Ulster Bank easy access Saver - 4.5% interest, but is it lost forever if you go under £5k?

thefatcat6

It’s not right that MSE has this down as an easy access account - it is a limited access account

Rheumatoid

thefatcat6 said:

It’s not right that MSE has this down as an easy access account - it is a limited access account

No more limited than any other bank account. You can take 20k a day without trouble and apparently much more if you answer a few questions.

nd87

I agree with other comments on this thread. This account is deceptive and i am glad to see it is no longer being recommended. By default, transfer limits are so low as to be useless. Yes you can sign up for “biometrics” on the app, but this is not a given. My funds were trapped for a couple of weeks while I transferred £750 out of the account per day and the app build up a “profile” on me. Only then was i able to increase the transfer limit and clear out the the account. Their support teams are useless, aren’t familiar with the account, and couldn’t even do transfers via telephone banking. Nor could they close the account and return the funds as their process only allowed this to happen when the funds were being sent to another Ulster Bank account. They market this account UK wide but you cannot transact via Natwest nor RBS branches. The single worst experience I’ve had with a bank. Thank goodness i didnt have to make a major purchase such as a car or house as it would have fallen through. Avoid this account!

friolento

nd87 said:

I agree with other comments on this thread. This account is deceptive and i am glad to see it is no longer being recommended. By default, transfer limits are so low as to be useless. Yes you can sign up for “biometrics” on the app, but this is not a given. My funds were trapped for a couple of weeks while I transferred £750 out of the account per day and the app build up a “profile” on me. Only then was i able to increase the transfer limit and clear out the the account. Their support teams are useless, aren’t familiar with the account, and couldn’t even do transfers via telephone banking. Nor could they close the account and return the funds as their process only allowed this to happen when the funds were being sent to another Ulster Bank account. They market this account UK wide but you cannot transact via Natwest nor RBS branches. The single worst experience I’ve had with a bank. Thank goodness i didnt have to make a major purchase such as a car or house as it would have fallen through. Avoid this account!

I am sorry to read about your experience - but it's a great example of what can happen if you don't read and understand the published  terms pertaining to an account.

Middle_of_the_Road

nd87 said:

I agree with other comments on this thread. This account is deceptive and i am glad to see it is no longer being recommended. By default, transfer limits are so low as to be useless. Yes you can sign up for “biometrics” on the app, but this is not a given. My funds were trapped for a couple of weeks while I transferred £750 out of the account per day and the app build up a “profile” on me. Only then was i able to increase the transfer limit and clear out the the account. Their support teams are useless, aren’t familiar with the account, and couldn’t even do transfers via telephone banking. Nor could they close the account and return the funds as their process only allowed this to happen when the funds were being sent to another Ulster Bank account. They market this account UK wide but you cannot transact via Natwest nor RBS branches. The single worst experience I’ve had with a bank. Thank goodness i didnt have to make a major purchase such as a car or house as it would have fallen through. Avoid this account!

Sounds like the people having issues with this account don't have an Ulster current account, which might explain these withdrawal problems. I've had no problems with this account or their other savings account, having only opened them after switching a spare account to Ulster for the switch incentive.
Opening a savings account in isolation with a new provider can result in these sort of delays, especially with traditional banks. So your warning to avoid the account might be warranted for those who are expecting everything to happen instantly.

refluxer

nd87 said:

you can sign up for “biometrics” on the app, but this is not a given.

Can you explain what you mean by this ? I was able to set up biometric approval without any issues and don't recall any potential barriers to this, other than the obvious one of needing a suitable phone.