The Top Regular Savers Discussion Thread

Bridlington1

happybagger said:

Bucks BS made rate changes on 1 Jan but didn't alter their RS accounts
They are making changes on 1 Feb which includes RS accounts already really poor rates. So yes, not really for the "Top RS discussion" thread, I get it.

The on sale Regular Saver account down from 2.65% to 2.40%
The closed RS Locals not yet showing on the closed rates list but will likely mirror this and drop from 3.05 to 2.80

Just for anyone that still holds one like I do for membership purposes, as there's very little else worthwhile.

These societies still haven't declared yet: Bath, Earl Shilton, Mansfield, Monmouth, Swansea and Melton (still not offering any after their change of system)

I'll add Buckinghamshire to my list of rate cuts for those that are curious but they shan't get an announcement in the archived thread as the rates are just too low.

Others yet to declare are GB Bank, Cumberland, Furness, Nationwide, Nottingham, Penrith (though they have released a new interest rate sheet, there seems to be no changes and it wasn't announced in advance), and Progressive.

happybagger

Bridlington1 said:
Progressive didn't exclude existing customers from opening their RSs specifically, the terms only prevented those who currently hold a previous issue of their RS, which is in line with some other banks/building societies (e.g. Skipton, Saffron in certain cases). The difference with Progressive was that you couldn't close the old RS early to open a new one.

Quite. And a general whinge about the fact that they excluded members due to the "you can withdraw to £1 but not close it" term brought forth the reply "well yes but you can open the 7% one when your 5.5% reaches the end of its term"

I should go back and say "false info, as you closed the issue just before mine matured" but I couldn't be bothered

Kim_13

happybagger said:

Bucks BS made rate changes on 1 Jan but didn't alter their RS accounts
They are making changes on 1 Feb which includes RS accounts already really poor rates. So yes, not really for the "Top RS discussion" thread, I get it.

The on sale Regular Saver account down from 2.65% to 2.40%
The closed RS Locals not yet showing on the closed rates list but will likely mirror this and drop from 3.05 to 2.80

Just for anyone that still holds one like I do for membership purposes, as there's very little else worthwhile.

These societies still haven't declared yet: Bath, Earl Shilton, Mansfield, Monmouth, Swansea and Melton (still not offering any after their change of system)

Prompted by the lack of mention of Progressive in your post, I went onto their site and found the following: 

https://www.theprogressive.com/media/hlmfjlew/website-notice-rate-change-010226.pdf

All issues of Online Rainy Day Saver down by 0.25% from 1st February. Not seen in the thread yet so apologies if it has been mentioned and I've missed it.

surreysaver

Bridlington1 said:

topyam said:

 Bridlington1 said:

surreysaver said:

Bridlington1 said:

Just thought I'd mention this for those who have been existing Suffolk BS members in the past but then allowed your last account with them to be closed for whatever reason before applying for a new online RS.

Applying for a new account does not work and a message asks you to contact them. If you try logging on with your old details it says access is denied for security reasons.

I phoned them today but because it's a Saturday it put me through to one of their branches who don't deal with online savings. I mentioned that I'd previously had an account with them and they were able to locate me on their systems. The issue was caused by the fact that even though I had no open accounts, my profile was still active.

After a bit of playing around I asked if it was possible to disable my old profile, which they were able to do. This allowed me to apply again as a new customer and open a new account immediately.

This is one reason I always leave an account open - to maintain my online presence as well as being eligible for loyalty products in the future 

I usually do, but Suffolk managed to slip the net on this occasion, mainly because they closed the maturity account my old RS converted into.

That being said there's others I've begun withdrawing from entirely, e.g. M&S bank, Paragon etc mainly because I've noted an uptick in banks offering accounts to new customers only so hope in time to return and grab a sign up offer or exclusive new customer rate, I'll probably pull out of Hargreaves Lansdown for the same reason at some stage soon. I've also noticed Chip have given me the option to open a new cash ISA despite transferring my previous one out in 2024 so not being eligible so I'm in two minds whether to close my only account with them for the same reason, I haven't yet decided.

It depends on the bank/building society in general though, some offer loyalty accounts so I've kept a foot in the door for the reasons you mention, Cambridge especially I've clung onto membership with a £1 deposit due to having an account available to under 21s only mature, if I wanted an account to gain membership again I probably wouldn't be able to do so with £1 very easily.

Saffron's an interesting dilemma too, previously I'd've said definitely open an EA account with them for membership but last year they came up with a refer-a-friend RS, available to new customers only, it'll be interesting to see if they come up with another of them at some stage, in which case the ideal position becomes hold out till they launch a RAF RS and then retain that account for membership. But then again there's no guarantee they'll ever launch another RAF RS either.

What's your thinking re Furness? 

I current have a triple access account I opened with them back in 2023 when it briefly became one of the top EA accounts at 5%. I'm keeping hold of the account. I'd be surprised if Furness launched an account for new members only so would say it wouldn't do any harm to open an EA account now but unless they also launch a loyalty account it probably wouldn't make much difference either way.

In general I'm keeping accounts with building societies as these have historically been the more likely to offer loyalty accounts, plus several of the banks, it's just select few I'm getting rid of for now for the reasons I mentioned earlier, I occasionally like to do a spot of fine tuning of my collection of accounts though as otherwise you end up with dozens of accounts that never get actively used, are no longer needed but sit there with the minimum. This is part of my latest round of fine tuning.

