Frightened of Unusual Banks recommended on mse? Are they safe?

mills112

yeah, i know where you are coming from as a lot of the banks on the list i have never heard of and i have had a lot of bank accounts so if i haven't heard of them, that is saying a lot! lol

Marcus is of course absolutely fine. I always go directly to the bank website to apply and never follow any affiliate links so that I can be certain that I am not being sent to a bogus one!

I can certainly help you with Hamshire Trust Bank as I have had a 12 month bond with them for a few years now and never had any issues. Maturity instructions taken correctly on the website, easy enough to log in and money paid promptly on maturity so yeah, they are someone I would have no hesitation having a savings account with, unlike some I can name!

k12479

I've been using Hampshire Trust Bank since 2016 with always at least one account open. I've had zero issues and will happily open further accounts any time (if the interest rate is good).

Zaul22

Banks that are actually banks are likely to be ok. It's apps and marketplaces that are likely to be dodgy. Anything that is not a bank, just a middleman between you and the actual bank.

GoldenOldy

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81884943#Comment_81884943

thanks very much for that info. I dipped out of Marcus as i went on the fca and noticed the address on their was different to he adress on Marcus’s website, even though i used the link from the fca,I queried with the fca and they gave an explanation(cant remember what it was now) , but to me it was enough to put me off! Thanks again

GoldenOldy

This is very interesting, thankyou so much for taking the time to expain everything.

I shall make good use of the ‘who is’ site, I had not heard of this,.

Some great tips there.

GoldenOldy

I have decided I need an IFA who deals with just deposit accounts for the risk averse, tiny capacity for loss, and oldies like me. Sadly there is no such thing. Last one I went to see wanted to charge me a rolling 5k a year for advice, I felt like prey!
Have seen 3 others , but understandably they make their living from advising on investments etc, so I am not really their demographic. Actually I dont think I am anyones demographic these days ! :)

masonic

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81885276#Comment_81885276

This is not really a job for an IFA, whose skills and expertise are above and beyond what is needed to manage consumer savings accounts. Lasting Power of Attorney is a common option when an individual has reached the point where they don't feel able or confident in managing some of their financial affairs. Though that does rely on you having someone willing and sufficiently trusted to act on your behalf, and it will reduce the number of options available (since not all providers support account opening/management under LPA). A lesser version of this is simply to get some help with the diligence part, since it seems you are capable of managing the accounts once reputable providers have been identified.

BooJewels

For what it's worth @GoldenOldy I think you're probably more in the demographic of posters in this thread than you realise - I know that some are already [well] retired and others about to - along with myself.

I spoke to an IFA a few years ago in similar circumstances and they really weren't interested in the type of saving I wanted to undertake - I didn't even understand most of their answers, so that was a non-starter. That was when I started reading this forum in more detail, looking for ideas of places to put my money.

I was extremely nervous at first, so played safe and put my money with known names like NS&I and Skipton Building Society. I gradually got a bit more confident about previously unknown [to me] organisations and went for some that I saw mentioned often and in positive terms. I'm still with all of them I think and no issues at all.

I have my own criteria and checking processes, as you've already been advised and there are a few I've shied away from as they don't sit well with me for various reasons. You've already had endorsements for Hampshire and they're perhaps in a minority of offering a 5 year fix at a decent rate - many seem to be limiting to 3 years just now. I did look at them recently, but they don't pay away monthly interest as I prefer.

Bigwheels1111

I’m no spring chicken myself, Like you I’d never heard of most of the banks listed on MSE site.

But, they were offering rated twice that of the old 7, HSBC, NatWest etc.

What made my mind up was I sold my house, needed to stick the money somewhere to earn interest to live on.

I was a carer and only getting just under 4k a year to live on.

First Direct my main bank were offering say 3% for a five year fixed, on 80k that’s £2400 interest.

Tandem was 5% so 4k interest.

I could get £7500 at the old banks a year in interest,

Compared to £12,000 at the new banks.

That’s a huge difference is it not. Over 5 years that’s £25,000.

So I began to research on MSE, Money facts compare, be clever with you cash and a few other places.

Read reviews, check the register.

I also used my own strange ideas.

If I want to buy something online say, it’s a site I’ve never used before or heard of.

I always think what if, it’s a scam, what if they don’t deliver etc, I need to return an item.

So, step one, any site I go on I look for a telephone number, if I can’t find it in less than 30 seconds

I leave the site and go elsewhere.

From memory that excluded Debenhams as they don’t have a telephone number.

Mad I know.

Right back to banks.

I asked questions on here, that helped a lot to settle my mind.

Looked on the register.

Then I would ring the bank and ask questions & see how long it took to answer and how helpful and knowledgeable they were.

I would open an easy access account with them and stick in £10, move it back out to my bank.

£10 is not much to risk.

AlRayan, Marcus, Atom, Tandem, Gatehouse, Raisin to name but a few you may not of ever heard of.

Let alone all the smaller building societies that I now have 21 regular savers with.

I narrowed it down to Tandem bank, Gatehouse bank as both were at 5% with annual payouts.

Plus Raisin and there offering Isbank at 4.5% for 7 years. The sweet spot in my mind.

Tomorrow is pay day, year four.

I can see the payments pending in my bank account.

So far all have paid with no issues, on time and no need to call them.

I had more issues with my own bank FD, They held up my transfers for 5 days.

Eventually they put me through to the fraud team and transferred the money.

No calls or texts to say I need to contact them, agh.

I made a complaint and asked for £171.23 of lost interest.

They coughed up straight away, then I got £100 in compensation.

All this was very scary as was our future.

Lots of questions, research and checking lead me to my conclusion.

It has all work out nicely, financially that is.

You do what you feel is right for you.

But be open to new opportunities.

Look before you leap.

So I know things go wrong,

mills112

https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/comment/81885271#Comment_81885271

that's interesting comment about marcus FCA status. I never actually check and just assume that the bank is not lying when they say that they are regulated by the FCA and your money is protected by the FSCS as I expect claims like that will not be able to stay on their website if they are false.

i have had a lot of money with Marcus, so much so that they have sent money back as i put in too much and exceeded their 250k limit, lol. i wish they don't have such a low limit as their interest rates were very decent at the time. they aren't super value these days and i have actually closed my savings account with them and gone elsewhere but i did open a 12 months bond with them recently as that was good value.