Instant Access Accounts with true Instant Access

PosterBoy77

I have been looking around and can't seem to find information that lists truly instant access savings accounts. By that I mean accounts that will accept deposits within minutes 7 days per week and allow withdrawals 24/7 within minutes or at the very worst the same day.

To me it feels more comfortable to have money in accounts that I can access very quickly. The ones I have which meet this benchmark seem to be as follows:

Chip
Atom Saver
Zopa
Metro Bank
Santander
Chase
Tandem

I have a Kroo account but it is too much hassle for larger savings sums as withdrawals of over 25k seem to get sidelined for security checks even to a regularly used account in my own name.

I was wondering if others know of other accounts and perhaps this thread could be used to create a definitive list of such accounts?

friolento

Ulster Bank

Cahoot

Barclays [Rainy Day Saver]

There are others - e.g. TSB, Natwest, LBG, Virgin, Nationwide - but their rates aren't anything special right now

Bigwheels1111

Ok why ?.
 How often do you need money is 5 seconds or 1 hour.

I like near instant access but it’s not a necessity.
I have regular savers, isa’s that I can access in a few day with low penalties and easy access.
In over 50 year I’ve never needed thousands of pounds in 3 minutes.
If the worst comes to the worst I bang on my credit card.

Olinda99

I use Marcus

boingy

Lots of them typically transfer money within minutes but the small print for Faster Payments (which they all use) says it can take up to two days. I've never had one take that long but it is allowed to do so.

UncleK

Cynergy arrives very quickly

Reed_Richards

Marcus is the swiftest one I know.  But their interest rate isn't that great at present.

trickydicky14

Bigwheels1111 said:

Ok why ?.
 How often do you need money is 5 seconds or 1 hour.

I like near instant access but it’s not a necessity.
I have regular savers, isa’s that I can access in a few day with low penalties and easy access.
In over 50 year I’ve never needed thousands of pounds in 3 minutes.
If the worst comes to the worst I bang on my credit card.

We are all different, some need that reassurance of instant access others don’t. I personally like to have one account I can get that type of access.

LHW99

I use the instant access in the bank where my C/A is (1st Direct). Generally keeping a few thousand in which will transfer to the C/A instantly for meeting bigger bills (eg new washing machine / oven).

The ones that take a couple of working days I have a bit more in for emergencies to cover eg a larger CC payment / longer term planned expenditure (replacing kitchen / CH boiler / topping up bank instant access).

The bank one has a fairly low interest rate, but the literally instant access makes up for that, the 2 days one has a reasonable rate, and other savings are in fixed rate / tranferred to S&S ISA's as appropriate.

Wheres_My_Cashback

mikael said:

I have been looking around and can't seem to find information that lists truly instant access savings accounts. By that I mean accounts that will accept deposits within minutes 7 days per week and allow withdrawals 24/7 within minutes or at the very worst the same day.

To me it feels more comfortable to have money in accounts that I can access very quickly. The ones I have which meet this benchmark seem to be as follows:

Chip
Atom Saver
Zopa
Metro Bank
Santander
Chase
Tandem

I have a Kroo account but it is too much hassle for larger savings sums as withdrawals of over 25k seem to get sidelined for security checks even to a regularly used account in my own name.

I was wondering if others know of other accounts and perhaps this thread could be used to create a definitive list of such accounts?

I wouldn't necessarily agree with this list posted a few weeks ago as there are accounts missing, but of course it's subjective as to what is instant and what's not. This list obviously only shows what was at/near the top of savings rate tables at that time.
Because you cannot see a deposit online within seconds does not mean it's not been received instantly and is in the account. Some organisations take a little time for the consumer to see at the front end. There's a certain paranoia about it on this forum with some, akin to those who send £1 tester payments.
There are times when all account withdrawals/deposits will take longer than what you're used to (even if you do class as instant) due to many factors such as IT/demand/security etc

ircE Posts: 120

29 October at 4:01PM edited 29 October at 4:01PM

Reminder: the first table is simply soulsaver's top 10 at the time of writing, True EA accounts are those that require no minimum balances and allow unlimited withdrawals, and True Instant EA accounts are those True EA accounts which advertise instant deposits and withdrawals 24/7.

I've been updating this scorecard for the past 3 months (see July, August, September).

Chip, Ford Money, Hampshire Trust Bank, Tandem Bank, Cynergy Bank and Post Office Money have been on every True EA table. If you assume they will continue to care about their relative position, and you need "true easy access", these are the accounts you might want to keep a quid in.

Of these, Chip and Tandem offer instant access. Recently, Chip has been on the decline and Cahoot has been ascendant. Others on the instant access table might not offer close to top rates but offer other advantages, such as the functionality of saving in a current account (Kroo Bank), savings being linked to a current account (Chase Bank, Monzo) or the ability to open multiple accounts for the same rate (Tesco Bank, Zopa). Of course, instant access itself is an advantage.

This is probably the last time I post this. There doesn't seem to be much change on the horizon of the EA market. I hope others have found this exercise somewhat interesting, and see that there can be different definitions of what makes a "top easy access savings account".

Albermarle

LHW99 said:

I use the instant access in the bank where my C/A is (1st Direct). Generally keeping a few thousand in which will transfer to the C/A instantly for meeting bigger bills (eg new washing machine / oven).

The ones that take a couple of working days I have a bit more in for emergencies to cover eg a larger CC payment / longer term planned expenditure (replacing kitchen / CH boiler / topping up bank instant access).

The bank one has a fairly low interest rate, but the literally instant access makes up for that, the 2 days one has a reasonable rate, and other savings are in fixed rate / tranferred to S&S ISA's as appropriate.

Yes, same for me. I have various savings accounts with different providers, but for instant easy access ( and deposit) I have an easy access account with the bank that provides my main current account ( Nationwide)
I can transfer in a matter of seconds online or with the app. The fact that it pays 1.5% less than the best paying easy access accounts, does not really matter as I only keep around £3K there on average.