was a faux workaround until I saw the last two years matured funds totals were nearly the same.

I put a lot of effort into mugging myself due to information in this thread that was only correct in theory, yes you definitely can change the SO date, no it definitely won’t result in making more interest it will actually lose you nearly as much as you imagined you were going to benefit by. I nearly fell for it a second time this week! Will have to attach a post it on the paperwork ready for 12 months time when I will no doubt have forgotten about it.

AmityNeon

HSBC:

We’ll pay the Flexible Saver interest rate on any amount you pay in over the Maximum Monthly Amount.

First Direct:

If you save more than the Maximum Monthly Balance, we'll pay you interest on the extra at the relevant Savings Account rate.

Payment windows are based on calendar months, but the Maximum Monthly Amount/Balance increases per account month*. Obviously, I completely missed these terms contained in their respective general T&Cs.

* Regardless of when an account is opened, the number of days in the first account month is always 28, with the number of days in subsequent account months following the sequence of calendar months until January. E.g. For an account opened on 20 August, the Maximum Monthly Balance will increase on 17 Sep, then 18 Oct etc. Mathematically speaking, opening an account in February has the potential for the highest amount of interest, as the smallest balances are held for the shortest period of time, and the largest balances are held for the longest period of time. The Standing Order restriction (at least for First Direct) makes interest optimisation impractical/impossible.

intalex

It's unfortunate they still haven't automated the maturity/closure and new account opening, still goes into a queue for manual processing...

shirley999

intalex said:

Yorkshire_Pud said:

2025 Update!

Having done the open RS at month end, delete standing order that 1st direct set up for you and then myself setting up a standing order manually for the first of the month workaround in the hope of garnering the £154.36 interest instead of the usual £136.50 I have to say I agree with the interest free loan to first direct ‘hearsay’ theory. I got £140.36 at maturity so less than £4 extra for my efforts and way short of the additional £17.86 one could theoretically get. In fact even that £3.86 may be from the account maturing over a Easter weekend, so basically I got nothing and one could also say that had the £300 I ‘lent’ by paying four weeks early for the next 11 payments been invested elsewhere I could have got say 4% interest on it for a year so about £12 lost 😞 

Can’t really complain though. Thems the rules and it seems FD have indeed turned the supposed workaround back on me!

That was two years ago and I compared to the last year where I didn’t try and game the system and got £136.

It was only comparing the matured amounts for the last two years that I realised the workaround doesn’t/didn’t work. 

Has anyone actually got the mythical £154 bumped up interest?

Thank you for your sacrifice in trialling this, I also learnt from these forums (and believed) that there would be no gains, but the question still recently cropped up in my mind for an upcoming maturity / new cycle...

On a related note, keen to learn how fast matured accounts are being closed now (with/without follow-up) and new ones opened (once applied for on the app)...

Mine matured two weeks ago.  Last year there was a delay of around 5 days to open a new regular saver, this year just one day.  It’s possible the difference was because last year (my first year) the regular saver was converted into a ‘savings account’ with the same account number, I had to wait while its identity changed before being able to open a new regular saver.  This year, the regular saver vanished briefly and then the balance plus interest was moved into the ‘savings account’ still there from last year (and ‘dormant’ but that’s another story). Once the regular saver had vanished I was able to open a new one, and then it took them one day to set it up.

SamDude

It was a few days for me too last year as they converted the RS into a normal savings account.
I have left the 'normal' account sitting there to receive the matured funds, so this year it should be quicker to process.

flaneurs_lobster

intalex said:

On a related note, keen to learn how fast matured accounts are being closed now (with/without follow-up) and new ones opened (once applied for on the app)...

Two days, ie the new RS has a fund date two days later than the matured FD RS it replaces. 

Gers

My FD matured on 02 May. Monies transferred to a savings account so I applied for a new RS. Today I got a text to say that opening was delayed because of 'high demand'. Logged in just now to see new account opened and funded from my current a/c.

gt94sss2

intalex said:

Yorkshire_Pud said:

2025 Update!

Having done the open RS at month end, delete standing order that 1st direct set up for you and then myself setting up a standing order manually for the first of the month workaround in the hope of garnering the £154.36 interest instead of the usual £136.50 I have to say I agree with the interest free loan to first direct ‘hearsay’ theory. I got £140.36 at maturity so less than £4 extra for my efforts and way short of the additional £17.86 one could theoretically get. In fact even that £3.86 may be from the account maturing over a Easter weekend, so basically I got nothing and one could also say that had the £300 I ‘lent’ by paying four weeks early for the next 11 payments been invested elsewhere I could have got say 4% interest on it for a year so about £12 lost 😞 

Can’t really complain though. Thems the rules and it seems FD have indeed turned the supposed workaround back on me!

That was two years ago and I compared to the last year where I didn’t try and game the system and got £136.

It was only comparing the matured amounts for the last two years that I realised the workaround doesn’t/didn’t work. 

Has anyone actually got the mythical £154 bumped up interest?

On a related note, keen to learn how fast matured accounts are being closed now (with/without follow-up) and new ones opened (once applied for on the app)...

My account matured on the 3 May and I received the funds the same day.

Applied immediately for a new account in the app which was opened today (4th May)