The Top Regular Savers Discussion Thread

happybagger

dcs34 said:
Loughborough Holiday Monthly Saver 31.05.2026

As with other building societies I think Loughborough make use of their branch network to help manage the burden of manual administration when the central office functions get...overwhelmed...during peak times (i.e. when a new account gets posted on here!). So it's possible your applications have been sent off to different teams for processing and hence will have slightly different speeds of getting looked at.

I decided to take a day trip out and open this in person (existing customer) in branch. They said that I was the first they'd had (though they "don't know what the others have had"). Also said they weren't aware of the account when a customer came in to ask about it on Monday... so internal comms may have been a bit lacking.
For me, very efficient and staff were pleasant, no cup of tea though.

When you need to make a withdrawal (or close) you do need to send the passbook with form or signed letter, and they will only do it by cheque (cash if in branch of course too) but they won't do BACS or FP. Withdrawals "to-bank" can only be done by CHAPS at a cost of £10.

francoghezzi

happybagger said:

dcs34 said:
Loughborough Holiday Monthly Saver 31.05.2026

As with other building societies I think Loughborough make use of their branch network to help manage the burden of manual administration when the central office functions get...overwhelmed...during peak times (i.e. when a new account gets posted on here!). So it's possible your applications have been sent off to different teams for processing and hence will have slightly different speeds of getting looked at.

I decided to take a day trip out and open this in person (existing customer) in branch. They said that I was the first they'd had (though they "don't know what the others have had"). Also said they weren't aware of the account when a customer came in to ask about it on Monday... so internal comms may have been a bit lacking.
For me, very efficient and staff were pleasant, no cup of tea though.

When you need to make a withdrawal (or close) you do need to send the passbook with form or signed letter, and they will only do it by cheque (cash if in branch of course too) but they won't do BACS or FP. Withdrawals "to-bank" can only be done by CHAPS at a cost of £10.

So time travels do exist. How did you find the stables for your horse?

surreysaver

happybagger said:

dcs34 said:
Loughborough Holiday Monthly Saver 31.05.2026

As with other building societies I think Loughborough make use of their branch network to help manage the burden of manual administration when the central office functions get...overwhelmed...during peak times (i.e. when a new account gets posted on here!). So it's possible your applications have been sent off to different teams for processing and hence will have slightly different speeds of getting looked at.

I decided to take a day trip out and open this in person (existing customer) in branch. They said that I was the first they'd had (though they "don't know what the others have had"). Also said they weren't aware of the account when a customer came in to ask about it on Monday... so internal comms may have been a bit lacking.
For me, very efficient and staff were pleasant, no cup of tea though.

When you need to make a withdrawal (or close) you do need to send the passbook with form or signed letter, and they will only do it by cheque (cash if in branch of course too) but they won't do BACS or FP. Withdrawals "to-bank" can only be done by CHAPS at a cost of £10.

Nottingham make you a cup of coffee when you make a day trip to open an account 

Aidanmc

Just emailed my application to Loughborough, complete with ID and proof of address.

Do they email the account details when opened or need to wait for passbook?

allegro120

happybagger said:

dcs34 said:
Loughborough Holiday Monthly Saver 31.05.2026

As with other building societies I think Loughborough make use of their branch network to help manage the burden of manual administration when the central office functions get...overwhelmed...during peak times (i.e. when a new account gets posted on here!). So it's possible your applications have been sent off to different teams for processing and hence will have slightly different speeds of getting looked at.

I decided to take a day trip out and open this in person (existing customer) in branch. They said that I was the first they'd had (though they "don't know what the others have had"). Also said they weren't aware of the account when a customer came in to ask about it on Monday... so internal comms may have been a bit lacking.
For me, very efficient and staff were pleasant, no cup of tea though.

When you need to make a withdrawal (or close) you do need to send the passbook with form or signed letter, and they will only do it by cheque (cash if in branch of course too) but they won't do BACS or FP. Withdrawals "to-bank" can only be done by CHAPS at a cost of £10.

Loughborough.
I called Long Eaton branch on Monday requesting the application form (I don't have access to printer). The lady told me that I will need to e-mail scanned completed application form and two pieces of proof of address. She said that they already have a copy of my passport (I'm an existing customer), so I don't need to send it. I've received the form today, done it all and sent it off.  Had a reply in 20 minutes asking for photo ID, sent a picture of my passport and received reply within a couple of minutes saying that they can now process my application. I'm happy with this, but there's definitely a lack of internal comms, the e-mail address provided is head office address, not the branch.

Sending passbook with signed letter or collecting a cheque in person from a branch is a standard procedure for passbook accounts.  This has to be taken into consideration when opening a passbook account.

happybagger

francoghezzi said:So time travels do exist. How did you find the stables for your horse?

I've no idea what this means tbh

masonic

happybagger said:

francoghezzi said:So time travels do exist. How did you find the stables for your horse?

I've no idea what this means tbh

Antiquated processes?

allegro120

Aidanmc said:

Just emailed my application to Loughborough, complete with ID and proof of address.

Do they email the account details when opened or need to wait for passbook?

This is what I received today: "Many thanks for your swift reply. We will now proceed with your application. We will write to you with written confirmation once the account has been opened."

Not exactly clear in which format this confirmation will be delivered.  My guess is - it will arrive by post with passbook and a standard booklet containing general t&c, privacy notice etc..  Loughborough is one of these old fashioned providers, I'm surprised they accept applications and documents by e-mail.

WillPS

Aidanmc said:

Just emailed my application to Loughborough, complete with ID and proof of address.

Do they email the account details when opened or need to wait for passbook?

In my case they sent a secure message through Mimecast (which I had to sign up for to read, took a minute so no biggy) the next day, which had the account details. They asked me to reply when a deposit had been sent and then they'd send the passbook out. No passbook received yet.

allegro120

surreysaver said:

happybagger said:

dcs34 said:
Loughborough Holiday Monthly Saver 31.05.2026

As with other building societies I think Loughborough make use of their branch network to help manage the burden of manual administration when the central office functions get...overwhelmed...during peak times (i.e. when a new account gets posted on here!). So it's possible your applications have been sent off to different teams for processing and hence will have slightly different speeds of getting looked at.

I decided to take a day trip out and open this in person (existing customer) in branch. They said that I was the first they'd had (though they "don't know what the others have had"). Also said they weren't aware of the account when a customer came in to ask about it on Monday... so internal comms may have been a bit lacking.
For me, very efficient and staff were pleasant, no cup of tea though.

When you need to make a withdrawal (or close) you do need to send the passbook with form or signed letter, and they will only do it by cheque (cash if in branch of course too) but they won't do BACS or FP. Withdrawals "to-bank" can only be done by CHAPS at a cost of £10.

Nottingham make you a cup of coffee when you make a day trip to open an account 

It used to be a common practice across BS branches regardless specifics of your journey.  At some point I began helping myself with coffee machine at arrival to my local Virgin branch to speed up the process.  It wasn't very long ago, but before the merger, they were launching new RS issues every 2 months for quite a while (all at 3%, which was a very competitive rate at the time), a lot of branch visits so all members of staff knew my face and my name.