Best Building Society/Banks

sv511

If you are in Wales or the west of England there is Principality Building Socity.   They pay 4.75% on a cash ISA and 4.75% on a 3-access saver.     They go as far east as Shrewbury and Ross on Wye.   There is a Branch in Chester too.

Both are on-line accounts however.  If you live within a reasonable distance, you could open an on-line with them knowing you could drive to a branch if needed. 

Pricipality pay. 5.5% on a 1-year fixed bond and  4.35% on a 5-access account opened in Branch. 

Another one to consider is Leek Building Society.  They are quite small with only a few branches.   Rates are slighly lower than some of the others.   


All of the above have the £85,000 FSCS protection. 

sv511

EDIT - just noticed you are already with Nationwide.  Best not to open an account with Virgin Money if it puts you over the £85,000 line. 

Virgin Private Savings pays 4.84% or 5% if your balance is over £500,000.    You must also have their private current account which pays 4% interest, but has a £15/month fee.

They have stores scattered around England and Scotland, but nothing south of Northampton. 

Nationwide are buying Virgin Money.  Once that goes through,  the FSCS protection applies to the combined balance of accounts with both.  

WillPS

sv511 said:

Nationwide are buying Virgin Money.  Once that goes through,  the FSCS protection applies to the combined balance of accounts with both. 

The transaction of Virgin Money goes ahead on October 1st, but no changes to FSCS protection are yet planned and it's probable that the Clydesdale Bank plc license will be retained for a whole host of reasons, not least the complications around the Scottish note printing obligations they have.

It's certainly not a foregone conclusion that the FSCS entitlements will be merged (Bank of Scotland plc still has a separate pot from Lloyds Bank plc, 15 years on from their merger) and any changes of this sort are still years off.

sv511

Nationwide will eventually discontinue the Virgin brand.   I had not considered they would keep the underlying banks that trade as Virgin Money. 

wmb194

sv511 said:

Nationwide will eventually discontinue the Virgin brand.   I had not considered they would keep the underlying banks that trade as Virgin Money. 

Yes, it could be as simple as rebranding it, 'Nationwide Bank.'

badger09

sv511 said:

If you are in Wales or the west of England there is Principality Building Socity.   They pay 4.75% on a cash ISA and 4.75% on a 3-access saver.     They go as far east as Shrewbury and Ross on Wye.   There is a Branch in Chester too.

Both are on-line accounts however.  If you live within a reasonable distance, you could open an on-line with them knowing you could drive to a branch if needed. 

Pricipality pay. 5.5% on a 1-year fixed bond and  4.35% on a 5-access account opened in Branch. 

Another one to consider is Leek Building Society.  They are quite small with only a few branches.   Rates are slighly lower than some of the others.   


All of the above have the £85,000 FSCS protection. 

Your BIB
Do you gave a link? Or name of the account please 

WillPS

sv511 said:

Nationwide will eventually discontinue the Virgin brand.   I had not considered they would keep the underlying banks that trade as Virgin Money. 

The Clydedale Bank plc entity (perhaps not the name, but perhaps) will certainly be retained. Whether or not any personal savings product remain available from them is less clear - but to reiterate Virgin Money will still be selling their own products come October 1st, Virgin Money will continue to trade separately for years and even when the license expires in September 2030 there will still be a distinct bank offering (at least) business banking services and Scottish bank notes - possibly a lot of other things too.

ForumUser7

badger09 said:

sv511 said:

If you are in Wales or the west of England there is Principality Building Socity.   They pay 4.75% on a cash ISA and 4.75% on a 3-access saver.     They go as far east as Shrewbury and Ross on Wye.   There is a Branch in Chester too.

Both are on-line accounts however.  If you live within a reasonable distance, you could open an on-line with them knowing you could drive to a branch if needed. 

Pricipality pay. 5.5% on a 1-year fixed bond and  4.35% on a 5-access account opened in Branch. 

Another one to consider is Leek Building Society.  They are quite small with only a few branches.   Rates are slighly lower than some of the others.   


All of the above have the £85,000 FSCS protection. 

Your BIB
Do you gave a link? Or name of the account please 

Think it'll be this one https://www.principality.co.uk/savings-accounts/fixed-term-savings-and-bonds/1-year-regular-saver-bond

But it's a regular saver bond, so small deposit limits, but can also be opened online etc.

Albermarle

Hinchandrossi said:

Alfie2020 said:

Thanks for that.  I have a Coventry 2 miles from me but not the others.  I'm going to ask a very daft question now.  It's a very long time since I opened an account with a new provider.  How do they money launder you these days.  Back in the day you had to take in your driving licence, statement etc etc.  If things are online how can they do that?

They tend to ask for photo ID so if you have your passport or driving licence you take a selfie and they compare them.
National Insurance number is usually asked for too.

I've opened a lot of accounts this last 18 months, some are easier than others but tbh if I can do it (my appearance tends to change a lot so my ID photos can be an issue) anyone can.

I have opened numerous savings accounts on line, and never been asked to provide any photo id or any additional id for that matter.

Most online providers will run an automatic check in the background once they have your basic details. Only if this flags up an issue ( and possibly there are some random checks as well) will they ask for more info, photo etc .
I understand a few providers are more rigorous/pedantic about these things than the majority.

libra10

We've found that Nationwide, Yorkshire Building Society and Skipton give excellent helpful and friendly service.  All offer decent rates of interest, and all in our local town.  We have found Virgin Money to be the worst firm to deal with.