Monument Bank - how the 25k minimum balance works?

sevenfish

MSE is listing Monument as a top rate normal savings account (4.75% with up to 3 withdrawals per year).  It has a £25k minimum balance requirement across all accounts you hold with them.

I use my ISA allowance for shares, and I have an Atom account.  So I opened a Monument savings account but have not put money in it yet.  I wanted to know more about how the £25k minimum balance works, and couldn't find any more details on MSE or Monument website.

For example, if I deposit £30k and then want to get £10k out quickly, will I have to close the account (since I'm going below the £25k minimum), requiring phone calls, forms or delays?

I just called Monument and asked this question.  The man said in this case I could make the withdrawal online in the usual way, as long as I had "the intention to fund the account back to £25k".  This requirement seems vague, e.g. there's no timescale attached to it.

So it seems you don't really have to keep £25k in Monument, just have an "intention" to have that much in at some point.  Presumably they could close your account if you leave it short of £25k for a while.

I am a bit reluctant to trust a bank I've never heard of with £25k on day 1.  That's a lot of money.  With other online banks (e.g. Atom) I started with a small amount and checked I could withdraw it, gaining trust, before gradually adding more.

Others' experiences would be welcome to help me decide...

Itskarma

I opened this account yesterday. It says in the ts&cs that they expect you to top up within a reasonable amount of time and they may contact you to request you do. Then says that if the balance remains below £25,000 they may give you a minimum of 2 months notice before closing the account. I have to say the app is great and transfers in within a minute with prompt notifications. 

Itskarma

PS You have 14 days to fully fund the account so I was able to test transfers in and out with a small amount.

j_netprofit

Have been using monument on and off (when their rate is highest) for about 18months or more. All transactions are instant and app is very easy to use. Can’t fault them. 

ChilliBob

Itskarma said:

PS You have 14 days to fully fund the account so I was able to test transfers in and out with a small amount.

Just opened on Tuesday, so that's good to know, cheers! 

friolento

If you only have an ISA with Monument, the minimum balance is £10k

ToastLady

Does anyone know how long withdrawals from Monument take for easy access/flexible ISA please? I've only ever held fixed savers with them in the past, and it's been a while.

wiseonesomeofthetime

And for the Cash ISA there is a 30 days window for the first deposit, from date of account being opened.