The Top Regular Savers Discussion Thread

Kim_13

bioboybill said:

My wife signed up for an Easy Access account with West Bromwich BS online yesterday in the hope of accessing their 6% fixed RS. At the end of the application it said, "we'll get back to you with a decision in 3-5 days". Seriously? Every other bank or BS I've used manages to give you a decision in minutes! Is that typical with them?

Yes, same again when the RS application goes in. In fairness to them they took a couple of days when I applied just after Christmas 2023.

exel1966

STAFFORD BS 

Regular Saver – Issue 1    4.90% reducing to 4.75% on 01 March

WillPS

bioboybill said:

My wife signed up for an Easy Access account with West Bromwich BS online yesterday in the hope of accessing their 6% fixed RS. At the end of the application it said, "we'll get back to you with a decision in 3-5 days". Seriously? Every other bank or BS I've used manages to give you a decision in minutes! Is that typical with them?

It just means they're doing everything offline/manually. Monmouthshire are pretty similar from memory, possibly Saffron too.

Think of it like sending a form off in the post and waiting for a response, except you can do the actual submission online.

Quite often the manual processing of stuff is divvied up between branches. It's all incredibly old fashioned but it's also very much the norm when it comes to regional building societies.

gt94sss2

exel1966 said:

STAFFORD BS 

Regular Saver – Issue 1    4.90% reducing to 4.75% on 01 March

I wonder how many customers are going to be paying in the extra (upto) £12,000 before the end of march.

CuparLad

WillPS said:

Quite often the manual processing of stuff is divvied up between branches. It's all incredibly old fashioned but it's also very much the norm when it comes to regional building societies.

It's not just the regional ones either. Spreading the load amongst the branches is quite normal. I was chatting to a Nationwide Branch Manager a while back. If your local branch is closed on certain days of the week, the staff are still working. Quite often they'll be manning the telephone lines, or doing other administration. It reduces the need for a massive central call centre, by distributing calls amongst colleagues around the country.

allegro120

Kim_13 said:

Chadsman said:

Kim_13 said:

I received a Secure Message from Loughborough BS...

How did you get a secure message from Loughborough BS, do they have an online portal?

They send an email saying they have sent a Secure Message. Clicking on it will prompt you to enter your email address and select a password, and you can then view the message and respond to them as necessary. The email is displayed as being from Administrator, so may be missed by anyone scanning their mailbox for Loughborough.

I suspect it will be an entirely different system at such time as they do roll out online access rather than just a secure messaging portal, and that they could then save money by making passbooks optional, e.g. those that want them because they will use the branch to transact can collect them from branch - or getting rid of them altogether. 

Mansfield has an online access, but I still had to post the passbook to receive a cheque.  

allegro120

WillPS said:

bioboybill said:

My wife signed up for an Easy Access account with West Bromwich BS online yesterday in the hope of accessing their 6% fixed RS. At the end of the application it said, "we'll get back to you with a decision in 3-5 days". Seriously? Every other bank or BS I've used manages to give you a decision in minutes! Is that typical with them?

It just means they're doing everything offline/manually. Monmouthshire are pretty similar from memory, possibly Saffron too.

Think of it like sending a form off in the post and waiting for a response, except you can do the actual submission online.

Quite often the manual processing of stuff is divvied up between branches. It's all incredibly old fashioned but it's also very much the norm when it comes to regional building societies.

My first Monmouthshire application was processed quicker because I sent it to a small branch, those who sent it to head office had to wait longer. 

Bob2000

Bob2000 said:

Kim_13 said:

Bob2000 said:

Kim_13 said:

Bob2000 said:

Bob2000 said:

Kim_13 said:

Bob2000 said:

10_66 said:

Principality 1 Year Triple Access
I opened this last April and it's now got the full £600 in it.  Can anyone confirm if Principality adhere to their maximum limits, please (I'm afraid my memory fails me), as there's another couple of months' left before it matures?

Well, today, they returned £12.62 to my current  account  from the same RS as mentioned  above. Don't know why because l always deposit exactly £50 on the 1st by SO??
So I can't see them letting an extra £50 slipp past them!

Was there £12.62 interest at some point? I remember this being questioned here when the account launched, due to the mid term payment of interest.

Though April to February = 11 payments, so surely they should only reject entirely if the interest had been more than £50 to take the balance to £600. Impossible given the rate and maximum balance involved. I overfunded one a few months ago and they returned the excess but not the whole payment.

From 30/4/24 == 2/12/24 £50 Standing orders.
 Then 1/1/25.  £12.56  then another £50 on the 2/1/25 and finally 3/2/25 £37.35?

I spoke to a staff member  at my local branch and she's wasn't sure why.

Well that explains  that then?? £537.35 in account  now??

There might have been some logic had they done this in January, as your balance increased by more than £50 then due to the interest. 

I would contact them and consider complaining. Clearly your balance has only increased by £37.35 in February so they should have accepted the £12.65, as you were paying in the maximum permitted and no more. They should also accept £50 or a top up to £600 next month, whichever is lower.

 Hopefully  it's sorted now. I'll ask if it can be back dated too because I can't get to the branch until next Wednesday.

They mentioned a 6 Month Regular Saver rather than the 1 Year Triple Access - is this their error as that’s probably the account most of the customers they deal with want or have, or could you possibly have mixed your reference numbers up and sent it to another account?

Probably their error as there’s also a typo in conversation and I don’t believe my 6 Month Regular paid interest on 1 January.

Well spotted because l totally  missed it. 
Thank you for that!
Yes the account number  is correct  just sent them another message to clarify  l can still go ahead with the deposits. 

[Update]

I went to my local branch yesterday to deposit  my £12.65 and the lady behind the counter stated there was loads of people who had cash returned  to them In this particular  account. 
And it should be back dated to the full £50 for the month.
 

subjecttocontract

trickydicky14 said:

subjecttocontract said:

I think the cut off point varies depending on how many you want to manage/finance. There are plenty of good payers around so I don't need to bother with the others. My cut off is currently 6% because I have 24 & don't want to spend any more time on them. We are all different, whatever suits you is the way to go.

24 regular savers, I would assume some of those are below 6%?

Yes.
Some are ending in February & March and won't be renewed.

trickydicky14

allegro120 said:

WillPS said:

bioboybill said:

My wife signed up for an Easy Access account with West Bromwich BS online yesterday in the hope of accessing their 6% fixed RS. At the end of the application it said, "we'll get back to you with a decision in 3-5 days". Seriously? Every other bank or BS I've used manages to give you a decision in minutes! Is that typical with them?

It just means they're doing everything offline/manually. Monmouthshire are pretty similar from memory, possibly Saffron too.

Think of it like sending a form off in the post and waiting for a response, except you can do the actual submission online.

Quite often the manual processing of stuff is divvied up between branches. It's all incredibly old fashioned but it's also very much the norm when it comes to regional building societies.

My first Monmouthshire application was processed quicker because I sent it to a small branch, those who sent it to head office had to wait longer. 

My first Monmouthshire application was at the Chepstow branch as I just happened to be in the area for a few days. I was sat down in an office and given a nice cup of coffee.