NS&I Green Savings Bond

TheWoodler

Though NS&I may lack polish in certain areas, to put it mildly, you can buy as many bonds as you wish, subject to issue limits, while the issue remains open. Disappointment is understandable, but any financial institution is within its rights to pull any issue of any product without warning as they see fit, so no point getting angry. 

Assuming you weren’t putting together the minimum deposit from your funds, as you said you didn’t want to open two bonds, in fact there was no reason not to open two. 

You could have secured one with the pre-existing Direct Saver funds, and secured the other with a debit card deposit direct into the bond. You wouldn’t have lost out interest-rate wise if you’d opened the same day. 

The Green Bond is a lower rate, but still a decent one for a 3-year bond currently, and has a lower minimum deposit, so, depending on your circumstances, might be a good place for *some* of your Direct Saver funds. I think at £100 minimum deposit, it’s quite a reasonable product as part of a savings portfolio. 

DoneWorking

eskbanker said:

DoneWorking said:

I feel really aggrieved with NS&I
I transferred a large sum last Tuesday  by debit card into my Direct Saver ready to open a fixed income bond
The money shows up in my Direct Saver Account but is still not available for use
While waiting for this to clear the Income Bond was closed 
I feel really angry about this 

The target of your anger should perhaps be a little closer to home, as they make it clear in the product terms that debit card deposits take up to seven working days to be cleared for subsequent use:

How long deposits take to clear

You can only take money out if you have enough cleared funds in your account. An electronic transfer deposit received by 18:30 on a banking day will normally clear no later than the next banking day. Debit card and cheque deposits will clear no later than the seventh banking day after being received. 

https://www.nsandi.com/files/asset/pdf/direct-saver-brochure.pdf

This is fine for those who are good at studying and reading the small print but not so for those like me who struggle to concentrate on these matters

There should have been a warning on the option note on paying into accounts by debit card but there wasn't .
The warning is more or less  hidden in the terms and conditions 

DoneWorking

Albermarle said:

eskbanker said:

DoneWorking said:

I feel really aggrieved with NS&I
I transferred a large sum last Tuesday  by debit card into my Direct Saver ready to open a fixed income bond
The money shows up in my Direct Saver Account but is still not available for use
While waiting for this to clear the Income Bond was closed 
I feel really angry about this 

The target of your anger should perhaps be a little closer to home, as they make it clear in the product terms that debit card deposits take up to seven working days to be cleared for subsequent use:

How long deposits take to clear

You can only take money out if you have enough cleared funds in your account. An electronic transfer deposit received by 18:30 on a banking day will normally clear no later than the next banking day. Debit card and cheque deposits will clear no later than the seventh banking day after being received. 

https://www.nsandi.com/files/asset/pdf/direct-saver-brochure.pdf

Although 7 days to clear a debit card transaction seems a bit from the dark ages !

Very Dark Days Indeed
Plus they are incredibly slow in sending money back into bank accounts too

ColdIron

To be fair, if you pay by DC it's applied instantly and if your maturity instructions are to withdraw it's in your account the same day because they use BACS and and have time to set up the instruction

Sometimes NS&I can work quite fast and smoothly, sometimes

eskbanker

ColdIron said:

To be fair, if you pay by DC it's applied instantly...

Only if that doesn't stand for Debit Card!

ColdIron

Yes Debit Card. I probably should have qualified that I meant the GGB and not the Direct Saver route

Thumbs_Up

What’s the fuss with debit card payments? I bought 9 bonds via a debit card, payment was instantly showing as received. Also within 24 hours I got a conformation email. Like I said what’s the fuss, good service I’d say. Thanks NS&I !   

BooJewels

Thumbs_Up said:

What’s the fuss with debit card payments? I bought 9 bonds via a debit card, payment was instantly showing as received. Also within 24 hours I got a conformation email. Like I said what’s the fuss, good service I’d say. Thanks NS&I !   

I think - if I've understood correctly - that's because the OP was topping up their Direct Saver by card, then intended buying a bond from the combined funds, but the card payment to the direct saver didn't clear before the product was withdrawn.

Thumbs_Up

BooJewels said:

Thumbs_Up said:

What’s the fuss with debit card payments? I bought 9 bonds via a debit card, payment was instantly showing as received. Also within 24 hours I got a conformation email. Like I said what’s the fuss, good service I’d say. Thanks NS&I !   

I think - if I've understood correctly - that's because the OP was topping up their Direct Saver by card, then intended buying a bond from the combined funds, but the card payment to the direct saver didn't clear before the product was withdrawn.

Yes, I understand that was the OP plan, but as pointed out why not pay directly with a debit card. As it happens I was using 2 different debit cards to get my money in quick. I was very surprised NS&I kept it open as long as they did.

Edit: I chose the monthly interest option so my monthly payments (which are prompt) are staggered through the calendar month. I guess the OP wanted a monthly interest payment once a month.

Money_Grabber13579

DoneWorking said:

eskbanker said:

DoneWorking said:

I feel really aggrieved with NS&I
I transferred a large sum last Tuesday  by debit card into my Direct Saver ready to open a fixed income bond
The money shows up in my Direct Saver Account but is still not available for use
While waiting for this to clear the Income Bond was closed 
I feel really angry about this 

The target of your anger should perhaps be a little closer to home, as they make it clear in the product terms that debit card deposits take up to seven working days to be cleared for subsequent use:

How long deposits take to clear

You can only take money out if you have enough cleared funds in your account. An electronic transfer deposit received by 18:30 on a banking day will normally clear no later than the next banking day. Debit card and cheque deposits will clear no later than the seventh banking day after being received. 

https://www.nsandi.com/files/asset/pdf/direct-saver-brochure.pdf

This is fine for those who are good at studying and reading the small print but not so for those like me who struggle to concentrate on these matters

There should have been a warning on the option note on paying into accounts by debit card but there wasn't .
The warning is more or less  hidden in the terms and conditions 

You want a warning about the fact that debit card deposits don’t clear for a certain number of days. Someone else will want a warning about something. If they would down that route, they’d have to paste the whole terms and conditions onto the payment screen and you’re unlikely to read them there if you didn’t read them in the linked document.