I'm also going to be opening an EA account with Loughborough at some point as I plan to make an early withdrawal from my 1Y Super Saver to prevent £24k suddenly being made available in one when it matures and given withdrawals are by cheque or internal transfer I'd want the cheques splitting so I can deposit them into the banking apps

I do go round once a year to those accounts I haven't logged into to collect the pennies of interest!

happybagger

soulsaver said:

@Bridlington1 Staffs SRBS  BS RS Iss 1 (open ended, sometimes area restricted) - 4.40% down to 4.15% aer wef 23/01 

By letter - not shown on their site yet.

It's here, had been reported on here quite some time ago but probably got missed with all the Principality stuff at the time

Kim_13

surreysaver said:

Bridlington1 said:

topyam said:

 Bridlington1 said:

surreysaver said:

Bridlington1 said:

Just thought I'd mention this for those who have been existing Suffolk BS members in the past but then allowed your last account with them to be closed for whatever reason before applying for a new online RS.

Applying for a new account does not work and a message asks you to contact them. If you try logging on with your old details it says access is denied for security reasons.

I phoned them today but because it's a Saturday it put me through to one of their branches who don't deal with online savings. I mentioned that I'd previously had an account with them and they were able to locate me on their systems. The issue was caused by the fact that even though I had no open accounts, my profile was still active.

After a bit of playing around I asked if it was possible to disable my old profile, which they were able to do. This allowed me to apply again as a new customer and open a new account immediately.

This is one reason I always leave an account open - to maintain my online presence as well as being eligible for loyalty products in the future 

I usually do, but Suffolk managed to slip the net on this occasion, mainly because they closed the maturity account my old RS converted into.

That being said there's others I've begun withdrawing from entirely, e.g. M&S bank, Paragon etc mainly because I've noted an uptick in banks offering accounts to new customers only so hope in time to return and grab a sign up offer or exclusive new customer rate, I'll probably pull out of Hargreaves Lansdown for the same reason at some stage soon. I've also noticed Chip have given me the option to open a new cash ISA despite transferring my previous one out in 2024 so not being eligible so I'm in two minds whether to close my only account with them for the same reason, I haven't yet decided.

It depends on the bank/building society in general though, some offer loyalty accounts so I've kept a foot in the door for the reasons you mention, Cambridge especially I've clung onto membership with a £1 deposit due to having an account available to under 21s only mature, if I wanted an account to gain membership again I probably wouldn't be able to do so with £1 very easily.

Saffron's an interesting dilemma too, previously I'd've said definitely open an EA account with them for membership but last year they came up with a refer-a-friend RS, available to new customers only, it'll be interesting to see if they come up with another of them at some stage, in which case the ideal position becomes hold out till they launch a RAF RS and then retain that account for membership. But then again there's no guarantee they'll ever launch another RAF RS either.

What's your thinking re Furness? 

I current have a triple access account I opened with them back in 2023 when it briefly became one of the top EA accounts at 5%. I'm keeping hold of the account. I'd be surprised if Furness launched an account for new members only so would say it wouldn't do any harm to open an EA account now but unless they also launch a loyalty account it probably wouldn't make much difference either way.

In general I'm keeping accounts with building societies as these have historically been the more likely to offer loyalty accounts, plus several of the banks, it's just select few I'm getting rid of for now for the reasons I mentioned earlier, I occasionally like to do a spot of fine tuning of my collection of accounts though as otherwise you end up with dozens of accounts that never get actively used, are no longer needed but sit there with the minimum. This is part of my latest round of fine tuning.

I'm also going to be opening an EA account with Loughborough at some point as I plan to make an early withdrawal from my 1Y Super Saver to prevent £24k suddenly being made available in one when it matures and given withdrawals are by cheque or internal transfer I'd want the cheques splitting so I can deposit them into the banking apps

I do go round once a year to those accounts I haven't logged into to collect the pennies of interest!

I did the same over New Year. Nationwide have now dropped their £1 minimum transfer so was able to rescue that, but Coventry will have to wait until SDS 2 matures due to their £1 min.

I'll do a NatWest £1.01 into NS&I in March so that interest can be rescued once paid in April.

Born2Save_3

topyam said:

janusd said:

Born2Save_3 said:

FurnessBS 160 Year Anniversary RS

There should be a new RS released on 20/1/26, 6.75%A, £160 monthly, with 10 month duration. Named '160 Year Anniversary RS'. Information seemed to be definite, but may be subject to change.

thanks for this - opened their Everyday Saver (1.85%) online as soon as you posted - for simplicity, I ended up applying via the app and passport/selfie went through first time... account details email arrived shortly after, logged in today and deposited £1 to the account (CoP worked fine).

Is it likely that you will have to be an existing customer for this?

That's an unknown. But for £1 you can be now and for the sake of applying quickly, already being a member helps. I applied for another account as a member today and it went through very quickly.

There may be other restrictions; I don't know.  I only asked questions from my own position and to be honest I was very surprised to be told about this 11/12 days in advance.  I didn't want to ask too many questions.

Pickledonionlover

flaneurs_lobster said:

Progressive BS

Pickledonionlover said:

As was reported on here previously it's login is beyond anything I've encountered before.

Really? You have led a lucky and/or sheltered life. They are one of the better institutions in that they insist on authenticator 2FA rather than the inherently less-safe text messaging.

It's login is definitely the most problematic of the five figure RS monthly debits.

The only one which came close to being as bad was the previous incarnation of Cynergy.

As for the 'sheltered life' comment id be a little more careful with your language on here in future.