First Active e-savings account

Jethro Tull said:
Asking how an interest rate will be applied is not asking for a statement of professional opinion as woud be the case when seeking medical asistance or actuarial opinion, it is asking for a statement of fact.
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Exactly.
Even looking at some of the answers have been given the wording is ambiguous and in no way clears the matter up.
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Judging by the update on the FA site I guess that it's almost certain that the 5.22% rate only applies under €15K and over that 4.07% applies to the full amount on deposit - i.e. not 5.22% on €15K and 4.07% on just the full balance minus €15K.
 
I have to agree with CM and others here.

The reason we have a modicum of clarity now is that we, as in those who post on this forum, actually pursued FA for clear answers on how this account operated, for balances under and above €15k.

The original information given on the FA web-site was, and is still to some extent, mis-leading in relation to this crucial information.

This was compounded by information from FA locally and nationally which was contradictory false and mis-leading, being received by myself and others who took the time to send multiple e-mails of enquiry.

I am not saying FA were deliberately trying to mislead the public here, but they should have ensured that the information supplied on their web-site was not open to various interpretations, and they certainly should have ensured that information supplied by staff in response to e-mail enquiries was correct.

I feel that the fact that FA changed the wording on the product web-page, to go some way towards clarifying the T&C's, shows that we have indeed had a result here.

I would just love to know if there are any investors/savers who actually deposited >€15k, and are expecting a tiered interest (5.22%/4.07%) rather than a simple 4.07% on their lump-sum deposit Probably loads
 
The elusive First Active e-savings account

Am existing customer and applied for e-savings (5.22%) account online 11th July, received documentation 17th. All duly returned with cheque for euro15,000 (not yet cashed!).

Two e-mails from me to FA remain unanswered!

Phoned on 8th August and was assured everything had been received and in order and account opening would be processed very shortly. Massive interest in this new account was blamed for delay!

First Active's admin. is very unsatisfactory but am heartened by Clubman's news. Perhaps I'll get something in the post tomorrow..........

Thread very informative - thanks to all.
 
You should not lodge €15K as doing so means that as soon as you earn a penny (or is it €1?) in interest then your full balance will only earn 4.07% and not the 5.22% on the first €15K and 4.07% on the "excess".
 
Despite all the conflicting answers from FA, I am still tempted to open this account with a small cheque and then transfer ~10K once the account is setup simple because the 5.22% is so good. I too sent my local branch questions via e-mail and did not receive a reply. I know about the 5.22% and 4.07%, but is there any rate prommis/guarantee with this e-savings account ? Sorry if this is a silly question on a variable rate account.
 
clubman that's great you got a response, I sent mine back before you wondering will there be any post for me at home for this, hopefully so.
 
Re: The elusive First Active e-savings account



Hi Lorraine.

On a rough calculation, the difference in Annual Interest (calculated daily) payable to you could be as much as €803 for a €15k lump sum @ 5.22%, as opposed to €624 for a €15001 @ 4.07%.

I have used

So, you should be aware that you stand to lose €180(approx) by leaving just in excess of €15k in this account, as is now probably the effect with your initial balance, including interest calculated daily.

As I say, the figures are illustrative only, but do demonstrate the effect of going over the €15k barrier, which FA did not, and do not, emphasise in their marketing of this product.
 
My wife was just about to post in my completed application to FA with a cheque for €15k. After reading this thread, I managed to stop her just in time! It looks like the 5.22% vs 4.07% issue won't get resolved for a while as FA themselves don't seem to know what they're charging. The potential interest savings over NR or Rabo may not be worth the hassle. One would think that an somthing as fundamental as interest charged would be crystal clear to all involved in FA...why else do FA think people are putting money into this e-account? Not for the love of FA..
 
including interest calculated daily.
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Calculated daily but credited monthly.

So you could lodge €15,000, and then withdraw the monthly interest immediately / a few days before it's paid.
 
I cannot believe the amount of posts in this thread
granted alot appear to be about rate informations and application process problems
-> if its so confusing dont bother with it!

