Is it normal to pay into a new savings account via bank transfer?

wettonc

Hi there.

Apologies if this is obvious as I am very new. 

I have had a bit of money sitting in my current account for ages, doing nothing which is a complete waste although with such low interest rates, it probably didn't matter a huge amount. Anyway with interest rates higher now, I am looking to open a locked, fixed rate account. I looked on MSE for the best deals and saw what looked like a good deal with Smart Save Bank. A one year locked in deal at 6.11% meaning if I stick £16,000 in, I will make nearly £1,000 in a year for doing pretty much nothing. 

Anyway, I signed up and it asked me to transfer the money using bank transfer, from my current account at NatWest to them. See the attached screenshot.

I am used to using bank transfer to repay a mate after a night out or something like that. Transferring a £100 here or there. Is it normal to pay into a savings account this way?

Thanks for any help

eskbanker

Nothing unusual about that, but if you have cold feet you could send a small amount first and then the rest later, once you've verified its arrival, unless they only accept a single deposit?

Bigwheels1111

Thats how I fund my savings.
I avoided Smart save as no contract number.
Al Rayan would be my choice 6.12%.

wettonc

eskbanker said:

Nothing unusual about that, but if you have cold feet you could send a small amount first and then the rest later, once you've verified its arrival, unless they only accept a single deposit?

The minimum amount to deposit is 10k so that wouldn't be an option but good to know it's not uncommon thank you.

allegro120

It shouldn't be a problem transferring £16k from NatWest to another bank account. 

GeoffTF

wettonc said:

eskbanker said:

Nothing unusual about that, but if you have cold feet you could send a small amount first and then the rest later, once you've verified its arrival, unless they only accept a single deposit?

The minimum amount to deposit is 10k so that wouldn't be an option but good to know it's not uncommon thank you.

I just send £1 regardless. It either appears on the destination account, or they send it back with a snotty email. The fact that the snotty email arrived tells me that I hit the right account. Either way, I can send the balance with confidence that it will arrive in the destination account.

ZeroSum

GeoffTF said:

wettonc said:

eskbanker said:

Nothing unusual about that, but if you have cold feet you could send a small amount first and then the rest later, once you've verified its arrival, unless they only accept a single deposit?

The minimum amount to deposit is 10k so that wouldn't be an option but good to know it's not uncommon thank you.

I just send £1 regardless. It either appears on the destination account, or they send it back with a snotty email. The fact that the snotty email arrived tells me that I hit the right account. Either way, I can send the balance with confidence that it will arrive in the destination account.

With Atom, if you send under the min £50, it's neither, it just won't send

saajan_12

wettonc said:

eskbanker said:

Nothing unusual about that, but if you have cold feet you could send a small amount first and then the rest later, once you've verified its arrival, unless they only accept a single deposit?

The minimum amount to deposit is 10k so that wouldn't be an option but good to know it's not uncommon thank you.

I read it as the minimum total deposit is 10k, which you have to make by 23rd Oct. That doesn't mean it has to be in lump sum, could be in dribs and drabs as long as the balance reaches the 10k minimum by 23 Oct and then you don't withdraw for a year. 

In answer to your question, perfectly normal to bank transfer. Remember this will mean the 16k is locked in for a year, and you'd face penalties or perhaps not even be able to access it earlier if you needed it, so I'd make sure there's some plan for emergencies. 

LHW99

Yes, I've had to transfer money this way, mainly because the other way was by debit card, which only allowed a maximum of £2500 (per month). The only issue you may find is that the receiving bank doesn't operate the "check recipient" bit, hence the suggestion to send a small amount first to get it set up and make sure it arrives. Otherwise you are likely to get "the first degree" from your sending bank (understandably but a bit of a pain) it you try a large initial transfer.

GeoffTF

LHW99 said:

Yes, I've had to transfer money this way, mainly because the other way was by debit card, which only allowed a maximum of £2500 (per month).

Santander allows £50K per day. I have just made a payment for £46K.

DigSunPap

Yes this is totally normal. If you are unsure just send a small tester transfer for your own peace of mind, but I cant see there being an issue, I always bank transfer into my savings.