Virgin Money Defined Access E-Saver 4.76%

Heytheremrblue

I'm sure this will be because of my lack of knowledge / experience but ....

Called into my local branch today to ask about the above account which has an option to pay interest monthly.

The lady tells me that if I opt for the monthly interest then that will count as as withdrawal so after 3 months the rate would drop to 2%.

One of the other members of staff then said no that's incorrect followed by both of them trawling through the website looking for info which did not exactly fill me full of confidence.

The outcome was they are 'pretty sure' the rate would drop after 3 interest payments.

If correct is this a common thing or are there accounts out there that will really give a monthly interest payment without any gotchas.

jaypers

That doesn’t sound right at all, in the same way as where a fixed account allows monthly interest paid away but the investment itself is locked.

refluxer

I'd be very surprised if having monthly interest paid away to another account counted as a withdrawal - they are two pretty distinct things as far as banking transactions go, IMO.

Heytheremrblue

Thanks I'll try giving them a call on Monday hopefully speak to someone who actually knows their products !

wmb194

Heytheremrblue said:

I'm sure this will be because of my lack of knowledge / experience but ....

Called into my local branch today to ask about the above account which has an option to pay interest monthly.

The lady tells me that if I opt for the monthly interest then that will count as as withdrawal so after 3 months the rate would drop to 2%.

One of the other members of staff then said no that's incorrect followed by both of them trawling through the website looking for info which did not exactly fill me full of confidence.

The outcome was they are 'pretty sure' the rate would drop after 3 interest payments.

If correct is this a common thing or are there accounts out there that will really give a monthly interest payment without any gotchas.

You mean receiving the interest in the account and then transferring it away yourself? Yes, that would count as a withdrawal.

There are plenty of instant access accounts that pay interest monthly and allow penalty free withdrawals e.g., Chase, Ford, RCI. Have a look at Moneyfacts: select 'rate order' then 'full search' and set the filters to interest paid monthly and to exclude accounts with withdrawal restrictions.

There are also fixed rate bonds that will pay interest away every month.

https://moneyfactscompare.co.uk/savings-accounts/easy-access-savings-accounts/

Heytheremrblue

wmb194 said:

Heytheremrblue said:

I'm sure this will be because of my lack of knowledge / experience but ....

Called into my local branch today to ask about the above account which has an option to pay interest monthly.

The lady tells me that if I opt for the monthly interest then that will count as as withdrawal so after 3 months the rate would drop to 2%.

One of the other members of staff then said no that's incorrect followed by both of them trawling through the website looking for info which did not exactly fill me full of confidence.

The outcome was they are 'pretty sure' the rate would drop after 3 interest payments.

If correct is this a common thing or are there accounts out there that will really give a monthly interest payment without any gotchas.

You mean receiving the interest in the account and then transferring it away yourself? Yes, that would count as a withdrawal.

There are plenty of instant access accounts that pay interest monthly and allow penalty free withdrawals e.g., Chase, Ford, RCI. Have a look at Moneyfacts: select 'rate order' then 'full search' and set the filters to interest paid monthly and to exclude accounts with withdrawal restrictions.

There are also fixed rate bonds that will pay interest away every month.

https://moneyfactscompare.co.uk/savings-accounts/easy-access-savings-accounts/

No I meant having the interest paid directly into another account I did explain this to the people in the branch but to be honest they didn't seem to have a clue.

refluxer

wmb194 said:

Heytheremrblue said:

I'm sure this will be because of my lack of knowledge / experience but ....

Called into my local branch today to ask about the above account which has an option to pay interest monthly.

The lady tells me that if I opt for the monthly interest then that will count as as withdrawal so after 3 months the rate would drop to 2%.

One of the other members of staff then said no that's incorrect followed by both of them trawling through the website looking for info which did not exactly fill me full of confidence.

The outcome was they are 'pretty sure' the rate would drop after 3 interest payments.

If correct is this a common thing or are there accounts out there that will really give a monthly interest payment without any gotchas.

You mean receiving the interest in the account and then transferring it away yourself? Yes, that would count as a withdrawal.

I thought the OP was talking about doing that too initially but, on further reading, it looks like having interest paid away is an option with this account (and Virgin savings accounts in general) which is pretty unusual for this type of account in my experience. They don't specify whether the account has to be another Virgin account, though.

From their general savings account T&Cs... "You can ask us to pay your interest into another account (as long as it’s not a Virgin Money ISA). We’ll only do this if the interest is more than £1. We’ll pay any smaller interest payments straight into your savings account."

westv

I have a Virgin Defined Access E-Saver and I chose monthly interest which is transferred to my HSBC current account.

wmb194

Heytheremrblue said:

wmb194 said:

Heytheremrblue said:

I'm sure this will be because of my lack of knowledge / experience but ....

Called into my local branch today to ask about the above account which has an option to pay interest monthly.

The lady tells me that if I opt for the monthly interest then that will count as as withdrawal so after 3 months the rate would drop to 2%.

One of the other members of staff then said no that's incorrect followed by both of them trawling through the website looking for info which did not exactly fill me full of confidence.

The outcome was they are 'pretty sure' the rate would drop after 3 interest payments.

If correct is this a common thing or are there accounts out there that will really give a monthly interest payment without any gotchas.

You mean receiving the interest in the account and then transferring it away yourself? Yes, that would count as a withdrawal.

There are plenty of instant access accounts that pay interest monthly and allow penalty free withdrawals e.g., Chase, Ford, RCI. Have a look at Moneyfacts: select 'rate order' then 'full search' and set the filters to interest paid monthly and to exclude accounts with withdrawal restrictions.

There are also fixed rate bonds that will pay interest away every month.

https://moneyfactscompare.co.uk/savings-accounts/easy-access-savings-accounts/

No I meant having the interest paid directly into another account I did explain this to the people in the branch but to be honest they didn't seem to have a clue.

If having the interest, 'paid away' is an option then that should be fine. That just makes it similar to a fixed rate bond that can pay interest away. This is unusual for instant access accounts.

jamesrcmd

I'm thinking of opening this account. I'm aware the rate is now 4.06% which drops to 1.25% if you make more than 3 withdrawals (source).

1) Can someone confirm if I can pay money in and out using faster payments?

2) Does it have its own sort code and account number or do I need to have a linked nominated bank account?
I'd like to be able to send faster payments from this account to any other account without nominating one specific account, as most savings providers require.

I find most savings account need you to nominate a bank account and withdrawals normally take longer this way (at least 1 working day). 

Thank you.

allegro120

jamesrcmd said:

I'm thinking of opening this account. I'm aware the rate is now 4.06% which drops to 1.25% if you make more than 3 withdrawals (source).

1) Can someone confirm if I can pay money in and out using faster payments?

2) Does it have its own sort code and account number or do I need to have a linked nominated bank account?
I'd like to be able to send faster payments from this account to any other account without nominating one specific account, as most savings providers require.

I find most savings account need you to nominate a bank account and withdrawals normally take longer this way (at least 1 working day). 

Thank you.

1) Yes, faster payments.
2) Yes, it has sort code and personal account number and withdrawals are to nominated account only.

I opened this account 15 months ago with £1 deposit, never used it since.  The rate has been consistently too low.