Leeds BS E-Saver query

ForumUser7

Hi,

I plan to open this for Leeds RS interest to be paid into. This way I can easily see on my transactions tracker which institution the interest came from, rather than having it paid into a current account. I will withdraw the interest almost straight away, so I want to be able to maintain it with a minimum balance below £100, as 1.8% is not at all competitive, so it would seem a waste to have £100 sitting at that rate.

I have been informed that I am able to deposit £100 to open, then withdraw £99 right away, and the only thing that'll happen is the rate will drop to 0.05% on that £1. But then I've also been told that the online system will not let me withdraw anything that'd leave the account below £100. I have read the ts and cs, and can see a clause saying withdrawals are allowed subject to the minimum balance of £100, but I was told that clause is irrelevant and I can still withdraw below the £100. 2 people said it will be possible, 1 said it won't be, but I thought it was worth checking.

Can anyone who has this account clear this up for me please?

Thank you

ForumUser7

Band7

You definitely can run it with less than £100. They say: if the balance falls below £100, the rate of interest which shall apply is 0.05% Gross‡ p.a./AER variable.

I have had one of their 1.8% easy access accounts for 6 years, with just £1 plus the occasional 1p interest in it. It's called Access Saver which doesn't figure in their current offerings but looks a lot like the e-Saver.

ForumUser7

Band7 said:

You definitely can run it with less than £100. They say: if the balance falls below £100, the rate of interest which shall apply is 0.05% Gross‡ p.a./AER variable.

I have had one of their 1.8% easy access accounts for 6 years, with just £1 plus the occasional 1p interest in it. It's called Access Saver which doesn't figure in their current offerings but looks a lot like the e-Saver.

They offer an in branch or by post account called Access Saver, and that one does have a £1 minimum. But AFAIK, you cannot instruct faster payments to your nominated account online from it.

Idk why, but their E-Saver doesn’t have the same minimum balance.

Band7

Oh right, didn't realise, as my only reason for having the account is to have access to accounts only open to existing account holders.

However, you should be alright anyway as there is provision for the e-Saver balance to get below £100.

ForumUser7

Update on this - I called again, and they confirmed that it is ok to get the E-Saver below £100. They also said it is possible to request Access Saver withdrawal to nominated bank account via secure message - though I was previously told by someone else that that is not possible.

Bridlington1

I have both the e-saver and very recently opened the access saver. I have sent them a secure message requesting that the balance on the e-saver be reduced to £1, with the funds going to my access saver. I shall then send a secure message requesting those funds be sent to one of my current accounts so I should hopefully have a definitive answer as to whether it works in practice in the next few days.

ForumUser7

Bridlington1 said:

I have both the e-saver and very recently opened the access saver. I have sent them a secure message requesting that the balance on the e-saver be reduced to £1, with the funds going to my access saver. I shall then send a secure message requesting those funds be sent to one of my current accounts so I should hopefully have a definitive answer as to whether it works in practice in the next few days.

Fantastic - thank you very much

ForumUser7

I've just had contact from Leeds BS saying that:

You are able to open the E-Saver online with a balance of £100 however the online systems will not allow for a withdrawal to be made under the minimum operating balance which is £100 therefore this would not be possible.

An Access Saver can be opened in branch or post but withdrawals cannot be made online to a nominated account, a cheque withdrawal can be requested online or a Faster Payment withdrawal can be made on a telephone call to a nominated account.

It'll be interesting to see if you have any luck with your attempt @bridlington1 - I'm surprised that Leeds agents give such varying information depending on who you speak to.

Bridlington1

ForumUser7 said:

I've just had contact from Leeds BS saying that:

You are able to open the E-Saver online with a balance of £100 however the online systems will not allow for a withdrawal to be made under the minimum operating balance which is £100 therefore this would not be possible.

An Access Saver can be opened in branch or post but withdrawals cannot be made online to a nominated account, a cheque withdrawal can be requested online or a Faster Payment withdrawal can be made on a telephone call to a nominated account.

