Thoughts on Tembo

Was attracted to their rate and possibility of doing an ISA transfer, so opened a Cash ISA and deposited a test £10.

1. The transfer offer was then halted.
2. Tried a test withdrawal to see how fast funds come back, and the only option it gave was withdraw everything and close account. 
3. Tried querying this with customer service who read the query wrong then closed the account in error.
4. Have waited a week for funds to show up. 

I wouldn’t touch these guys with a barge pole. 

Comments

  • masonic
    masonic Posts: 26,597 Forumite
    Part of the Furniture 10,000 Posts Photogenic Name Dropper
    edited 15 May at 8:40PM
    Konig said:
    I wouldn’t touch these guys with a barge pole.
    But it sounds like you already have.
    For info, £10 is the minimum balance, and that is clearly stated. It is not unusual for accounts to have a minimum balance, below which the account must be closed for the withdrawal to be processed.
  • MeteredOut
    MeteredOut Posts: 2,862 Forumite
    1,000 Posts Second Anniversary Name Dropper
    edited 16 May at 11:20AM
    I've not had any issue with either depositing funds or transferring from an other ISA, other than it took a while for the transfer to appear in the account, due to the volume of requests they had. But the app was always up to date with progress.

    I've not had to/tried to transfer out.

    No notification of any rate reduction since the bank rate reduced either - though suspect it will happen.
  • Veteransaver
    Veteransaver Posts: 747 Forumite
    500 Posts First Anniversary Name Dropper
    I have had issues in working out how they have calculated the interest. They seem to have made additional interest adjustments, looks like they've overpaid, I assume they will correct it. But they do seem a bit of a shambles when they do transfers
  • clairec666
    clairec666 Posts: 85 Forumite
    10 Posts
    I have had issues in working out how they have calculated the interest. They seem to have made additional interest adjustments, looks like they've overpaid, I assume they will correct it. But they do seem a bit of a shambles when they do transfers
    Tembo's interest calculations are a bit quirky - it's calculated each calendar month (I think) but not credited to your account until midway through the next month.
  • Zopa_Trooper
    Zopa_Trooper Posts: 293 Forumite
    100 Posts Second Anniversary
    Everything tickety-boo with me but I haven't made any withdrawals as yet
  • jay1804
    jay1804 Posts: 457 Forumite
    Sixth Anniversary 100 Posts Name Dropper
    I have had issues in working out how they have calculated the interest. They seem to have made additional interest adjustments, looks like they've overpaid, I assume they will correct it. But they do seem a bit of a shambles when they do transfers
    Tembo's interest calculations are a bit quirky - it's calculated each calendar month (I think) but not credited to your account until midway through the next month.
    Here are the dates that they pay the interest 

    https://help.tembomoney.com/en/articles/10542320-how-is-interest-paid-on-the-cash-isa

  • allegro120
    allegro120 Posts: 1,699 Forumite
    1,000 Posts Second Anniversary Name Dropper
    I opened Tembo ISA on 31 March, requested £100 transfer from VM and deposited £3.3k on 6th April.

    Deposit worked fine, arrived immediately.  Transfer has failed, got e-mail on 17th April asking me if I wan't to try again or cancel.  I've cancelled. 

    They are still paying 4.8%, which is a great rate, but I've nearly ran out of yearly allowance and if they can't do transfers there's no chance for me to increase my balance.  
  • crumpet_man
    crumpet_man Posts: 693 Forumite
    Fifth Anniversary 500 Posts
    I did a partial transfer of £500 from last years allowance from Trading 212, took 17 days total including two weekends and a bank holiday, so 12 working days.  No issues and received communication from both parties.
Meet your Ambassadors

🚀 Getting Started

Hi new member!

Our Getting Started Guide will help you get the most out of the Forum

Categories

  • All Categories
  • 350K Banking & Borrowing
  • 252.7K Reduce Debt & Boost Income
  • 453.1K Spending & Discounts
  • 243K Work, Benefits & Business
  • 619.9K Mortgages, Homes & Bills
  • 176.5K Life & Family
  • 255.9K Travel & Transport
  • 1.5M Hobbies & Leisure
  • 16.1K Discuss & Feedback
  • 15.1K Coronavirus Support Boards

Is this how you want to be seen?

We see you are using a default avatar. It takes only a few seconds to pick a picture.