Regular Savers

[planteria]

well spotted as usual Sarah. not really competitive still though.

[Sarah]

I think at 2.0% or higher these accounts are reasonable options after exhausting others.

Virgin Money are another runner-up at 2.25%:

https://uk.virginmoney.com/savings/find ... ETS2=False

Halifax also offer an account with the same interest rate and monthly deposit limit.

https://www.halifax.co.uk/savings/accou ... lar-saver/

Bank of Scotland have one too. Different name, same interest rate and monthly deposit limit. I asked in a Halifax branch today whether or not I could open the Bank of Scotland account in addition to the Halifax account. It's not expressly forbidden in the T&Cs as they don't mention each other. The branch staff didn't have a clue - one said yes, whilst another said no. I expect they were both just guessing. So, I went home and successfully opened one...

https://www.bankofscotland.co.uk/saving ... hly-saver/

[planteria]

i see yes, 2.5% and 2.25%. i was tucking £1k/m away at 5%. now Nationwide reduced the max to £250/m i'm down to £750/m.. but 5% makes it worthwhile - just about

[Sarah]

Santander 123 Regular eSaver 6 also pays 5% interest but needs a Santander 123 or Select account. I opened one of those a few months ago and I'm also intending to open the M&S one if they accept my current account application (submitted yesterday but no immediate decision).

I'm having a minor sort-out of accounts as part of a plan to start moving away from lesser paying current accounts, now that several of them are only 1.5% interest or less (BoS Vantage, Club Lloyds and Santander 123); instead increasing regular savers, topping-up the best easy savers and maybe picking some fixed rates too. This transition could also enable me to ditch up to 10 direct debits, although I'll be keeping Club Lloyds unchanged for now and also need to retain another 2 of those DDs if going ahead with a switch to M&S.

[planteria]

interesting plans Sarah.
fwiw i'm pondering pulling out of the current account/RegSav game altogether and just getting as much as I can into Pensions and my ISA-wrapped Equities: perhaps just keeping HSBC, Lloyds and RBS accounts.

[Sarah]

Just realised that Yorkshire Bank Current Account Direct belongs on that list too, as it dropped to 1.5% back in December 2016. So that's been under-performing for a long time already and will now be added to my scrap-heap. I might take out a 3 year bond at 2.3% from a provider like Shawbrook Bank to earn more for less effort.

I haven't got much enthusiasm for actively managing pensions or equities these days. I contribute a significant % of my salary into a lifestyle option pension and rarely make any adjustments; whilst currently investing my ISA allowance with nutmeg for a second year.

[planteria]

ok yes. my pensions are all in managed funds.
my ISA is self-selected. Amazon, AlphabetA etc.

[Sarah]

Just realised that Yorkshire Bank Current Account Direct belongs on that list too, as it dropped to 1.5% back in December 2016. So that's been under-performing for a long time already and will now be added to my scrap-heap.

Switched it to Halifax and pocketed a nice £75 incentive. Very quick & easy too. I already received a switch bonus from them back in 2013 so wasn't confident (their cashback T&Cs still exclude repeats since January 2012) but was keen to close the YB account regardless, so picked a different target account at Halifax and tried my luck!

[planteria]

well done. i've been sat on my 4HRs for years now.

[Preston]

I've just made an appointment with Virgin Money so that I can open the newest iteration (Issue 12) of their Regular Savings account.

This latest offering pays 3% which is an improvement over preceding issues, but what a blooming faff having to actually turn up in branch in person to open it.

I've been there so often in recent months that I've almost got the hang of their free coffee machine.