Chip have not paid interest, why do Money Saving Expert recommend them?

CooperSF

I've had some real issues with them in the past when receiving accurate interest.

Ended up receiving compensation (only after several official complaints).

AmityNeon

Though I do not doubt their customer support is probably rather lacklustre, the most concerning aspect about Chip I've read reported by others thus far (resolutions, if any, have not been made known) is deposits failing and funds remaining in limbo. Presumably, money in those cases was eventually returned or deposited.

In terms of interest, they do mislead their customers into believing interest periods are based on calendar months, and the delayed compounding of interest is not made apparent (insignificant as it may be).

CooperSF said:

I've had some real issues with them in the past when receiving accurate interest.

Ended up receiving compensation (only after several official complaints).

Were the interest amounts unexpected or indeed inaccurate?

Band7

CooperSF said:

I've had some real issues with them in the past when receiving accurate interest.

Ended up receiving compensation (only after several official complaints).

Giving that they have only paid interest since February 11, the past can't date back too long. Can you expand on what sort of issues you did experience?

francoghezzi

I carefully made my own research the day I decided to put my cash money in an App and I'm happy that I decided to stay with Zopa even thou currently is not the market leader. I don't trust anyone, not even Trustpilot, but the 5 star reviews on Zopa are 4,3 out of 5, and only 3 out of 5 for Chip. This alone should ring at least a bell together with having an App 'working' through my bank accounts, something that I do not like at all. I wanna be in charge. I prefer 3,34% on my cash, but the feeling that I can sleep without worries.

Band7

AmityNeon said:

In terms of interest, they do mislead their customers into believing interest periods are based on calendar months, and the delayed compounding of interest is not made apparent (insignificant as it may be).

I agree, they aren't as transparent as Barclays about the period the interest covers - but then, which other bank apart from Barclays is?

As to interest not compounding: I went to great length to put a couple of spreadsheets together to work our what my loss would/could be, compared with a bank that credits interest for the previous month on the 1st of a month. Answer: peanuts. If you kept £50k in CHIP all year long (unlikely any MSE would actually do), the loss is less than a packet of peanuts in a discount store.

I doubt that any of the dozens of Trustpilot reporters have ever read the CHIP T&Cs, and what's more, I doubt any of them lost any CHIP interest payments.

AmityNeon

Band7 said:

I agree, they aren't as transparent as Barclays about the period the interest covers - but then, which other bank apart from Barclays is?

It's not just a lack of transparency, but outright deception. Chip specifically told customers that the bonus payment on 11 Feb would cover 1-10 Feb, but in practice, it also included 31 Jan. They also stated the following:

You'll also note your 'pending interest' resets on the 1st calendar day of the month, this in [sic] order to make sure you benefit from earning a full month of interest.

The 'pending interest' figure also includes the last day of the previous month, which I'm sure has confused customers into believing interest was miscalculated/underpaid.

masonic

francoghezzi said:

I carefully made my own research the day I decided to put my cash money in an App and I'm happy that I decided to stay with Zopa even thou currently is not the market leader. I don't trust anyone, not even Trustpilot, but the 5 star reviews on Zopa are 4,3 out of 5, and only 3 out of 5 for Chip. This alone should ring at least a bell together with having an App 'working' through my bank accounts, something that I do not like at all. I wanna be in charge. I prefer 3,34% on my cash, but the feeling that I can sleep without worries.

If this is a concern, it is easily addressed by linking to an account that isn't used for anything you'd rather they didn't see.

allegro120

lumens said:

According to the "Top savings accounts" page, Chip is the best easy-access savings account with a rate of 3.55%. However, there are dozens of reviews on TrustPilot showing that interest is not being received, that customer support isn't reachable, and that people are unable to get their money back: trustpilot.com/review/getchip.uk

Can MSE either get Chip to fix their systems, or stop recommending them? 

Just because TrustPilot contains the word “trust” it doesn’t mean that TrustPilot is a trustworthy source, especially for making financial decisions. 

MSE doesn’t recommend Chip, just stating that this is currently the best paying IA account, which is true.

Band7

AmityNeon said:

Band7 said:

I agree, they aren't as transparent as Barclays about the period the interest covers - but then, which other bank apart from Barclays is?

It's not just a lack of transparency, but outright deception. Chip specifically told customers that the bonus payment on 11 Feb would cover 1-10 Feb, but in practice, it also included 31 Jan. They also stated the following:

You'll also note your 'pending interest' resets on the 1st calendar day of the month, this in [sic] order to make sure you benefit from earning a full month of interest.

The 'pending interest' figure also includes the last day of the previous month, which I'm sure has confused customers into believing interest was miscalculated/underpaid.

I trust you have taken CHIP to Court, or at least to the FCA/PRA, over what you deem outright deception. Please post the result of your complaints once known.

mattywallace121

Never had any issues, great app.