Compare this 5.22% marketing stunt by FA to other banks offers discussed
through out this site, where you get a "measly" 4.75% or even 5%

NEGLIGIBLE DIFFERENCE!!!!

wont go far in Ireland today, esp after DIRT

if any of you have a mortgage, your'e far better off spending your time
shopping for better deals & rates,

but, at the end of the day, fair play to First Active for generating so much
interest, posts and CONFUSION from you all
- maybe they should just stick to mortgages?

keep it simple people, its just a savings account

JR.
 
JR Rizzo said:
I cannot believe the amount of posts in this thread
granted alot appear to be about rate informations and application process problems
-> if its so confusing dont bother with it!
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Some people just want to get to the bottom of the matter. If this upsets you then why bother reading or responding to the thread?
 
Thanks for that Clubman, when returning application form + cheque I did actually instruct FA to credit another account with the interest earned.

Nonetheless would it be best to withdraw a few euro to leave the invested sum at less than the 15,000 even if only by a few euro! seems crazy. I know with Irish Nationwide you can lodge the amount up to 75,000 but one euro over and the rates change.

Is it the case with FA that over 14,999 the rate decreases? Oh such complication......

Thanks again.
 
Lorraine said:
when returning application form + cheque I did actually instruct FA to credit another account with the interest earned.
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Crediting the interest to another account was one of my questions to FA that I haven't got an answer to.
Did the form you returned give this option or did you request it separately? The T&Cs don't allow DDs or SOs out of the eSavings account. If they don't narrowly enforce that it would save a heck of a lot of hassle if they let people credit interest to another account. I think Northern Rock and probably others allow that.

Lorraine said:
Is it the case with FA that over 14,999 the rate decreases? Oh such complication......
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The threshold at which 4.07% on the whole amount kicks in is €15,001 and above up to max balance of €1 million, based on an almost certain interpretation of the information available on the FA web site.

My sympathies to you on losing a months interest on your cheque for €15k as it languishes unprocessed by FA. I'd ask them to retrospectively credit it to your account when calculating interest as an act of goodwill for being so slow in setting up your account. It's about €50 after DIRT in lost interest payments.
 
Hallo all,

Got my a/c details from first active t-d. So I decided to set-up the a/c details on my electronic banking with PTSB to transfer funds to the a/c. When PTSB rang me to clarify the details they said they couldn't register the details as the first active sort code (98-88-16) wasn't coming up in their system!
So I don't know if there is a prob. with FA or PTSB....is it that difficult to open a a new savings a/c!!!?

A
 
abbey said:
the first active sort code (98-88-16) wasn't coming up in their system!
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Maybe because this is a new sort code and relates not to a specific branch but to "KEYING SORTCODE FA INTERNET" according to their documentation?
 
Hi everyone, well done for clarifying that over 15K the lower interest will apply to the whole lot. I sent my request for "esavings" and I got the confirmation letter but I am still waiting for the PIN. As I have an ECB linked account with 1st active I stated "existing customer but have no internet log in details". Query pls if anyone is in a "more advanced" stage on this: can one nominate an external account (not 1st active) for any withdrawal/lodgements from/to the "eSavings" account in your opinion? It doesn't seem clear from the letter I got...
 
Still waiting for my confirmation letter & account number although they cashed the initial deposit cheque last Friday.
 
I finally went into FA today to enquire if my SSIA at 3.75% was the best deposit account on offer. Was told that someone would ring me this afternoon to discuss my requirements - but that didn't happen. Certainly wasn't told about this e-savngs account.
However found this thread tonight and decided to open the account on-line. Went through that process ok and they are to send out the necessary details and forms to sign and gave me a reference number. I'm assuming that I won't have to give I.D and proof of address info again as I'm already a customer. It appears that they will transfer my existing deposit in the Saverplus account to the e-savings account.
Must not be in FA's interest though to have people transferring from a rate of 3.75% to 5.22%. Definetely in my interest though and I'll keep my deposit just below the €15,000 to play it safe.
 
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