The New Top Easy Access Savings Discussion Area

Bob2000

janusd said:

Bob2000 said:

So, lve just recently  opened a cahoot simple saver 4.2%  with the magnificent  amount of £1 in it.
Am I right in thinking you can upgrade the account to a sunny day saver at 5%?

yes - the interest cycle will remain the same; the interest payment date might change and there may be an interim interest payment before the new regular cycles begins - though with £1 in the account, that last part shouldn't apply to you.

Thank you for the info.
What a stroke of luck this morning. l managed to upgrade the SS account to an SDS and then grabbed the new SS for 4.40%.
  

BACKTOBACK

With Cahoot having the best rates at 4.4% im considering moving £80k from a personal injury claim to them. But i am very worried as i have had big problems with Santander before blocking large withdrawals when i needed them.
I have also looked at the reviews on TrustPilot and there mostly one star reviews with accounts being blocked and poor systems. Many People regretting opening accounts.
I think TrustPilot may be a bit unfair as people only place a review there when there is a problem.
So i just wondered what peoples experiences were on here. Im mostly concerned with accounts being blocked on large deposits or withdrawals? 

friolento

BACKTOBACK said:

With Cahoot having the best rates at 4.4% im considering moving £80k from a personal injury claim to them. But i am very worried as i have had big problems with Santander before blocking large withdrawals when i needed them.
I have also looked at the reviews on TrustPilot and there mostly one star reviews with accounts being blocked and poor systems. Many People regretting opening accounts.
I think TrustPilot may be a bit unfair as people only place a review there when there is a problem.
So i just wondered what peoples experiences were on here. Im mostly concerned with accounts being blocked on large deposits or withdrawals? 

Like all banks, Santander/Cahoot have fraud prevention processes as well as maximum daily withdrawal amounts in place. There are no issues getting your money out but you have to follow their procedures which may involve your account getting blocked temporarily. A simple phonecall resolves the issue. Their fraud department can be contacted 24 x 7 365 days a year.

The Cahoot system is a bit ancient and there is no app (ignoring that you could use the Santander app if you don't use it already for Santander). However, it is perfectly acceptable IMO for savings accounts, particularly if they have market-leading rates.

Rheumatoid

friolento said:

BACKTOBACK said:

With Cahoot having the best rates at 4.4% im considering moving £80k from a personal injury claim to them. But i am very worried as i have had big problems with Santander before blocking large withdrawals when i needed them.
I have also looked at the reviews on TrustPilot and there mostly one star reviews with accounts being blocked and poor systems. Many People regretting opening accounts.
I think TrustPilot may be a bit unfair as people only place a review there when there is a problem.
So i just wondered what peoples experiences were on here. Im mostly concerned with accounts being blocked on large deposits or withdrawals? 

Like all banks, Santander/Cahoot have fraud prevention processes as well as maximum daily withdrawal amounts in place. There are no issues getting your money out but you have to follow their procedures which may involve your account getting blocked temporarily. A simple phonecall resolves the issue. Their fraud department can be contacted 24 x 7 365 days a year.

The Cahoot system is a bit ancient and there is no app (ignoring that you could use the Santander app if you don't use it already for Santander). However, it is perfectly acceptable IMO for savings accounts, particularly if they have market-leading rates.

Just applied and noticed it can be a joint account as well which is a bonus.

exel1966

BACKTOBACK said:

With Cahoot having the best rates at 4.4% im considering moving £80k from a personal injury claim to them. But i am very worried as i have had big problems with Santander before blocking large withdrawals when i needed them.
I have also looked at the reviews on TrustPilot and there mostly one star reviews with accounts being blocked and poor systems. Many People regretting opening accounts.
I think TrustPilot may be a bit unfair as people only place a review there when there is a problem.
So i just wondered what peoples experiences were on here. Im mostly concerned with accounts being blocked on large deposits or withdrawals? 

Been with Santander/Cahoot for years and never had any issues. Max 25K per transaction out, max £100K per day out and you can make 4 x £25K to the same payee.

refluxer

BACKTOBACK said:

With Cahoot having the best rates at 4.4% im considering moving £80k from a personal injury claim to them. But i am very worried as i have had big problems with Santander before blocking large withdrawals when i needed them.
I have also looked at the reviews on TrustPilot and there mostly one star reviews with accounts being blocked and poor systems. Many People regretting opening accounts.
I think TrustPilot may be a bit unfair as people only place a review there when there is a problem.
So i just wondered what peoples experiences were on here. Im mostly concerned with accounts being blocked on large deposits or withdrawals? 

Based on what I'd read about Santander's over-active anti-fraud measures on here, I was concerned about this too when I opened their Easy Access account a few years ago (back when it offered a table-topping rate), but I made many large payments into it and large withdrawals from it and, although I had to approve payments in the usual manner via text or the banking app, I never had a single payment blocked.

I suspect one reason behind this was that I only ever used my main current account (with a different bank) as the source or recipient of all these transactions, meaning that there was only ever one account Santander had to deal with (it's unusual for an easy access account like this to allow you to pay out to any account you like, but I always made sure I funneled payments through my current account to avoid problems). With this in mind, it's possible that Cahoot may be similar.

If you're concerned about Cahoot though, maybe you could spread your money across a couple of different accounts ? You can current get 4.50% with Ulster Bank or (if you're a new customer) Chase.

ccluedo

If u only have Cahoot and no actual Santander accounts, can u download the Santander app and just sign in with Cahoot details? 

flaneurs_lobster

ccluedo said:

If u only have Cahoot and no actual Santander accounts, can u download the Santander app and just sign in with Cahoot details? 

Yes you can.

The functionality is a bit clunky, especially around setting up payments out. Try and find the thread on here giving ideas.

ccluedo

flaneurs_lobster said:

ccluedo said:

If u only have Cahoot and no actual Santander accounts, can u download the Santander app and just sign in with Cahoot details? 

Yes you can.

Thanks, I'll try that later. 👌

BestSeagull

BACKTOBACK said:

With Cahoot having the best rates at 4.4% im considering moving £80k from a personal injury claim to them. But i am very worried as i have had big problems with Santander before blocking large withdrawals when i needed them.
I have also looked at the reviews on TrustPilot and there mostly one star reviews with accounts being blocked and poor systems. Many People regretting opening accounts.
I think TrustPilot may be a bit unfair as people only place a review there when there is a problem.
So i just wondered what peoples experiences were on here. Im mostly concerned with accounts being blocked on large deposits or withdrawals? 

I'd be perfectly comfortable holding 85k with both Cahoot and Santander, and have, but I've wasted many hours on the phone with Santander security after being blocked several times in a row, so I would never keep my emergency funds with them in case I was blocked again when I really needed them.

Even if one does get blocked, it's not the end of the world but it does defeat the instant access nature of the accounts if/when it happens.