Hanley Economic Building Society BRANCH SAVER

BigBlueSky

I've just had my first interest payment on my Branch Saver account which has taken my balance above £50,000.

Do I need to withdraw this to keep the balance at £50,000 or under ?

refluxer

I would imagine that the interest added on top doesn't matter but they'll presumably contact you if it does.

happybagger

Accumulated interest doesn't count but as it's now above £50k you won't be able to add to it (and after 8th October no additions can be made anyway)

qbadger

Not too impressed with how long it seems to take HEBS to process a transfer. I made a deposit on 15 SEP (via faster payment, after 3pm), and it was only visible in my account today with the transaction date 19 SEP.

10_66

qbadger said:

Not too impressed with how long it seems to take HEBS to process a transfer. I made a deposit on 15 SEP (via faster payment, after 3pm), and it was only visible in my account today with the transaction date 19 SEP.

Unfortunately, as it was done after 2pm on a working day, it wouldn't have been actioned until Monday, and then it appears the next working day.

qbadger

10_66 said:

qbadger said:

Not too impressed with how long it seems to take HEBS to process a transfer. I made a deposit on 15 SEP (via faster payment, after 3pm), and it was only visible in my account today with the transaction date 19 SEP.

Unfortunately, as it was done after 2pm on a working day, it wouldn't have been actioned until Monday, and then it appears the next working day.

According to their savings T&C, the funds should have been credited to my account and start earning interest on Monday, which is the next working day after the deposit. So it seems HEBS has not followed their own policy here.

7.10 The date that payments will be to be credited to your account will be the date that we receive the cleared funds. Cut-off times apply for receipt of an Electronic Payment:

x Payments received by us before 3pm on a Working Day, will be credited to your account and will be available to withdraw immediately, as soon as we receive it;

x Payments received after 3pm on a Working Day or on a non-Working Day, will be credited to your account and will be available to withdraw at the start of the next Working Day (subject to our Normal Business Hours)

8.2 On our accounts we generally:

Calculate interest on a sum paid into your account in cash or by Electronic Payment, including Internal Transfers, from the day we receive it and credit it to your account.

Any sums received by us after 3pm on a Working Day or on a non-Working Day, will be treated as having been received and will be credited to your account and start earning interest at the start of the next Working Day (subject to our Normal Business Hours);

friolento

Requested closure of mine today. They are not offering anything to me now that can't be bettered by anyone else. I also find their charges for certain withdrawals irritating, to say the least.

drphila

friolento said:

Requested closure of mine today. They are not offering anything to me now that can't be bettered by anyone else. I also find their charges for certain withdrawals irritating, to say the least.

I've always looked at this account as a longer term investment based on, as looks quite likely, the base rate increasing to 5.75%, maybe 6%, by the end of the year.

Of course, if withdrawals are scheduled such that they incur a penalty. then any rate advantage is lost.

And just as a side issue, their T&Cs do not allow them to impose charges without informing the customer first.

PloughmansLunch

I'm still keeping this account funded and open for now as a hedge against potential further rate rises, but am more and more convinced we've plateaued so am struggling to justify approx £25 a year interest over something like Ulster's 5.2% loyalty saver.

Out of interest, how long does the closure process take? I'm guessing it should be taken as at least a fiddly 1-2 week notice account if you factor in postal withdrawals/branch cheque deposit/clearance times?

Bridlington1

PloughmansLunch said:

I'm still keeping this account funded and open for now as a hedge against potential further rate rises, but am more and more convinced we've plateaued so am struggling to justify approx £25 a year interest over something like Ulster's 5.2% loyalty saver.

Out of interest, how long does the closure process take? I'm guessing it should be taken as at least a fiddly 1-2 week notice account if you factor in postal withdrawals/branch cheque deposit/clearance times?

I requested they close my branch saver account ASAP on 15/8/23 and the account was closed on 21/8/23, so just under a week in my case. 

If you don't want to bother with cheques you can request a faster payment to a nominated account though. If the final balance with interest is over £10k one option would be to open an instant access account and request the final balance be transferred into that before making a faster payment of £10k per day from the instant access account to your nominated account online until you get all of the money back. It's still a bit of faff but it saves having to visit a branch to deposit a large cheque and you get an email when they make a faster payment.