northern rock paying 9.49% till March 1st !

shoi

Mikeyorks wrote: »

Halifax have a 3 month fixed rate Web at 6.95%. A heading claiming, therefore 'Halifax pay 27.8%' (4x 6.95%) ...... would be wrong

Yes it would, but thats not the same as a bonus of 0.5%
A 0.5% bonus for 2 months works out as an annualised 3% bonus on top of the 6.49, making 9.49 (surely - is there someone in charge who can determine if I'm bonkers or the other folks commenting aren't very good at sums)

The NR site reads
Our customers mean a lot to us and we would like to say thank you and reward your loyalty by giving you an extra guaranteed 0.50% gross1 bonus for staying with us.

The bonus applies to all customers who keep their account open from 1 December 2007 until March 2008. It is payable on both existing balances plus any new money you wish to invest into your account. The bonus will be calculated daily on the balance of your Account between 1 January 2008 and 1 March 2008. Any interest which is payable due to this bonus will be added to your Account shortly after 1 March 2008.

About the guarantee, the site reads

Your money is in safe hands - new guarantee arrangements

Our new guarantee arrangements with the Bank of England and H.M Treasury guarantees all new and existing retail deposits with Northern Rock. It protects:

• all savings in all accounts, regardless of the amount deposited.
• all new deposits made into those accounts.
• all accounts re-opened by customers who have previously asked us to close their accounts.

So I repeat
IF you were with NR before all the fuss then you can get a rate of 9.49% between now and March 1st
And I've put my money where my mouth is

Steve

robp

Hmm, I still can't get my head around how a 0.5% bonus for only 2 months can turn an AER(APR?) from 6.49% to 9.49%.

The uncertainty surrounding NR and the bail-outs would keep me away regardless. I expect all will be fine etc. but when there are other good deals around, why risk it for a measly 0.5% for 2 months?

I thought most people said NS&I certs were the best bet these days, but good luck with your savings and each to their own!

Aegis

Ok, the problem here is that shoi thinks that NRK are going to pay him 0.5% of his total savings amount during January and February, while in actual fact their bonus is an addition to the interest rate during that time. As such, the total bonus received will actually only be 0.08% or thereabouts (2 months @ 0.5% bonus rate).

shoi

robp wrote: »

Hmm, I still can't get my head around how a 0.5% bonus for only 2 months can turn an AER(APR?) from 6.49% to 9.49%.

The uncertainty surrounding NR and the bail-outs would keep me away regardless. I expect all will be fine etc. but when there are other good deals around, why risk it for a measly 0.5% for 2 months?

I thought most people said NS&I certs were the best bet these days, but good luck with your savings and each to their own!

For instance if you've got a LOT of money, say you just sold a house. Then actually the difference is 500 quid gross per 100K over the period Jan and Feb. And if you've got a lot of money why risk it with anyone else (such as a bank in Iceland or India); if they go bust you lose everything but 35K. If you are concerned (and I for one know someone who was cleaned out by BCCI) then NS&I or NR are the ONLY 100% safe places for large sums. The safer places like Lloyds, HSBC etc are paying about 5.5% at best now, so for large amounts the difference is as even greater.

Funny, I seem to have upset people instead of turned them on to a good thing. I suppose it's because of the bad vibe coming from NR but that's voodoo not fact. True Money Saving is about numbers and solid guarantees when you can get them

Steve

sloughflint

shoi wrote: »

Funny, I seem to have upset people instead of turned them on to a good thing.
Steve

No Steve, you haven't. It's just the maths is a bit wrong, that's all.
As you said, this only applies to current NR customers. For new customers, Halifax's fixed rates aren't looking too bad IMO.

bristolleedsfan

shoi wrote: »

Funny, I seem to have upset people instead of turned them on to a good thing. I suppose it's because of the bad vibe coming from NR but that's voodoo not fact. True Money Saving is about numbers and solid guarantees when you can get them

Steve

reason for lack of positive responses is cos the info re NR 0.5% bonus for the period u stated was posted a couple of weeks ago, so without being cheeky its both old info and old news.

tudie

I thought this was simple till Shoi got me going and then my brain started to hurt-so I had a lie down in a darkened room and now I'm OK. Aegis is right, as usual-0.5% for two months, annualied is 0.0833333% (i.e 0.5 divided by 6, not multiplied) I think......
So it's good for the short term but not great.

shoi

sloughflint wrote: »

No Steve, you haven't. It's just the maths is a bit wrong, that's all.
As you said, this only applies to current NR customers. For new customers, Halifax's fixed rates aren't looking too bad IMO.

It's 9.5 percent more or less. Its not 6.99% I'm staggered that nobody else on the forum seems to be able to do this sum properly.
.
I agree I have the halifax 4 year fixed at 6.4% (but only 33K)

shoi

tudie wrote: »

I thought this was simple till Shoi got me going and then my brain started to hurt-so I had a lie down in a darkened room and now I'm OK. Aegis is right, as usual-0.5% for two months, annualied is 0.0833333% (i.e 0.5 divided by 6, not multiplied) I think......
So it's good for the short term but not great.

here is 100 pounds.
2 months later here is 100.50
and if it kept goig for the rest of the year (which it soenst but thats not the point), if it kept going it would be 103
which is 3%

gorblimey

shoi

tudie wrote: »

I thought this was simple till Shoi got me going and then my brain started to hurt-so I had a lie down in a darkened room and now I'm OK. Aegis is right, as usual-0.5% for two months, annualied is 0.0833333% (i.e 0.5 divided by 6, not multiplied) I think......
So it's good for the short term but not great.

here is 100 pounds.
2 months later here is 100.50, or put it another way 25pence (0.25%) PER MONTH
and if it kept goig for the rest of the year (which it doenst but thats not the point), if it kept going it would acumulate to 103
which is 3% annual interest, on top of the 6.49

gorblimey