Halifax to relaunch regular saver @10%+

efunc

antispam246 wrote: »

So wait a second. Is someone saying the original offer, as posted by the OP in this thread is not guranteed at 10%?

No, no one's saying that. Regular Saver is fixed at 10% (or 12%) so you should be absolutely fine, however it's Guaranteed Saver which is variable, so the rate of that has plummeted with the interest rate cuts of late.


**EDIT: THIS INFORMATION IS WRONG. GUARANTEED SAVER ACCOUNT IS FIXED RATE. SEE BELOW***

opinions4u

efunc wrote: »

Actually, I appear to be the only here who isn't confused. Most people here, including yourself, are maintaining the account is paying out 6.25%!! You're welcome to this delusion but the tragic truth is the rate has dropped to 2% with a REWARD of 1% if you comply with the provisions. Sorry to break it to you...

You really are talking tosh and your actions could cause a lot of people to lose their 12% Regular Saver rate as well as their Guaranteed Saver Reward rate.

1) Guaranteed Saver and Guaranteed Saver Reward are the same account. If you open one during a 'Reward' period they pay a higher FIXED rate until you break the Reward conditions. Don't waste this value in today's climate!

2) That rate for Guaranteed Saver Reward during the Regular Saver 10%/12% deal was 6.25% - FIXED for a year.

3) By retaining £5,000 in that nominated account (or any other nominated account) you qualify for the 12% rate on the Regular Saver. That is also FIXED. If the balance falls below £5,000 you will still get 10% FIXED on the Regular Saver.

4) If you break the terms of the Guaranteed Saver Reward (e.g. have more than 1 withdrawal, slip below £2,500 etc) you will have earned the Reward rate (6.25% FIXED) up to that point. After that point you will earn the standard Guaranteed Saver rate which is now 2%.

At no stage has Guaranteed Saver Reward been a variable rate account plus a bonus. Later versions of the account have allowed 4 withdrawals and paid rates of 6%, 6.5% and 5.5%. Always fixed. The current one pays a less exciting 3%. Fixed.

If you have maintained the 1 withdrawal or less condition on your Guaranteed Saver Reward account opened during the high rate Regular Saver DO NOT close the account on the basis of recent information posted in this thread. If acted on, Efunc's comments could seriously damage your wealth.


Terms and Conditions PDF (can't see the rate in there though)

The existing Guaranteed Saver Reward offer states "Fixed interest - the rate we pay is guaranteed not to change throughout the 12 month reward period"

The same has applied to all the previous Rewards.

efunc

Thanks. Well summarised, I stand corrected. Sorry if that led to any confusion. I guess I'll now be looking to move more funds into the account while the rate is still good. Thanks again.

YorkshireBoy

opinions4u wrote: »

You really are talking tosh

Maybe I should have been more 'blunt' last night (as well as providing links to what you've had to repeat this morning!). Your approach seems to have done the trick though.

efunc, doesn't it tell you in your secure area what rate you're getting? (might say 5.xx% since they won't know yet if you've met all the conditions for the 'reward').

efunc

Ok, I've just logged in to the account for the first time since july last year when I opened it, and the information at the top of my details says:

Withdrawals 0
Balance £5,000.00
Current rate 2.00% Gross p.a.

looking at the Historical interest rates table in my account gives me this:

Date effective Interest rate (Gross p.a.) applicable on your account
01 January 2009 2.00%
01 December 2008 3.00%
01 November 2008 4.50%
24 July 2008 5.00%
17 July 2008 0.56%

efunc

Looks pretty variable to me!

The account is a Guaranteed Saver.

sloughflint

efunc wrote: »

Ok, I've just logged in to the account for the first time since july last year when I opened it, and the information at the top of my details says:

Withdrawals 0
Balance £5,000.00
Current rate 2.00% Gross p.a.

looking at the Historical interest rates table in my account gives me this:

Date effective Interest rate (Gross p.a.) applicable on your account
01 January 2009 2.00%
01 December 2008 3.00%
01 November 2008 4.50%
24 July 2008 5.00%
17 July 2008 0.56%

Oh dear, have they opened the wrong account for you? Mine definitely says 6.25% and same name Guaranteed Saver

If Jennifernil has the same, maybe you've both got a case to complain and all is not lost ( JN that is)

My historical rates just has the one entry 6.25% (17th July)

There will be a surge of people rushing to check their accounts now.....and possibly complaints to Halifax.

rb10

efunc wrote: »

Ok, I've just logged in to the account for the first time since july last year when I opened it, and the information at the top of my details says:

Withdrawals 0
Balance £5,000.00
Current rate 2.00% Gross p.a.

looking at the Historical interest rates table in my account gives me this:

Date effective Interest rate (Gross p.a.) applicable on your account
01 January 2009 2.00%
01 December 2008 3.00%
01 November 2008 4.50%
24 July 2008 5.00%
17 July 2008 0.56%

Hmmm, that's very strange! Mine definitely still says 6.25%. In the T&Cs that Opinions4u linked to, it says the first Guaranteed Saver Reward ran from 9th June to 10th August 2008, so you were certainly within that period, both when you opened it and made your first credit.

It is impossible that 'they have opened the wrong account for you', as branch staff were just putting 'Guaranteed Saver' into the system, and all Guaranteed Saver accounts opened during that period were automatically assigned the Reward rate (or should have been, anyway!).

What were your first transactions on the account? If your initial opening balance was less than £2500, then that would have reverted your account to a Guaranteed Saver (not Reward) straight away (as per the T&Cs, which state that "once the balance falls below £2500, the Halifax Guaranteed Saver conditions will apply".

Sebby*

Just checked mine and it says current rate is 6.25%.

efunc

i opened it with £50 on the 17/07/08 and then £4,950 on the 24/07/08. The conditions stated that £5000 needed to be in the Guaranteed Saver Reward account within 14 days of opening the Regular Saver account to qualify for the full rate. However the first time I went into my branch to do this they wouldn't let me telling me the deadline would be breached. I had to return the following day armed with information from this thread! Of course they apologised and set the account up right away.

I do remember at the time though that I really wanted the Halifax Guaranteed Reserve for some reason, and got the impression that Guaranteed Saver was just variable.

Anyway, this warrants a phone call, or a visit to my branch!!