[guitarman001]

8% up to £3.6k. Must have a current account with them paying £1.5k per month in. They give you £100 to transfer.
What do you think?
http://www2.firstdir...m8n8?clear=true

[Quicken]

guitarman001, on 24 October 2011 - 11:15 AM, said:

8% up to £3.6k. Must have a current account with them paying £1.5k per month in. They give you £100 to transfer.
What do you think?
http://www2.firstdir...m8n8?clear=true

Hi,
It's a regular saver capped at £300/month.

Quote

So if you saved £300 per month for 12 months, you'd receive returns of approximately £156 gross (£124 net) in interest after 12 months. Interest is calculated daily and paid on the 12 month anniversary after account opening.

I have one of these accounts and am in the process of closing it and leaving First Direct. I will lose the interest for the last 6 months, but should receive £100 for leaving FD so it won't sting too much.

Quote

No partial withdrawals. Need to access your money in the first 12 months? You can close the account and receive interest at our standard variable Savings Account rate for the time your Regular Saver Account was open.

[SeeYouNextTuesday]

One of those cases where if you have £300 or less to save every motnh it might be worth it but you still have to find somewhere to dump it after the year and go to the trouble of changing banks. All for what? £120?

[guitarman001]

I know... part of me thinks I should go ahead and do it, better than a kick in the teeth etc. Such a hassle, though...
I can open only one more Lloyds Vantage account then have to find some other place for my money.

[Democorruptcy]

guitarman001, on 24 October 2011 - 11:15 AM, said:

8% up to £3.6k. Must have a current account with them paying £1.5k per month in. They give you £100 to transfer.
What do you think?
http://www2.firstdir...m8n8?clear=true

Pays 4.33% overall (£156/£3,600)

[Quicken]

Just closed mine and received 23p interest on the 2100 I'd paid in. Ho hum.

[guitarman001]

I've two Lloyds Vantage accounts which are nearly full now, and monies in NS&I due to mature in 2 years. With monthly income now I need somewhere else to put it - a 3rd Vantage account? Then what? Lloyds deals now are very poor but all the faff with changing accounts etc...... ugh.

[Guest_flaps_*]

Looking at the rates given for the Vantage account, ING online saver would be a better bet at 3% gross as there is none of the faffing required and it's instant access.

[WageslaveX14]

I moved to First Direct a few years ago, after having had current accounts with Clydesdale, RBS, Alliance & Leicester and Barclays.

First Direct is the only bank that, in my experience, offers good customer service. You can call them up any time of day, and they always answer within 3-4 rings, you don't have to go through any touch tone or voice-controlled menus, and you get a real person, based in the UK, who is allowed by their bosses to think about your query and try and resolve it there and then. My experiences have always been positive, and I've been with FD for over 3 years now.

IMHO it would be well worth switching to them even if you didn't get £100 to do so.

The 8% saver is not a brilliant product, but even if you have more than £300 coming in a month, getting 8% on a portion of what you save a month isn't bad. I have my savings spread around various places, and the 8% account is just a bonus. Not sure if I'll start another one when my present 8% account expires next month, but that's purely due to personal circumstances, rather than it being a bad deal.

The tuppenceworth.

[Democorruptcy]

WageslaveX14, on 31 October 2011 - 02:22 PM, said:

The 8% saver is not a brilliant product, but even if you have more than £300 coming in a month, getting 8% on a portion of what you save a month isn't bad. I have my savings spread around various places, and the 8% account is just a bonus. Not sure if I'll start another one when my present 8% account expires next month, but that's purely due to personal circumstances, rather than it being a bad deal.

The tuppenceworth.

You only get 8% on the first month's £300

On the second month's £300 you get 11/12 of 8%

Down to 1/12 of 8% on the final month's £300

[zebbedee]

Redhat Sly, on 31 October 2011 - 08:39 PM, said:

You only get 8% on the first month's £300

On the second month's £300 you get 11/12 of 8%

Down to 1/12 of 8% on the final month's £300

Which is always better than sticking £700+300 in another account earning 3% per month and 11/12 of 3% in the for the next month.

