NSI Guaranteed Income Bonds - payment problem

BooJewels

Apart from my initial opening debit card payment, I think all of my payments in to NS&I have been bank transfers - I usually get an email confirmation an hour or two later.  Looks like I did a hundred quid for my first test, then no issues after that.

Swipe

Band7 said:

Swipe said:

Band7 said:

Swipe said:

Band7 said:

Can you open a Direct Saver, make multiple deposits into it until you have reached your desired amount, then transfer it into the green bond?

This is the best solution for opening a single bond, but the only downside is NSandI takes about 7 days to clear your debit card transaction so it may take a while. However, you'll still get 2.85% in the direct saver from the minute you make the transaction while you wait for your funds to clear.

If you want a faster clearance, deposit by bank transfer.

I'd never recommend a deposit by bank transfer to NSandI. If something goes wrong it's not worth the hassle over 7 days clearance wait time 

Bank transfers don't take 7 days to clear, and there is no reason to believe anything would go wrong. The instructions are clear, and the usual initial belt & braces £1 deposit removes any reason for misdirected payments.

I was referring to the debit card clearance times meaning I'd rather wait 7 days than risk a bank transfer with them. I have very little faith with NSandI customer services. At least with a debit card it's impossible to get wrong and you get interest immediately from the transaction date

gt94sss2

kantblue said:

Hi - having finally decided to invest in NSI Guaranteed Income Bonds - I go to the NSI website and register for a new account, I'm asked how much I want to invest during this process. At the end of the setup I'm asked to pay by DEBIT card (which is the only payment option) but my debit card has a daily transfer value which is lower than the cost of the bonds so the payment is declined.

My bank won't help as they say they can't increase the transfer value (money laundering regs etc).

What bank are you using?

Many allow large debit card transactions if you have the funds in your account.

kantblue

Thanks for all the replies - some very useful information here.

The bank is Halifax - I went to the local branch with ID etc but they said the daily limit couldn't be altered.

I couldn't do a bank transfer for a new account with NSI - you have to pay by debit card. Besides the transfer limit applies to Bank Transfers as well as Debit Card payments.

Setting up a Direct Saver and paying into that sounds like the best bet, either that or as also suggested split the bonds into smaller amounts as the total interest would be the same - I'm just not keen on that idea - don't know why!

Some of the comments have made me think again about perhaps waiting a short while to see how rates go - I've also looked at TrustPilot reviews of NSI and they are pretty dreadful.

Is it true though that NSI accounts are better protected than FSCS account protection limits?

The amount we are talking about is much less than the £85,000 FSCS limit anyway.

kantblue

eskbanker

kantblue said:

Is it true though that NSI accounts are better protected than FSCS account protection limits?

Depends what you mean by 'better' - the NS&I limit (in as much as there actually is one) is certainly much higher than FSCS but I daren't think how long it would take to sort out reimbursement if it ever came to that, whereas FSCS at least has a seven day target timescale.

lr1277

I can't help with funding an NSI account as the last time I put mone in there, was in 2018 and I can't remember the method I used.

However I am intrigued that Halifax won't allow you to make debit card payments over a certain value for an internet transaction.

Are you saying, say you wanted to arrange 1st class flights on BA to somewhere, Halifax wouldn't let you pay the fare if you made the booking over the internet? As an example, 2 first class seats to New York come in at £30k+. Would Halifax's limit allow you to buy the 2 airline tickets?

Are you willing to tell us the limit imposed by Halifax?

I put "Halifax debit card payment limits" into Google and found the following page.

https://www.halifax.co.uk/aboutonline/payments-and-transfers.html 

I then clicked on Daily payment limits and got this page: https://www.halifax.co.uk/aboutonline/payments-and-transfers/payment-limits.html

As you can see, the page does not mention debit cards. But it does say you can do a Faster Payment upto £250k in branch with ID.

Your other way forward is to make a small payment by debit card (within Halifax's limit) then the remainder by bank transfer. So 2 transactions in total.

BooJewels

lr1277 said:

Your other way forward is to make a small payment by debit card (within Halifax's limit) then the remainder by bank transfer. So 2 transactions in total.

The problem with the Guaranteed Income Bond is that the minimum deposit is £500 and each payment in to them opens a new individual bond - so you don't really have that option with that particular product - without it getting untidy.  Their easy access equivalent, the Direct Saver, doesn't have such limits (min £1) and is the only account you can transfer directly from into a GIB - it currently pays 2.85%, so at least the OP could earn some interest on the amount, whilst they accumulate the balance they want to invest in the GIB - then do it in one transfer.

If NS&I want to attract more investors, they really need to modernise and speed up their methods.  It just took 2 months 1 day for me to get under £5k out of them for a deceased estate and took 6 weeks for them to move some dosh into my own GIB from IBs I already had with them.

Band7

kantblue said:

  I've also looked at TrustPilot reviews of NSI and they are pretty dreadful.

I wouldn't be guided by TrustPilot when it comes to choosing a financial product. It's a place where people, often uninformed ones, gather to have a good moan. You get much better information on a forum like the MSE one, where you can actually have a discussion about the pros and cons of a given account or organisation.

I would not choose the NS&I Green Bond myself because the rate is not competitive. I could live with their clunky system if they did have a market leading product.

BooJewels

I think the OP - @kantblue - is interested in a Guaranteed Income Bond - not a Green Bond, it was someone else mentioned that.

Swipe

Band7 said:

kantblue said:

  I've also looked at TrustPilot reviews of NSI and they are pretty dreadful.

I wouldn't be guided by TrustPilot when it comes to choosing a financial product. It's a place where people, often uninformed ones, gather to have a good moan. 

I do agree on the whole but I think their scathing reviews for NS&I are pretty much spot on in this case