Hanley Economic Building Society BRANCH SAVER

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.

PloughmansLunch

Bridlington1 said:

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.

That’s very helpful, thanks - I think an IA account is by far the easiest way to go

gwapenut

I've just checked my Hanley tax certificate of interest for a joint account.

They have allocated all of the interest to me for reporting purposes, and none to my wife. Can they do this? I thought we each had to declare half of the interest, or can they reallocate as they see fit?

I'm worried if we each declare half and they mis-report to HMRC, I'll be investigated.

I'm not sure what the law says and whether I *must* declare half, or whether I must declare whatever each financial institution allocates to me.

refluxer

For those who still hold this account, the rate will presumably decrease from 5.25% to 5.00% on 1st September, in light of today's BoE announcement.

"Can Hanley Economic Building Society change the interest rate?

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. If the interest rate reduces on your account, we will write to you 14 days before we make the change."

refluxer

Another drop for this (NLA) account  - down to 4.75% today. Still surprisingly competitive though - only 0.1% below the best easy access account currently available.

friolento

refluxer said:

Another drop for this (NLA) account  - down to 4.75% today. Still surprisingly competitive though - only 0.1% below the best easy access account currently available.

Mine still says 5% today, and I don’t remember a notice about 4.75%. Do you have more about this?

Kim_13

friolento said:

refluxer said:

Another drop for this (NLA) account  - down to 4.75% today. Still surprisingly competitive though - only 0.1% below the best easy access account currently available.

Mine still says 5% today, and I don’t remember a notice about 4.75%. Do you have more about this?

It’s a base rate tracker, with the rate moving on the 1st of the month following that in which a change is made by the BOE. Mine now says 4.75%.

I also didn’t get a notice this time, though I have in the past - but I never expect one since it is a change provided for in the account T&Cs.

friolento

Kim_13 said:

friolento said:

refluxer said:

Another drop for this (NLA) account  - down to 4.75% today. Still surprisingly competitive though - only 0.1% below the best easy access account currently available.

Mine still says 5% today, and I don’t remember a notice about 4.75%. Do you have more about this?

It’s a base rate tracker, with the rate moving on the 1st of the month following that in which a change is made by the BOE. Mine now says 4.75%.

I also didn’t get a notice this time, though I have in the past - but I never expect one since it is a change provided for in the account T&Cs.

May be we are talking different accounts. Mine is called Online Regular Saver and still shows 5%

refluxer

friolento said:

May be we are talking different accounts. Mine is called Online Regular Saver and still shows 5%

Yes - this thread is about the Branch Saver (which is a branch-based Easy Access account), not the Regular Saver.