How do you interpret "Interest is paid annually" for a savings account?

wmb194

slinger2 said:

wmb194 said:

Ulrich said:

Yeah, exactly - it's January IF you read T&Cs but "at the glance" there's nothing about January so it's really misleading to my liking because it should be "first banking day in January", definitely not annually.

It's annually in January.

Surely it's annually FROM January.

Nope, once a year in January.

etienneg

Ulrich said:

masonic said:

Ulrich said:

Hi All, 

A quick question - if you're about to open a savings account like this one today and it says "Interest is paid annually" here, when would you expect it to be paid next time?

If I see that, without qualification, then I'd expect interest to be paid once every year. If they say "anniversary" then it would be at the end of each account year, otherwise it would be on a specific date each calendar year as specified elsewhere.

In general, the terms month, monthly, year, annually, etc refer to calendar months and years unless otherwise specified.

Well, it's definitely once a year.
The thing is no "anniversary" or a specific date given - that's what I find misleading.
I'd accept "annually on X of January" (or similar) or "the first working day of each (calendar) year" but that's not what they use.
And as you can see, a lot of people fall to that.

Look up the word in a dictionary. It will say something like "occuring once every year". That's what it means. I'm no gardener, but I know that "annuals" flower once a year - time unspecified (and probably varies between types of plant). An AGM happens once a year - but again, time unspecified. You wouldn't expect this on the anniversary of opening an account, would you?

Unfortunately a lot of people read things into text that isn't there. So if nothing more is specified, you don't know when this will be - just how often. I agree that "annually on X January" or similar is best practice, but I wouldn't rely on this. It isn't misleading, but rather uninformative.

In general, don't read things into text and don't make assumptions.

masonic

Ulrich said:

masonic said:

Ulrich said:

Hi All, 

A quick question - if you're about to open a savings account like this one today and it says "Interest is paid annually" here, when would you expect it to be paid next time?

If I see that, without qualification, then I'd expect interest to be paid once every year. If they say "anniversary" then it would be at the end of each account year, otherwise it would be on a specific date each calendar year as specified elsewhere.

In general, the terms month, monthly, year, annually, etc refer to calendar months and years unless otherwise specified.

Well, it's definitely once a year.
The thing is no "anniversary" or a specific date given - that's what I find misleading.
I'd accept "annually on X of January" (or similar) or "the first working day of each (calendar) year" but that's not what they use.
And as you can see, a lot of people fall to that.

Well it is not really misleading, it is just vague. They state:

I think the information sheet should be made available prior to starting an application, so on that point I do think there is a problem.

Moneyfactscompare list this account as paying "yearly" rather than "anniversary", so the information is freely available from sources other than Ulster.

eskbanker

masonic said:

Ulrich said:

masonic said:

Ulrich said:

Hi All, 

A quick question - if you're about to open a savings account like this one today and it says "Interest is paid annually" here, when would you expect it to be paid next time?

If I see that, without qualification, then I'd expect interest to be paid once every year. If they say "anniversary" then it would be at the end of each account year, otherwise it would be on a specific date each calendar year as specified elsewhere.

In general, the terms month, monthly, year, annually, etc refer to calendar months and years unless otherwise specified.

Well, it's definitely once a year.
The thing is no "anniversary" or a specific date given - that's what I find misleading.
I'd accept "annually on X of January" (or similar) or "the first working day of each (calendar) year" but that's not what they use.
And as you can see, a lot of people fall to that.

Well it is not really misleading, it is just vague. They state:

I think the information sheet should be made available prior to starting an application, so on that point I do think there is a problem.

It's linked from the main product page, and specifies:

Loyalty Saver Information Sheet

An instant access savings account that pays interest annually on the first business day in January each year.

https://www.ulsterbank.co.uk/content/dam/Ulster/documents/ni-region/permanent/personal/savings/ubn-pers-savings-account-rates.pdf

masonic

eskbanker said:

masonic said:

Ulrich said:

masonic said:

Ulrich said:

Hi All, 

A quick question - if you're about to open a savings account like this one today and it says "Interest is paid annually" here, when would you expect it to be paid next time?

If I see that, without qualification, then I'd expect interest to be paid once every year. If they say "anniversary" then it would be at the end of each account year, otherwise it would be on a specific date each calendar year as specified elsewhere.

In general, the terms month, monthly, year, annually, etc refer to calendar months and years unless otherwise specified.

Well, it's definitely once a year.
The thing is no "anniversary" or a specific date given - that's what I find misleading.
I'd accept "annually on X of January" (or similar) or "the first working day of each (calendar) year" but that's not what they use.
And as you can see, a lot of people fall to that.

Well it is not really misleading, it is just vague. They state:

I think the information sheet should be made available prior to starting an application, so on that point I do think there is a problem.

