Thinking of jumping the NR ship - FA the only one to match rate?

[pator]

Have stuck it out with Northern Rock, am thinking of leaving, (when the interest is eventually credited!!) I have seen other people on this forum also mention leaving and am wondering at the moment are First Active the only ones to match or better the 4.5% rate at 4.57% ? (subject to max withdrawls which I hope not to be a problem for me)

Main disadvantage I see with FA is the need to make lodgements with cheque (hassle and some cost, branch near work so that not a problem) rather than electronic transfer.

Any thoughts or advise would be much appreciated


Edit: the account I am looking at is the ECB rate linked deposit

 

[ClubMan]

Re: Thinking of jumping the NR ship - FA the only one to match rate??

FA eSavings account offers 5.22% on up to €15K at the moment.

See the Financial Best Buys forum for more on the latest lump sum demand/term and regular saver interest rates.

 

[pator]

Re: Thinking of jumping the NR ship - FA the only one to match rate??

Thanks for that,
was being lazy and thinking of lodging more than €15k into just one account.

Prob the best is €14,999 in esaving with the interest paid to FA ecb link deposit account if this is possible??

Having looked at the best buys and assuming that I have €15k in the esaving am I correct in thinking that FA is also the best rate for the remainder of the money?

Is this what other people leaving NR are doing?

 

[ClubMan]

Re: Thinking of jumping the NR ship - FA the only one to match rate??

Being lazy will not secure the best overall deposit interest returns I'm afraid. You have to be prepared to open multiple accounts and chase the best rates.

You need to read the various long threads about FA eSavings - if you hit (?) or exceed €15K (even by one cent) then the rate on the full amount falls to 4.33%.

I'm actually pushing some money back into NR from Rabo for the next couple of months to get 4.5% plus the 0.5% bonus for January and February. The various glitches don't bother me and all deposits are guaranteed by the UK authorities so I'm not overly concerned about the overall situation.

 

[pator]

Re: Thinking of jumping the NR ship - FA the only one to match rate??

Having ready thru the FA posts it seems not as bad now as was initally the case.
Best bet for now looks like €14.2k in FA esaving (with a once a year withdrawl of interest) and the remainder, for Jan and Feb at least, in NR with 4.5% and 0.5% bonus and evaluate again after feb.

Thanks Clubman.

 

[Importer]

Clubman
As far as I know, New deposits at NR are not guaranteed by anyone..........
Existing deposits in situ when the crisis arose are covered.

 

[ClubMan]

Clubman
As far as I know, New deposits at NR are not guaranteed by anyone..........
Existing deposits in situ when the crisis arose are covered.

What about [broken link removed]:

Our new guarantee arrangements agreed with the Bank of England and H.M Treasury protects all retail savings in all accounts - regardless of the amount deposited. It applies to all existing accounts, all re-opened accounts and to all new accounts.

[broken link removed]:

The Bank of England and H.M. Treasury have guaranteed:

• All accounts existing at midnight on Wednesday 19 September, including new deposits made into those existing accounts.
• All new retail deposits made after Wednesday 19 September, including new deposits made into those accounts.
• All future interest payments and movement of funds between accounts.
• All term deposits for the duration of their term.

and this:

HM Treasury, on behalf of the Tripartite Authorities, can today confirm that the guarantee arrangements previously announced to protect existing depositors of Northern Rock plc will be extended to all new retail deposits made after 19 September, including those made from today. These arrangements will cover all retail deposits, including future interest payments, movements of funds between accounts and term deposits for the duration of their term.

If it's relevant my account did exist at midnight on 19th September.

 

[sherib]

Hope I'm posting in the right place. The good news is that the interest owed to me by Northern Rock was credited to my current account today. It arrived faster than I expected. So, I'm continuing to hang in there too.