# Halifax Monthly saver now limited to €350



## DublinTexas (18 Oct 2007)

Wow we must have given them too much money because they just lowered the maximum monthly amount from 750€ to 350€ as shown [broken link removed].

I called and they said that the existing accounts with higher payments will still get the bonus interest.


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## jrewing (18 Oct 2007)

*Re: Halifax Monthly saver now limited to 350€*

So you mean people with existing accounts will continue to get the 7% on Eur 750 per month ?


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## annR (18 Oct 2007)

*Re: Halifax Monthly saver now limited to 350€*

Am I understanding you right - there is no changed existing account holders - we can still lodge 750 and get 7%?


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## Aesop (18 Oct 2007)

*Re: Halifax Monthly saver now limited to 350€*



annR said:


> Am I understanding you right - there is no changed existing account holders - we can still lodge 750 and get 7%?



I rang them his morning and this is the case. This change only affects new customers. Also this is considered a different product so you can now open another monthly saving account (in addition to the original one) putting away 350 euro a month.


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## DublinTexas (18 Oct 2007)

*Re: Halifax Monthly saver now limited to 350€*



annR said:


> Am I understanding you right - there is no changed existing account holders - we can still lodge 750 and get 7%?


 
There is no change in your T&C that you originaly signed up for, same amounts of money in and same interest.

It's just that NEW accounts are limited to 350€ but as *Aesop *points out, you can actualy open such saver account in addition to your existing account. Hence putting away max. 1100€ with the 7% rate on.


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## annR (18 Oct 2007)

*Re: Halifax Monthly saver now limited to 350€*

Is it even worth it?  I think I am actually losing money with these regular saver accounts, as the 7% interest account works out at 3.5% overall after a year because not all the money is in there for the full year.  Most of these accounts will not be continuing the high interest rate indefinitely so I wonder how much money will really earn 7%.  I think it will all even out to around 4 or 5%.


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## ClubMan (18 Oct 2007)

*Re: Halifax Monthly saver now limited to 350€*

You are not losing money on this account. The fact that you get (13-n)/12ths the headline annual rate on a specific contribution amount where n is the month in which you lodge the contribution does not mean that you are getting a bad rate no matter how the annualised return works out!


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## Aesop (18 Oct 2007)

*Re: Halifax Monthly saver now limited to 350€*



annR said:


> Is it even worth it?



Depends on how you use this account. If you are saving a monthly amount out of some form of monthly income it seems like a good deal. If you have a large amount of money that you are drip feeding into it a month at a time then it depends how long you are going to leave in the account for (assuming the interest rate doesn't deteriorate) and how much you are trying to get into the account.


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## annR (18 Oct 2007)

*Re: Halifax Monthly saver now limited to 350€*

Aesop

That is my scenario.  Drip feeding into these accounts from Northern Rock or Rabo is not worth it in my opinion.  I don't think they will extend the interest rate long enough for it to make any difference to the amount it would have earned if it had stayed in NR / Rabo.

A


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## ClubMan (18 Oct 2007)

*Re: Halifax Monthly saver now limited to 350€*



annR said:


> That is my scenario.  Drip feeding into these accounts from Northern Rock or Rabo is not worth it in my opinion.


Your opinion is simply wrong so. All things being equal ... leaving a lump sum in _NR/Rabo _at c. 4.5/5% versus having the lump sum there *and *drip feeding some of it each month into one or more c. 7% regular saver accounts is a no brainer - the latter will yield more deposit interest. Of course all things are not equal so you need to check the terms & conditions of the relevant regular saver accounts for gotchas (e.g. lock ins, other restrictions, rate guarantees etc.). Of course some may feel that any additional hassle in managing this setup is not worth the possibly marginal increased returns but that's another matter and a slightly subjective issue.


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## Aesop (18 Oct 2007)

*Re: Halifax Monthly saver now limited to 350€*

Clubman is right (if a little blunt ), if the issue is leaving all your money in NR/Rabo at c. 4.5% and drip feed a monthly saver at 7% versus just leaving it all in the NR/Rabo without doing anything else then former will earn more interest than the latter.