It'll be interesting to see if you have any luck with your attempt @bridlington1 - I'm surprised that Leeds agents give such varying information depending on who you speak to.

I've just had a response from Leeds BS:

Thank you for your recent request.
We have unfortunately been unable to process your request at the present time as the withdrawal requested will take the XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX balance to below the minimum required balance.
Please could you let us know what you would like to do by either calling us on 03450 50 50 75 or by re-submitting another secure message.

I have just made a £10 deposit into the access saver. I shall give them a ring tomorrow to see if I can withdraw the £10 by faster payment. If that works then I'll be closing the e-saver, if it doesn't I shall be sending my passbook to them requesting a withdrawal by cheque.

ForumUser7

Bridlington1 said:

ForumUser7 said:

I've just had contact from Leeds BS saying that:

You are able to open the E-Saver online with a balance of £100 however the online systems will not allow for a withdrawal to be made under the minimum operating balance which is £100 therefore this would not be possible.

An Access Saver can be opened in branch or post but withdrawals cannot be made online to a nominated account, a cheque withdrawal can be requested online or a Faster Payment withdrawal can be made on a telephone call to a nominated account.

It'll be interesting to see if you have any luck with your attempt @bridlington1 - I'm surprised that Leeds agents give such varying information depending on who you speak to.

I've just had a response from Leeds BS:

Thank you for your recent request.
We have unfortunately been unable to process your request at the present time as the withdrawal requested will take the XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX balance to below the minimum required balance.
Please could you let us know what you would like to do by either calling us on 03450 50 50 75 or by re-submitting another secure message.

I have just made a £10 deposit into the access saver. I shall give them a ring tomorrow to see if I can withdraw the £10 by faster payment. If that works then I'll be closing the e-saver, if it doesn't I shall be sending my passbook to them requesting a withdrawal by cheque.

Thanks for sharing the outcome of this @bridlington1 - please could you send them a secure message to withdraw the £10 from the Access Saver by faster payment to see if that works once it has arrived? If they say no, then maybe try the phone call

Bridlington1

ForumUser7 said:

Bridlington1 said:

ForumUser7 said:

I've just had contact from Leeds BS saying that:

You are able to open the E-Saver online with a balance of £100 however the online systems will not allow for a withdrawal to be made under the minimum operating balance which is £100 therefore this would not be possible.

An Access Saver can be opened in branch or post but withdrawals cannot be made online to a nominated account, a cheque withdrawal can be requested online or a Faster Payment withdrawal can be made on a telephone call to a nominated account.

It'll be interesting to see if you have any luck with your attempt @bridlington1 - I'm surprised that Leeds agents give such varying information depending on who you speak to.

I've just had a response from Leeds BS:

Thank you for your recent request.
We have unfortunately been unable to process your request at the present time as the withdrawal requested will take the XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX balance to below the minimum required balance.
Please could you let us know what you would like to do by either calling us on 03450 50 50 75 or by re-submitting another secure message.

I have just made a £10 deposit into the access saver. I shall give them a ring tomorrow to see if I can withdraw the £10 by faster payment. If that works then I'll be closing the e-saver, if it doesn't I shall be sending my passbook to them requesting a withdrawal by cheque.

Thanks for sharing the outcome of this @bridlington1 - please could you send them a secure message to withdraw the £10 from the Access Saver by faster payment to see if that works once it has arrived? If they say no, then maybe try the phone call

I've sent them a secure message asking them to add a nominated account to my access saver. Here is the response:

We've looked into your request and as your account isn't an online based account, we aren't able to add your requested nominated account. Making external or internal payments online is only possible with our range of online accounts.

With your account, you can withdraw funds in cash in a branch, by cheque or internal transfer in a branch or via post, or you can request a cheque via our Secure Message option online (subject to terms and conditions).

If you'd like to add a nominated account to another account which is online, please send us another request online with this account number or simply reply to this email confirming the account number these details should be added to.

I shall try ringing them later today to see if I can do a faster payment over the phone.