The Old Regular Savers Discussion Thread 28/12/24-29/1/26

Aidanmc

Progressive BS,

Bobblehat

Aidanmc said:

Bobblehat said:

IanManc said:

flaneurs_lobster said:

BestSeagull said:

One thing that was mentioned was that there is an App in the works so perhaps this current system is temporary. 

Them introducing an app is not going to help those people without a smartphone.

2FA by SMS is not the most secure of the usual methods but it's better than asking for your first pet's name over the phone.

Poor that they have simply turned it off.

As more and more Progressive customers try to log on and find out that they no longer have access to their online accounts then the Savings Help team in the head office in Belfast who have always been polite, kind and extremely efficient will be fielding increasing numbers of calls - like mine - though none of this is their fault.

Meanwhile the clowns who decided to end the sending of SMS notifications to members, without any prior notice or communication at all, will be collecting fat salaries and not having to deal with any of the mess they have created.

Agree! When I eventually got to speak to CS, they were polite and helpful .... but it took them to ring me back after me twice trying to speak to someone unsuccessfully on the "Savings Team" (surely, this is an IT issue!). The switch board said the "team" were completely blocked-up with calls and offered to email the "team" to request a call-back! 

Couple of hours later, I got the call and I had access after a few minutes. Don't fancy having to go through this whenever I'd like to check if SO's have landed ... or whatever! I also did not receive any notification of the change to login procedures.

So they had to call you back to give you a code so you could login?

I dont know why they stopped sending codes by SMS. Most other larger banks and building societies still use them.

That's right! 

Their system still says (or did yesterday) that they will send a code by SMS or WhatsApp. SMS never arrives, and my dumb-mobile doesn't do Apps, but it is small and very pocketable! CS sounded ever so surprised that I still use a PC to access banking .... I had to explain that there maybe a lot of use senior citizens out there who like BIG monitors and BIG keyboards!

allegro120

Dizzycap said:

friolento said:

charlie12525 said:

Hanley Economic Building Society

Received an email detailing interest rate cuts w.e.f. 01/07/25.

The one that affects me is the Online Reg Saver which drops from 4.7% to 4.4%.

This was one of my best reg savers due to the high monthly pay in allowance but I have now changed my standing order from the max of 1000 to the min of 250. Might close it later this month.

That's me done with the HEBS RS on June 30

I dumped my HEBS RS once the interest rate dropped to 5% as there were higher interest options available at the time on other RS, so for me, it was a no brainer  

I kept it going because all my 5%+ were covered anyway.  It was also convenient for Halifax debit card payments. But when they dropped the rate to 4.7% this account stopped making any sense.  I closed the account and didn't even secure continuous membership.  HEBS didn't have any suitable online product and also I don't have any reason to believe that they will ever release a loyalty product at competitive rate.

Speculator

Still no emails from Saffron BS about closing our Refer a Friend accounts. 

If they don't close it,  I would be reluctant fund it in case they close it some time in the future and pay me their instant access rate instead of the 8%.

AmityNeon

Whilst Progressive BS have handled their system upgrade atrociously, they are more 'progressive' in terms of moving away from SMS OTPs. Passkeys and hardware security keys may still be too niche for widespread adoption, but authenticator apps—which exist as desktop apps too, e.g. Ente Auth, OneAuth, KeePassXC (guide)—aren't something to actively resist if you prefer web banking.

allegro120

Speculator said:

Still no emails from Saffron BS about closing our Refer a Friend accounts. 

If they don't close it,  I would be reluctant fund it in case they close it some time in the future and pay me their instant access rate instead of the 8%.

I don't think they can do that, they'll have to pay you 8% as per t&c.

Bridlington1

Just a reminder the following interest rate cut comes into effect tomorrow:

Account	Old rate	New rate	Date
Newcastle BS Newcastle Regular Saver (Issue 1)	5.50%	5.25%	05/06/2025

Bobblehat

AmityNeon said:

Whilst Progressive BS have handled their system upgrade atrociously, they are more 'progressive' in terms of moving away from SMS OTPs. Passkeys and hardware security keys may still be too niche for widespread adoption, but authenticator apps—which exist as desktop apps too, e.g. Ente Auth, OneAuth, KeePassXC (guide)—aren't something to actively resist if you prefer web banking.

I don't actively resist anything techy that my eyes can read! So, would Progressive BS allow me to use PC versions of the Apps you mention above to logon? Or is it something either I and/or Progressive would have to enable asap?

Bigwheels1111

Bobblehat said:

AmityNeon said:

Whilst Progressive BS have handled their system upgrade atrociously, they are more 'progressive' in terms of moving away from SMS OTPs. Passkeys and hardware security keys may still be too niche for widespread adoption, but authenticator apps—which exist as desktop apps too, e.g. Ente Auth, OneAuth, KeePassXC (guide)—aren't something to actively resist if you prefer web banking.

I don't actively resist anything techy that my eyes can read! So, would Progressive BS allow me to use PC versions of the Apps you mention above to logon? Or is it something either I and/or Progressive would have to enable asap?

Two days ago I got a not so nice surprise from progressive, re WhatsApp message instead of a text.
Took me a few minutes to realise it was a WhatsApp, I don’t have WiFi or data turned on, but WhatsApp is on my pc.
No message arrived on my pc, turned on WiFi and message was delivered to my phone.

Bobblehat

Bigwheels1111 said:

Bobblehat said:

AmityNeon said:

Whilst Progressive BS have handled their system upgrade atrociously, they are more 'progressive' in terms of moving away from SMS OTPs. Passkeys and hardware security keys may still be too niche for widespread adoption, but authenticator apps—which exist as desktop apps too, e.g. Ente Auth, OneAuth, KeePassXC (guide)—aren't something to actively resist if you prefer web banking.

I don't actively resist anything techy that my eyes can read! So, would Progressive BS allow me to use PC versions of the Apps you mention above to logon? Or is it something either I and/or Progressive would have to enable asap?

Two days ago I got a not so nice surprise from progressive, re WhatsApp message instead of a text.
Took me a few minutes to realise it was a WhatsApp, I don’t have WiFi or data turned on, but WhatsApp is on my pc.
No message arrived on my pc, turned on WiFi and message was delivered to my phone.

Sorry if I'm being dim, but it seems that your situation is that you have a smart-phone, whereas I don't. So little help for me in this case unless I'm totally mis-reading your post? Please explain if I've got it wrong.