It's linked from the main product page, and specifies:

Loyalty Saver Information Sheet

An instant access savings account that pays interest annually on the first business day in January each year.

https://www.ulsterbank.co.uk/content/dam/Ulster/documents/ni-region/permanent/personal/savings/ubn-pers-savings-account-rates.pdf

Maybe I'm being blind, but I do not see that linked from the product information page. I only see:

Your Savings Account Terms (PDF, 342 KB), which is generic information from which I clipped the statement about the Information Sheet in my previous post.

FSCS Protecting Your Money (PDF, 3.7 MB)

View our guide to personal account fees and interest (PDF, 277 KB)

eskbanker

masonic said:

eskbanker said:

masonic said:

Ulrich said:

masonic said:

Ulrich said:

Hi All, 

A quick question - if you're about to open a savings account like this one today and it says "Interest is paid annually" here, when would you expect it to be paid next time?

If I see that, without qualification, then I'd expect interest to be paid once every year. If they say "anniversary" then it would be at the end of each account year, otherwise it would be on a specific date each calendar year as specified elsewhere.

In general, the terms month, monthly, year, annually, etc refer to calendar months and years unless otherwise specified.

Well, it's definitely once a year.
The thing is no "anniversary" or a specific date given - that's what I find misleading.
I'd accept "annually on X of January" (or similar) or "the first working day of each (calendar) year" but that's not what they use.
And as you can see, a lot of people fall to that.

Well it is not really misleading, it is just vague. They state:

I think the information sheet should be made available prior to starting an application, so on that point I do think there is a problem.

It's linked from the main product page, and specifies:

Loyalty Saver Information Sheet

An instant access savings account that pays interest annually on the first business day in January each year.

https://www.ulsterbank.co.uk/content/dam/Ulster/documents/ni-region/permanent/personal/savings/ubn-pers-savings-account-rates.pdf

Maybe I'm being blind, but I do not see that linked from the product information page. I only see:

Your Savings Account Terms (PDF, 342 KB), which is generic information from which I clipped the statement about the Information Sheet in my previous post.

FSCS Protecting Your Money (PDF, 3.7 MB)

View our guide to personal account fees and interest (PDF, 277 KB)

Yes, it's the last of those - the document isn't actually called 'information sheet' as such, but that's a page within it.

masonic

eskbanker said:

masonic said:

eskbanker said:

masonic said:

Ulrich said:

masonic said:

Ulrich said:

Hi All, 

A quick question - if you're about to open a savings account like this one today and it says "Interest is paid annually" here, when would you expect it to be paid next time?

If I see that, without qualification, then I'd expect interest to be paid once every year. If they say "anniversary" then it would be at the end of each account year, otherwise it would be on a specific date each calendar year as specified elsewhere.

In general, the terms month, monthly, year, annually, etc refer to calendar months and years unless otherwise specified.

Well, it's definitely once a year.
The thing is no "anniversary" or a specific date given - that's what I find misleading.
I'd accept "annually on X of January" (or similar) or "the first working day of each (calendar) year" but that's not what they use.
And as you can see, a lot of people fall to that.

Well it is not really misleading, it is just vague. They state:

I think the information sheet should be made available prior to starting an application, so on that point I do think there is a problem.

It's linked from the main product page, and specifies:

Loyalty Saver Information Sheet

An instant access savings account that pays interest annually on the first business day in January each year.

https://www.ulsterbank.co.uk/content/dam/Ulster/documents/ni-region/permanent/personal/savings/ubn-pers-savings-account-rates.pdf

Maybe I'm being blind, but I do not see that linked from the product information page. I only see:

Your Savings Account Terms (PDF, 342 KB), which is generic information from which I clipped the statement about the Information Sheet in my previous post.

FSCS Protecting Your Money (PDF, 3.7 MB)

View our guide to personal account fees and interest (PDF, 277 KB)

Yes, it's the last of those - the document isn't actually called 'information sheet' as such, but that's a page within it.

Aha, thanks, I was hunting for something that might specifically apply to this account. "Personal account fees" put me right off the scent.

eskbanker

masonic said:

Aha, thanks, I was hunting for something that might specifically apply to this account. "Personal account fees" put me right off the scent.

Pretty sure I did exactly the same thing in another recent thread, about how they deal with accrued interest after an account's been zeroed and closed!

slinger2

wmb194 said:

slinger2 said:

wmb194 said:

Ulrich said:

Yeah, exactly - it's January IF you read T&Cs but "at the glance" there's nothing about January so it's really misleading to my liking because it should be "first banking day in January", definitely not annually.

It's annually in January.

Surely it's annually FROM January.

Nope, once a year in January.

But if you open it in October, the first January is in no sense "annual" relative to October.

wmb194

slinger2 said:

wmb194 said:

slinger2 said:

wmb194 said:

Ulrich said:

Yeah, exactly - it's January IF you read T&Cs but "at the glance" there's nothing about January so it's really misleading to my liking because it should be "first banking day in January", definitely not annually.

It's annually in January.

Surely it's annually FROM January.

Nope, once a year in January.

But if you open it in October, the first January is in no sense "annual" relative to October.

It'll be once in a year. That's all annual means.