# Northern Rock loyalty bonus



## TSThomas (7 Dec 2007)

Apologies if this has  been mentioned before (Quick search indicates not!) - only noticed it myself today;

[broken link removed]

_*customer loyalty bonus*
_
_You are really important to us, and we cannot thank you enough for staying with us through these difficult times. You have kept faith with Northern Rock, and we'd like to start paying that back._ 

*So all savers who had a savings account with us on 1 December 2007 and who keep their money invested with us until 1 March 2008 will receive an extra guaranteed bonus of 0.50% gross p.a. on their savings. This bonus rate is payable during the months of January and February 2008.*

_We know we must rebuild and repay the trust and confidence you have invested in us. Which is why we're working very hard towards a solution to take our business forward._


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## MugsGame (7 Dec 2007)

Thanks, hadn't noticed that.

But I'm not sure it's all that impressive. The interest period is only for two months, so the bonus interest is less than 1/6th of the per annum rate of 0.50%. Assuming I'm interpreting the small print correctly.


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## Jethro Tull (7 Dec 2007)

I was wondering would they increase their rates to try get people to reinvest. However as pointed out this isn't as generous as it first looks!


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## tiger (7 Dec 2007)

As far as I'm concerned Northern Rock is a mess.  It's been 3 months since the initial crisis. I don't see that it's been fixed, & there doesn't appear to be a willing buyer.  As a result, I closed my account 2 weeks ago.


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## coolhandluke (8 Dec 2007)

TSThomas said:


> Apologies if this has been mentioned before (Quick search indicates not!) - only noticed it myself today;
> 
> [broken link removed]
> 
> ...


 

Isn't the treasury guarantee only due to last till February ?
NR is a dead duck,nearly £30 billion or so into HM Treasury, nice to see them being so free with british taxpayers funds.

If it's not taken over in the next few weeks, i can see the depositors getting their capital back,the loan book sold off and the company folded.


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## Calico (8 Dec 2007)

tiger said:


> As far as I'm concerned Northern Rock is a mess.  It's been 3 months since the initial crisis. I don't see that it's been fixed, & there doesn't appear to be a willing buyer.  As a result, I closed my account 2 weeks ago.



I don't see how any of their troubles have impacted deposit holders. Despite the problems with getting online because everybody started behaving like wilderbeast!


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## carpedeum (8 Dec 2007)

tiger said:


> As far as I'm concerned Northern Rock is a mess. It's been 3 months since the initial crisis. I don't see that it's been fixed, & there doesn't appear to be a willing buyer. As a result, I closed my account 2 weeks ago.


 
I did the same last week after meeting a banker from Jersey. the word is that it's a right mess internally and is going to take a long, long time to unravel and rebuild even after it is eventually sold. That is why Branson and Virgin are offering so little and the Government are so keen to sell to them as quickly as possible.


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## coolhandluke (8 Dec 2007)

Calico said:


> I don't see how any of their troubles have impacted deposit holders. Despite the problems with getting online because everybody started behaving like wilderbeast!


 
The simple fact is that NR was saved for political reasons,it's funding model was fundamentally flawed and could only be supported with continous lending in a low interest enviroment.

There has been some very smug posters on the old NR thread after the fact, but NR could very well have been let go to the wall, surely not attempting to extract your funds in the event of a company going bust is the foolish thing to do !.


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## colc1 (8 Dec 2007)

I never heard anything about the government guarantee only lasting til Feb I doubt this is true media would have reported that especially the tabloid types.  

Also your first €20,000 is guaranteed anyway other the deposit scheme (cant remember its exact name).  There is a lot of scare mongering going on I do wonder where its coming from?

Plus one of the interested parties is going to buy it soon enough obviuosly whether its virgin or whoever.


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## tiger (8 Dec 2007)

Calico said:


> I don't see how any of their troubles have impacted deposit holders. Despite the problems with getting online because everybody started behaving like wilderbeast!


Yes, someone will probably buy them, but why hasn't it happened yet?
And yes, the Bank of England are guaranteeing deposits, but for how long?  And if they do fold, do you honestly think you'll have a check in the post for the full amount of your savings within say, a week?


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## Nemesis (8 Dec 2007)

carpedeum said:


> I did the same last week after meeting a banker from Jersey. the word is that it's a right mess internally and is going to take a long, long time to unravel and rebuild even after it is eventually sold. That is why Branson and Virgin are offering so little and the Government are so keen to sell to them as quickly as possible.



If NR was such a total mess, it's a wonder so many were queuing up to buy it in spite of the current difficult funding conditions. The fact is NR is a good business with a high quality mortgage book. Its reliance on wholesale money markets left it vulnerable to this unforeseen sudden freeze up. The Bank of England didn't help by refusing to provide liquidity in the early days of the crisis and the botched handling of the rescue which saw the bank run ravage its deposit base.

Personally, I've held accounts with the bank for the past 7 years and during that time I've never had any problems, evidenced by the fact I've never once had to even speak to someone from the bank. All instructions were carried out correctly and there was no confusion or mistakes, something I find all too often dealing with branch staff from our own banks here. The only issues occurred during the bank run which was quite understandable as the system couldn't cope with the volume of withdrawals. I doubt any other bank could have handled the situation any better.

As regards this loyalty bonus, I would agree it's not as generous as it first appears but isn't that always the case with these type of offers and promotions. I expect NR will have to be very competitive with rates next year anyway if it hopes to rebuild its deposit holdings. I just hope whatever happens they will continue to operate here in the future.


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## GeneralZod (8 Dec 2007)

I wonder is it going to take until February to close whatever takeover deal emerges. 

The AER for an extra 0.5% gross in Jan and Feb isn't much of an incentive to return.


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## hamster (9 Dec 2007)

For those of you who closed your account - did they pay up the interest for the year to date when you closed the account with your withdrawl? I mean how did that work for you? I currently have the interest paid annually on the 31st Dec to the Northern Rock account. If I were to close the account I assume they would transfer the money (accured interest and all) to my forwarding AIB current account?


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## twofor1 (9 Dec 2007)

We closed a 60 day notice A/c recently (elderly relation does not trust computers) interest was paid to date. Worth noting we requested same day transfere and were told this was no longer available, we refused to accept this as we were never notified of a change to the t&c's, even today the t&c's on their site clearly state this facility is available. I was transferred to a manager who said ok and it was done that day. It appears it is available but only if demanded.


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## TSThomas (10 Dec 2007)

Got a letter in the post restating the above, but in addition;

_*The bonus will be calculated on the balance of your account between 1 January 2008 and 1 March 2008. *Any interest which is payable due to this bonus will be in addition to the contractual interest rate payable on your account (including Fixed Rate Bonds) *as detailed in your Terms and Conditions and will be paid on your next interest payment date.

_This clears up the somewhat vague "savings account" used on the website. I'm now glad I took out the 4.75% 1 year bond they had some months back


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## MugsGame (13 Dec 2007)

Got my letter today. 



> Guaranteed bonus of 0.50% gross p.a.
> payable during the months of January and February 2008
> calculated on the balance of your account between 1 January 2008 and 1 March 2008



which I'm now interpreting as a full 0.50% bonus for two months deposit, contrary to what I earlier suggested.


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## Squonk (13 Dec 2007)

MugsGame said:


> Got my letter today.
> 
> 
> 
> which I'm now interpreting as a full 0.50% bonus for two months deposit, contrary to what I earlier suggested.


 It's 0.5% pa (per annum)...not 0.5% per two months. I believe your original post is correct.


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