ATOM instant saver reward maximising reward rate interest

iwant2asave

I have an atom instant saver reward and know that the withdrawal rate is lower when making withdrawals.  In order to minimize the penalty as far as I understand I can do the following, just wondered if my thinking is correct or flawed, see the following example :

1. Currently have £2000 saved at the reward rate of 4.75% (soon to be 4.6%)
2. Interest received on 5th of each month
3. Plan to withdraw £1999 on 6th of next month leaving £1 (there is no min balance from what I saw)
4. I expect that only the £1 will be at the withdrawal rate of 2.5% and everything else would have earned at the reward rate of 4.75% (soon to be 4.6%).

If anyone here knows if my above understanding is correct or incorrect please do let me know.  Thanks,
Sam

eskbanker

Not sure what you're actually trying to achieve - are you planning to put the withdrawn funds somewhere else to earn interest before replenishing whatever you didn't need back in Atom in time for the next monthly interest period?

iwant2asave

eskbanker said:

Not sure what you're actually trying to achieve - are you planning to put the withdrawn funds somewhere else to earn interest before replenishing whatever you didn't need back in Atom in time for the next monthly interest period?

I want to minimise the penalty for withdrawing. And at the same time keeping the account open in case I want to add to it later.

allegro120

iwant2asave said:

I have an atom instant saver reward and know that the withdrawal rate is lower when making withdrawals.  In order to minimize the penalty as far as I understand I can do the following, just wondered if my thinking is correct or flawed, see the following example :

1. Currently have £2000 saved at the reward rate of 4.75% (soon to be 4.6%)
2. Interest received on 5th of each month
3. Plan to withdraw £1999 on 6th of next month leaving £1 (there is no min balance from what I saw)
4. I expect that only the £1 will be at the withdrawal rate of 2.5% and everything else would have earned at the reward rate of 4.75% (soon to be 4.6%).

If anyone here knows if my above understanding is correct or incorrect please do let me know.  Thanks,
Sam

Yes, your understanding is correct. However, you don't have to wait until 6th and don't have to leave £1 there either. You can withdraw £2000 on 5th August and make your next deposit on 5th September if this account is still useful for you then.

DjangoUnchained

I understood it to be that if you withdrew anything after the interest date( in your case the 6th) the £1 you leave in and anything else added that month until the following 5th of the month would be at the lower rate, then reset to the higher rat afterwards, providing you dont withdraw in that month?

MichaelAP

As others have mentioned; take all out on the 6th and if still useful to you start adding again on the 5th the following month.
However, the real reason for this post is ‘I wonder how long it will be before Atom catch on what is happening and change the parameters of how the account operates’! Something which happened with ZOPA and it’s Pots where you used to be able to give notice but still add to the account.

DjangoUnchained

MichaelAP said:

As others have mentioned; take all out on the 6th and if still useful to you start adding again on the 5th the following month.
However, the real reason for this post is ‘I wonder how long it will be before Atom catch on what is happening and change the parameters of how the account operates’! Something which happened with ZOPA and it’s Pots where you used to be able to give notice but still add to the account.

not quite understanding. Do you mean if you have to withdraw anything you might as well withdraw it all and put what you dont require until say the 5th next month and put the surplus back in for another month (not withdrawing this time) ?

jdl920p

DjangoUnchained said:

MichaelAP said:

As others have mentioned; take all out on the 6th and if still useful to you start adding again on the 5th the following month.
However, the real reason for this post is ‘I wonder how long it will be before Atom catch on what is happening and change the parameters of how the account operates’! Something which happened with ZOPA and it’s Pots where you used to be able to give notice but still add to the account.

not quite understanding. Do you mean if you have to withdraw anything you might as well withdraw it all and put what you dont require until say the 5th next month and put the surplus back in for another month (not withdrawing this time) ?

Yes that's correct.  If you want/need to withdraw any money you may as well take it all out, put it somewhere that pays better than the Atom 'withdrawal rate' and then put the money back in a month later when the rate goes back to the bonus rate

wiseonesomeofthetime

It is basically the same principle that the (for a short time) popular HSBC Online Bonus Saver account worked.

If you needed to withdraw, you emptied it and placed what you didn't plan to spend into an easy access savings account elsewhere at higher than the penalty rate. Replenish, if you wish, the next month.