If however, as I suspect you are suggesting, is take some or all of what you have in NR or Rabo and put it into some other investment as a lump sum then at least the entire sum is benefiting from any potential gains. In order to exceed the 4.5% you would get from Rabo/NR though you would have to get into something with an element of risk as their rates are amongst the best for lump sum deposits. Of course you could hedge your bets and do both but I'm afraid that's where my inter-cert level business studies goes puff in a cloud of smoke


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## InfoSeeker (22 Oct 2007)

*Re: Halifax Monthly saver now limited to 350€*

I read about this on yesterday's Sunday Times but they referenced the fact that you can put 1k a month into Anglo Irish Bank 'Regular Savings Account' and 2k if it is a joint account and currently the rate of interest is 7%.

This is the relevant link:
[broken link removed]

I have not read the info on this link as of yet but it seems to be the best offer at the moment.


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## InfoSeeker (22 Oct 2007)

*Re: Halifax Monthly saver now limited to €350*

It does state:

"Interest rate is variable, with a minimum rate guarantee of 4.5% for the full term of your Regular Saver Account"

but seems to be as good as anything else available right now.


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## ClubMan (22 Oct 2007)

*Re: Halifax Monthly saver now limited to 350€*



InfoSeeker said:


> I have not read the info on this link as of yet but it seems to be the best offer at the moment.


What about _EBS_? Less restrictions and a better rate guarantee (?) as far as I know.


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## desperatedan (22 Oct 2007)

*Re: Halifax Monthly saver now limited to €350*

Hi ClubMan

Do you know what, if any, conditions need to be met to open the EBS regular saver account, as it does seem to have less restrictions and a better rate guarantee, as you have said.

I ask because it says on their web-site:



> EBS Regular Savings account - exclusive to EBS members



I have e-mailed the EBS through the web-site, last Friday, but got no reply as of yet.


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## ClubMan (22 Oct 2007)

I wonder if their website is wrong. I got the bumpf a while ago and it never mentioned anything about being a member. I also had trouble getting a reply from them via the online query form. You might be better off dropping in or rining them for info and an application form.


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## Godfather (22 Oct 2007)

*Re: Halifax Monthly saver now limited to €350*

Aesop, Dublintexas, thank you v. much for the great news!


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## Darando (22 Oct 2007)

I recently opened an EBS account. (I have an old savings account with them with only a few euro in it already). I am lodging from an AIB account so no problems on that front. You can lodge upto €1000 I think. I had to call in to their office and sign forms etc to open account. Usual formalities. I asked about changing the amount lodged and she said you just have to call into the branch and sign a form stating the change. Didnt say there was a limit on changes. Money can only be withdrawn from a branch (i.e not online) and you can withdraw whenever you want without loss.

If they say its only open to EBS customers just open some low rate account and throw in €10 (do it the same day!!!) - as I said I had an account so am unsure if you need to an account already.


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## skrooge (23 Oct 2007)

*Re: Halifax Monthly saver now limited to €350*



desperatedan said:


> Hi ClubMan
> 
> Do you know what, if any, conditions need to be met to open the EBS regular saver account, as it does seem to have less restrictions and a better rate guarantee, as you have said.
> 
> ...


 
I opened one of these accounts last week. I simply walked off the street with a bill and my passport and did it within 10 minutes.  I've never had any EBS account before.

As for the benefits of having a regular savings account vs a lump sum account well assuming interest rates don’t change and you drip feed €1k a month from a NR account (earning 4.5%) into a EBS regular savings account (earning 7%) you would make an EXTRA €162.50 or €130 after DIRT.   This is on top of the interest earned while funds were in NR.  I think that’s not bad for 10 minutes work.

Basically you’re getting the difference in the interest rates (7%-4.5%) on the regular amount (€1k) over a year (multiply by 6.5)

Why 6.5? Well the in the first month you get a full years interest (12/12) in the second you get 11 months interest on that portion…and so on. 12/12 + 11/12 +…+ 1/12 = 78/12 or 6.5.

for a new halifax account the EXTRA benefits would be

(7%-4.5%)*€350*6.5 = €56.88 or €45.50.


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## Godfather (23 Oct 2007)

*Re: Halifax Monthly saver now limited to €350*

Hi guys, if the "halifax" reg. saver offer can be cumulated for existing account holders could the same happen for the BoI reg. saver option? BoI has reduced from 1000 Euro to 500 Euro/month. I'm wondering if it's considered a cumulative option...  ...Probably not...

I'm trying to call my subsidiary of BoI but they are all so busy...


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