The New Top Easy Access Savings Discussion Area

Stargunner

enterprising2016 said:

pecunianonolet said:

masonic said:

enterprising2016 said:

schiff said:

Not sure where to post this!
I've had notice that the interest rate on my Skipton MBS reduces on 17/1 to 3.30%. I'll be emptying it down to a £1 as it will be useful to debit card £500 monthly in and out to my Halifax Reward account. 

Hi Schiff, will Halifax honour £5 reward for £500 deposit via debit card into other savings accounts? Wondering if such deposits might not qualify as "retail purchases". Thank you.

They do for payments into NS&I accounts, so I'd assume they would for other financial institutions.

And if I pay in to NS&I today, will they still count this for December or will it count for when it clears in Jan? Only got my 3rd Rewards account last week and got the debit card today. Did the £1500 pay in to avoid the fee but not the debit card spend yet. 

Hi

How long did you wait before opening 3rd Reward Account from when you had the 2nd one? I currently have two and wonder if one year is a reasonable wait? Thank you!!

I opened my 3rd one 6 months after opening the 2nd one.

s71hj

Stargunner said:

enterprising2016 said:

pecunianonolet said:

masonic said:

enterprising2016 said:

schiff said:

Not sure where to post this!
I've had notice that the interest rate on my Skipton MBS reduces on 17/1 to 3.30%. I'll be emptying it down to a £1 as it will be useful to debit card £500 monthly in and out to my Halifax Reward account. 

Hi Schiff, will Halifax honour £5 reward for £500 deposit via debit card into other savings accounts? Wondering if such deposits might not qualify as "retail purchases". Thank you.

They do for payments into NS&I accounts, so I'd assume they would for other financial institutions.

And if I pay in to NS&I today, will they still count this for December or will it count for when it clears in Jan? Only got my 3rd Rewards account last week and got the debit card today. Did the £1500 pay in to avoid the fee but not the debit card spend yet. 

Hi

How long did you wait before opening 3rd Reward Account from when you had the 2nd one? I currently have two and wonder if one year is a reasonable wait? Thank you!!

I opened my 3rd one 6 months after opening the 2nd one.

Is there a maximum number and a timescale in the t and Cs between opening one and the next? And joint accounts too.

pecunianonolet

enterprising2016 said:

pecunianonolet said:

masonic said:

enterprising2016 said:

schiff said:

Not sure where to post this!
I've had notice that the interest rate on my Skipton MBS reduces on 17/1 to 3.30%. I'll be emptying it down to a £1 as it will be useful to debit card £500 monthly in and out to my Halifax Reward account. 

Hi Schiff, will Halifax honour £5 reward for £500 deposit via debit card into other savings accounts? Wondering if such deposits might not qualify as "retail purchases". Thank you.

They do for payments into NS&I accounts, so I'd assume they would for other financial institutions.

And if I pay in to NS&I today, will they still count this for December or will it count for when it clears in Jan? Only got my 3rd Rewards account last week and got the debit card today. Did the £1500 pay in to avoid the fee but not the debit card spend yet. 

Hi

How long did you wait before opening 3rd Reward Account from when you had the 2nd one? I currently have two and wonder if one year is a reasonable wait? Thank you!!

Around 6 months after the second one. Although between the first and second account it was only few weeks.

To give some context, I've had a bit of a history with Halifax as at some point when I opened an account and regular saver (wanted the switch incentive) they shortly after closed both accounts. I followed up by complaint, DSAR, discovering they held an awful lot of incorrect data about me, etc. Followed by a long BOS branch visit (BOS can access Halifax data) correcting everything the branch manager had access to and providing evidence on it all. Branch manager couldn't understand it and provided several apologies and admitted verbally the bank made many mistakes and that in over 20 years he not came across such a case but that the decisions taken in head office are final and that I should just give it some time. He did leave as many as possible and detailed system comments, which he let me read before he submitted them as he was genuinely trying to help, especially avoiding an LBG ban for life.

Once the closures of current account and reg saver went through I kept the app and they were happy to keep a simple saver open for me, which stayed at NIL balance for a good year or longer before I attempted to open a regular saver again, which went through without issue. Several weeks later the attempt to open the first current account, etc. 

My Club Lloyds was never impacted and has around 10-15k going through it each month and reg saver funded, which might have helped. 

I treat LBG with white gloves and don't renew reg savers or give them the slightest doubt or any obvious reasons for T&C breaks. 

Long story short, give it a good amount of time between opening accounts with Halifax as Halifax seems to be even stricter as the others in LBG. 1 year should be fine but always depends on individual circumstances. In the app you can go through the application process and they provide you a decision if they can offer the product before you actually apply. 

There is a specific Halifax thread here somewhere, apologies if this is slightly off topic.

savethepandas

enterprising2016 said:

Hi

How long did you wait before opening 3rd Reward Account from when you had the 2nd one? I currently have two and wonder if one year is a reasonable wait? Thank you!

Had two reward accounts, both renewed rewards in late summer. But around that time, other pressures prevailed and I didn't renew. One renewed to give me vue tickets, the other renewed so that I had to maintain a 5K balance. 

Branch visited, asking to go back to £5 reward for putting £500 into Skipton (previously NS&I) monthly by debit card.

