Hanley Economic Building Society BRANCH SAVER

gwapenut

If you withdraw by cheque, do you stop accruing interest from the date the cheque is issued, or the date the cheque is cashed as would be the case with a personal cheque?

I'm assuming with a building society cheque that the loss would be immediate.

refluxer

gwapenut said:

If you withdraw by cheque, do you stop accruing interest from the date the cheque is issued, or the date the cheque is cashed as would be the case with a personal cheque?

I'm assuming with a building society cheque that the loss would be immediate.

It's been a long time since I had one issued, but my memory is that when you get a building society to make out a cheque, the amount is debited straight away (as you say) so it's more like a withdrawal than a personal cheque that you write yourself, in which case I would suspect it'll be the former.

Bridlington1

I've just had this from Hanley:

Dear Member,

Important Information – Variation notice to account Terms and Conditions

We review our terms, conditions and rates regularly to ensure balance and value for all members. The Branch Saver has been hugely successful and remains one of the best value accounts in the UK.

To sustain that value and retain balance for all members, we have reviewed the Terms and Conditions of this account and decided to make some changes. We are now writing to you to tell you about those changes.

1.     The Branch Saver account will become a closed issue, and the balance of the account cannot be increased after 4pm on 8 October 2023.

2.    You will not be able to deposit or replace any withdrawn funds into your account after this date.

When is this happening?

This will take effect from 4pm on 8 October 2023.

Why is this happening?  

Restricting new deposits into this account ensures that as many members as possible can take advantage of the interest rate and benefits of this easy access account. This will also support the Society in continuing to provide fair-value products to our members. 

Do I have to do anything?

We are giving you 60 days’ notice of these changes. If you would like to pay additional funds into the account (up to the maximum balance of £50,000), please do so by 4pmon 8 October 2023. You will be unable to deposit any additional funds into your Branch Saver account after this date.

What if I’m not happy?

If you are unhappy with these changes, you can close your account without loss of interest. Interest will continue to be calculated daily and paid into your Branch Saver account up to the closure date.

Please remember that this is a closed issue product, so you will be unable to open another Branch Saver at a later date if you were to change your mind.

Questions and Answers

We have attached a list of questions and answers along with the Branch Saver product sheet to help your understanding of the impact of the changes.  

How can I contact you?

If you should have any additional queries, please contact us via one of the options below.

📧 - savingsservices@thehanley.co.uk

📞 - 01782 255000 select option 3

🏠 - visit your local branch who will be happy to help.

Thank you for your continued support of the Society.

Yours faithfully,

happybagger

For info email received:
Rare for an account to become closed issue AND for existing account holders not be allowed to continue to operate it normally.

The Branch Saver account will become a closed issue, and the balance of the account cannot be increased after 4pm on 8 October 2023.

  You will not be able to deposit or replace any withdrawn funds into your account after this date.

gwapenut

Scumbags. Newcastle Building Society pulled that trick too a couple of years ago and it really winds me up. All that effort for nothing. They very nearly got me to fork out for certified ID then decided I didn't need to after all as I'd lived here for 15 years. A right old faff.

I suppose if Darlington continue to be laggy with their Regular Saver then I could fill up the Hanley from my balances with those, and also flexibly withdraw from my ISA.

TiVo_Lad

I don't think it's fair to call them scumbags. I suspect the account has become unsustainable both commercially and operationally so they're acting within their rights to prevent the problem getting any worse. 

We've see it time and time again when small Building Societies release a market leading product and completely underestimate the number of applications they will receive. It's likely a painful lession for them that they probably won't repeat.

PloughmansLunch

I'm sure I saw someone mention a date of when this goes to 5.25% but can't find it, can someone remind me please?

Bridlington1

PloughmansLunch said:

I'm sure I saw someone mention a date of when this goes to 5.25% but can't find it, can someone remind me please?

1st September.
EDIT: From the terms:

As the interest rate tracks the Bank of England base rate we will change the interest rate in accordance with any change in the Bank of England base rate with effect from the 1st of the following month. 

bundoran

happybagger said:

For info email received:
Rare for an account to become closed issue AND for existing account holders not be allowed to continue to operate it normally.

The Branch Saver account will become a closed issue, and the balance of the account cannot be increased after 4pm on 8 October 2023.

  You will not be able to deposit or replace any withdrawn funds into your account after this date.

Yes. The only other instances of this I've ever come across is with Leeds Building Society, where specific account terms often include: "The account may be closed for further deposits at any time. This will be done on a minimum of 30 days’ written notice, after which you will not be able to deposit further funds."

For example their currently available Limited Issue Online Access Account Issue 47 paying 4.4% interest has it.

Strangely the Issue 43 Regular Saver that runs for 2 years also has it. It seems very odd that a regular saver has a condition saying that they might stop you paying money in during the term.

HHUK

10_66 said:

Approximately how long did it take from when you sent your letter (did you send it via their freepost address) to when you received the FP from them, please?

My experience timescale-was was similar to drphila's.
I wanted to find out how a long a request for a Faster Payments withdrawal requested by post would take to process.
I sent a signed letter asking for a withdrawal of £100 to the Freepost address, together with my passbook, on a Thursday, and the money was received in my bank account on the Friday of the following week.
The updated passbook was received a couple of days later, with a signed slip confirming the withdrawal, and the fact that there would be a charge of £10 for the Faster Payments service.
I had forgotten that requests for a FP withdrawal of <£500 attract this charge, and am not sure when it will show in my HEBS account.