Am I geting Abbey's 8%?

The_stingemeister

I've been banking with Abbey for years now, and always in credit, getting I assumed 2.5% interest if £1,000 was paid in per month.

But looking at their website it only lists this 8% interest (as long as £1,000 is paid in each month). I deliberately transferred the money from this account on a regular basis to a what I thought was a higher paying one. So am I getting this percentage or is it only for new accounts opened? I sense I'm on the 2.5%, could I switch my account to this "new" one and close the old one? Don't really want to have 2 bank accounts with the same bank.

LittleVoice

You are not getting the 8%. You can though get the 8% by asking them to "upgrade" your account.

Though they call it "upgrading" what it actually amounts to is having a new account. So you get a new account number and debit card. Your existing account remains.

The 8% is paid for only one year - it's not a permanently good rate, unlike Halifax.

Also, because you are an existing customer and not transferring your account, you don't get 8% on up to £2,500 but only on up to £1,000 balance. (That fact is in the details on the website but they don't give you that information unprompted in the branch.)

The_stingemeister

LittleVoice wrote: »

You are not getting the 8%. You can though get the 8% by asking them to "upgrade" your account.

Though they call it "upgrading" what it actually amounts to is having a new account. So you get a new account number and debit card. Your existing account remains.

The 8% is paid for only one year - it's not a permanently good rate, unlike Halifax.

Also, because you are an existing customer and not transferring your account, you don't get 8% on up to £2,500 but only on up to £1,000 balance. (That fact is in the details on the website but they don't give you that information unprompted in the branch.)

Many thanks, typical typical Abbey: drawing "newies" in and then after 12 months I dare say the rate will drop like a stone. So what happens if your account creeps over the £1,000 mark, will you only get 2.5% on your balance? Hmmm sounds like too much messing about transferring sums out to keep the balance just below £1,000!

y3andy

16-03-2008 8:11 PMLittleVoiceYou are not getting the 8%. You can though get the 8% by asking them to "upgrade" your account.

Re the above -

My GF has a current account with Abbey and was told that she couldn't get the 8% rate at all as she is an existing customer. Only available to new customers she was told???

chuckley

yandy thats a good thing then as after a year the rate im guessing would drop like crazy to the standard rate.

LittleVoice

y3andy wrote: »

16-03-2008 8:11 PMLittleVoiceYou are not getting the 8%. You can though get the 8% by asking them to "upgrade" your account.

Re the above -

My GF has a current account with Abbey and was told that she couldn't get the 8% rate at all as she is an existing customer. Only available to new customers she was told???

If your GF goes into a branch often and queues to pay into her account, she may well hear the cashiers offering to "upgrade" the accounts of other customers. Some cashiers do this all the time (because of sales targets, I guess) and others don't seem to. I think they may do this when they can see that £1K+ is being paid in each month.

However, because your GF is an existing customer, if they think the Abbey account is her main one, there won't be an account with another bank to switch from and hence the reduced level where the 8% applies. However, if she has an account elsewhere into which her salary is paid, she could see whether they would offer it on the £2.5K if she moves.

If the branch she normally deals with doesn't seem to know about the "upgrading" possibility, she could get them to check centrally - or go to a different branch.

OTOH, it really may not be worth the effort!

LV