Advisor went to talk to manager, manager said no as I had selected above options. I had not selected them 100%. Didn't appreciate being called a liar.

Told them to close both accounts and reopen three new accounts with the £5 reward. They pointed out that I might not be accepted, I pointed out that accounts currently were no use to me, so I would take that risk.

Both accounts 'closed' by staff. Two new 'reward accounts' opened.
But actually got one reward account and one plain current account as the two initial reward accounts weren't actually closed. Got them to close the plain account. One new reward remained open.

Next day opened two more reward accounts at one.

Do get the problem of three new cards and three new pins. 

enterprising2016

savethepandas said:

enterprising2016 said:

Hi

How long did you wait before opening 3rd Reward Account from when you had the 2nd one? I currently have two and wonder if one year is a reasonable wait? Thank you!

Had two reward accounts, both renewed rewards in late summer. But around that time, other pressures prevailed and I didn't renew. One renewed to give me vue tickets, the other renewed so that I had to maintain a 5K balance. 

Branch visited, asking to go back to £5 reward for putting £500 into Skipton (previously NS&I) monthly by debit card.

Advisor went to talk to manager, manager said no as I had selected above options. I had not selected them 100%. Didn't appreciate being called a liar.

Told them to close both accounts and reopen three new accounts with the £5 reward. They pointed out that I might not be accepted, I pointed out that accounts currently were no use to me, so I would take that risk.

Both accounts 'closed' by staff. Two new 'reward accounts' opened.
But actually got one reward account and one plain current account as the two initial reward accounts weren't actually closed. Got them to close the plain account. One new reward remained open.

Next day opened two more reward accounts at one.

Do get the problem of three new cards and three new pins. 

Thanks for sharing the experience.
Hope Halifax did honour the newly opened accounts and not attempt to cause troubles subsequently?

Bridlington1

@soulsaver

Family BS Market Tracker Saver (1) £500 min now 4.5% (down from 4.65%).

If I'm not mistaken this pulls The Co-operative Bank Select Access Saver 3 at 4.59% £1 min into the top 10. This account pays a lower rate of interest if you make 2 or more withdrawals in a calendar year.

soulsaver

ToTP - Start 2025 - rates as at today's date. See original page linked at the bottom for UTD info.

If you've not seen it before, for it and more info., you can always find it from the link in my signature box, below.

Please note: It's a ***No Chat*** thread keeping info clear and easily found.


Note: I don't usually rank 3rd party, non bank providers - you can find them in Moneyfacts etc as part of  DYOR. 

1 Atom Bank Rewards Instant Saver - 4.85% if no withdrawals in mth (then 3.25%) (14/10) App only

2 Gatehouse EA 4.75%  EPR (11/12) up from 4.60%.

3 Chase 6 mth svr 5.00% - new customers - inc 6mth fxd 1.5% bonus (19/12)-> 4.75% wef 19/02 see trail.

4 Ulster Bank Loyalty Svr   4.75% (14/10) £5k minFR -> 4.50% from 20/01/25

5 Chip Easy Access Saver 4.72% (19/12) ***reminder DYOR*** 

6 Chetwood Bank Easy Access Account 4.61% 23/11 4.71% (25/11)

7 West Brom BS Four Access Saver (Issue 2) 4.65% £1 min (10/12)

8 Secure Trust Access Account Issue 19 4.65% £1 min (23/11)

9 Bucks BS Single Accss Svr 4.60% £10k minFR (26/12)

10 Co-operative Bank Select Access Saver 3 4.59% £1 min Single w/d before rate drop. (03/01)

Wishing all the savings & investing followers a healthy and prosperous 2025 - if so we'll be well happy!

Archerychick

Is there a list anywhere of which of the top instant access savers are instant transfers? 

I’m about to loose my bonus rate on Chase, which is instant into my current account. Have opened an EA with Gatehouse but that is sometimes hours or even the next day which won’t work for me. 

It looks like the next one on the list would be Chetwood without any withdrawal or balance restrictions - is that instant? 

jaypers

Archerychick said:

Is there a list anywhere of which of the top instant access savers are instant transfers? 

I’m about to loose my bonus rate on Chase, which is instant into my current account. Have opened an EA with Gatehouse but that is sometimes hours or even the next day which won’t work for me. 

It looks like the next one on the list would be Chetwood without any withdrawal or balance restrictions - is that instant? 

Cahoot (part of Santander) are immediate Faster Payments. Their Sunny Day Saver pays 4.75% up to £3k and you can have 1 sole plus 1 joint account. Rate lasts for 12 months (variable). Might be a good backup for other accounts you might have that aren’t immediate.

ToastLady

Archerychick said:

Is there a list anywhere of which of the top instant access savers are instant transfers? 

I’m about to loose my bonus rate on Chase, which is instant into my current account. Have opened an EA with Gatehouse but that is sometimes hours or even the next day which won’t work for me. 

It looks like the next one on the list would be Chetwood without any withdrawal or balance restrictions - is that instant? 

Check out what I think is last posting by ircE on instant access, looks like Tandem is next on the list after Chase.
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81165624#Comment_81165624

I'm keeping an eye out too, as my Chase bonus ends 16/1.