Stick your money around as many of these accounts as you can, bounce it through the current accounts if you have to to meet the criteria, only putting whats left in some crap 3% savings account.

[Democorruptcy]

zebbedee, on 05 November 2011 - 01:27 AM, said:

Which is always better than sticking £700+300 in another account earning 3% per month and 11/12 of 3% in the for the next month.

Stick your money around as many of these accounts as you can, bounce it through the current accounts if you have to to meet the criteria, only putting whats left in some crap 3% savings account.

Earlier in the thread I said it was 4.3% - which it is in usual account rate terms.

I just get fed up of people repeatedly saying it is 8% because it is NOT 8% and the banks shouldn't be allowed to say that it is. There are probably lots of people assuming they get the headline rate on the whole amount.

[zebbedee]

Redhat Sly, on 05 November 2011 - 08:29 AM, said:

Earlier in the thread I said it was 4.3% - which it is in usual account rate terms.

I just get fed up of people repeatedly saying it is 8% because it is NOT 8% and the banks shouldn't be allowed to say that it is. There are probably lots of people assuming they get the headline rate on the whole amount.

It is 8%, 8% on the money in the account for the time it is in the account, you are limited to some deposit each month but that does not change the fact it is 8%. Its like saying that 3% isn't 3% because you only have £1000 to save each month so its less than 3% over a year for the total sum present at the end of a year. If people can't grasp that they will only be paid interest on the sum saved in the account over the time period the money is deposited then they should get financially literate.

This post has been edited by zebbedee: 10 November 2011 - 10:38 PM

[Democorruptcy]

zebbedee, on 10 November 2011 - 10:37 PM, said:

It is 8%, 8% on the money in the account for the time it is in the account, you are limited to some deposit each month but that does not change the fact it is 8%. Its like saying that 3% isn't 3% because you only have £1000 to save each month so its less than 3% over a year for the total sum present at the end of a year. If people can't grasp that they will only be paid interest on the sum saved in the account over the time period the money is deposited then they should get financially literate.

I have yet to meet anyone who thinks that a bank will pay a 3% annual interest rate if they withdraw their money after only one month. They know where they stand.

I do know of people who think headline rates for regular savers are misleading:
http://www.thisismon...ular-Saver.html
http://www.bestisara...rest-Rates.html

There is a "moneywise" website stating last year that an 8% regular saver was "inflation beating"!!!
http://www.moneywise...ring-8-launched
Check the comments.....

To be fair to First Direct they do state the total interest that would be returned. They should all do that and state what the total interest rate is on the maximum amount allowed in over the year.

[zebbedee]

Redhat Sly, on 11 November 2011 - 09:23 AM, said:

I have yet to meet anyone who thinks that a bank will pay a 3% annual interest rate if they withdraw their money after only one month. They know where they stand.

I do know of people who think headline rates for regular savers are misleading:
http://www.thisismon...ular-Saver.html
http://www.bestisara...rest-Rates.html

There is a "moneywise" website stating last year that an 8% regular saver was "inflation beating"!!!
http://www.moneywise...ring-8-launched
Check the comments.....

To be fair to First Direct they do state the total interest that would be returned. They should all do that and state what the total interest rate is on the maximum amount allowed in over the year.

I know what you are saying but there is no difference between a headline rate of 8% on only £300 going in each month and a standard savings rate of circa 3% on the same deposits basis (from the perspective of the net retuen is not x% where x is 8 or 3 respectively). Maybe it's me but if people are foolish enough to believe they will recieve interest on money not yet deposited then thats thier problem. As for inflation busting, 8% is, just not on a very large sum over 12 months, it is also inflation busting on the sum from month 2, although for just over and 11 month period.

As I said before, run this earner on enough accounts and you earn a respectable return, after the year is up rinse and repeat.

Also a good earner is to bounce £1k around a number of current accounts offering stupendious rates for balances up to £Y, leaving Y in each account to earn the interest.

Edit, just read you links and for the first-yes the person is stupid and for the second, had the used a couple of regular saver in the previous year then the £5340 would be available to obtain the rate as of 6 april

This post has been edited by zebbedee: 11 November 2011 - 02:12 PM