First Active e-savings account

brieli said:
Clubman

Could you please show by illustration how 12 monthly deposits of €1K at 7% gross CAR is not the same as €12K @ 7%. (You can obviously make more money by depositing at c. 5% and then drip feeding into an account at c. 7% than just leaving it in the 5% account)
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Use this calculator to see why. Basically 12 monthly lodgements of €1K at 7% returns less than €12K at 7% because in the first case only €1K is on deposit for 12 months and earns the full 7%, the next lodgement earns 11/12ths of that, the next earns 10/12ths etc. The last lodgement is only on deposit for one month so earns just 1/12th of 7%. (Roughly).
We have a lump sum deposit of 10k plus a monthly savings of €250 p.m. We were going to put the €10k into First Active and the €250 p.m. into the EBS at 7% car. However if I understand you correctly we should put the €10k into First Active as well as the €250p.m. into the First Active.
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No - I never said that. You could be better off lodging the €10K with FA, then saving the €250 plus €750 from your €10K lump sum into the EBS 7% account to maximise your returns.
 
ClubMan said:
You could be better off lodging the €10K with FA, then saving the €250 plus €750 from your €10K lump sum into the EBS 7% account to maximise your returns.
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gordongekko said:
Would you not be better to lodge the 10k into first active and then to put 1000 per month into ebs from the first active account and the 250 into the first active account every month.
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Is that not what i said? i think you can only do one lodgement into the fa account!!!
 
gordongekko said:
i think you can only do one lodgement into the fa account!!!
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Hope that isn't the case. I'm opening it with €50 and then planning on transfering €14,950 from NR.
One of the questions in the on-line form was do you intend using it for regular savings or not. I got the impression from that it could be treated as a normal on-line demand deposit account similar to Rabodirect's or Northern Rock's on-line savings products.

Has anyone got the forms posted out to them by FA yet?
 
I think Gordongekko is right. Reading the T&Cs [broken link removed]

Assume they'll let one change the initial lodgement cheque from what was given on the on-line application form.

So reversing my earlier posts it looks like this account does have annoying restrictions :(
 
GeneralZod said:
I think Gordongekko is right. Reading the T&Cs [broken link removed]

Assume they'll let one change the initial lodgement cheque from what was given on the on-line application form.
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I don't see how those terms & conditions suggest that one can only make one lodgement? In any case the account can also accept regular saver lodgements so I can't see that they will be turning away non regular saver lodgements subsequent to the initial opening lodgement?
 
From T&C 43.5 it sounds like all lodgements must come from another First Active account or a standing order.

In the on-line process they ask do you intend making regular payments. Must I now tell them that I will afterall make one standing order into the account assuming I can't at this stage send in a cheque for 15k. It would be a special standing order that will only have one payment.
 
ClubMan said:
Hmmm ... maybe SO includes an electronic transfer from a non FA account?
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That's the meaning I take from it. Hopefully this is a case of the wording for the T&Cs being a little more restrictive than the reality.

If they let you make SOs into the account, it would be a lot of work for them to police how customers used the facility. From FAs perspective a single SO payment arriving from a 3rd party bank and a once off EMTS payment will look the same, no?
 
If, as seems to be the case, they are competing with Rabo's 5% account then it would be crazy for them to be too restrictive on when and how account holders could lodge money.
 
There is a 6.35euro charge on this account (per quarter)

are there charges on the Rabo / NR accounts?
 
SS expert said:
There is a 6.35euro charge on this account (per quarter)
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Are you sure that these charges apply to this account and not some other account covered by the same general terms & conditions? Can you link to info on this?
are there charges on the Rabo / NR accounts?
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No maintenance/transaction charges with [broken link removed] or [broken link removed] - just some charges for stuff like same day electronic transfers (maybe only with NR?) which can easily be avoided.

So:

Rabo
  • €10K @ 5% = €500
  • Plus €5K @ 3.75% = €187.50
  • Total = €687.50
  • Net of 20% DIRT = €550
Rabo + NR
  • Rabo €10K @ 5% = €500
  • Plus NR €5K @ 4.5% = €225
  • Total = €725
  • Net of 20% DIRT = €580
FA
  • €15K @ 5.22% = €783
  • Net of 20% DIRT = €626.4
  • Less maintenance charges of 4 x €6.35 or €25.4 = €602
 
I just rang tham, and they told me that the 6.35E is charged...
I wonder if she new that i was talking about the e savings a/c
 
Bit of a pain but still the best account for €15K on deposit as far as I can see. Hopefully no more nasty surprises in store for those awaiting the forms...
 
That's a nasty sting in the tail.

The T&C doc mentions a "Tariff of charges" booklet but I can't find a link to it on the first active website.
 
Can't find the charges booklet online even after doing a Google site specific search of FA's website. I've emailed my local branch asking for a copy and will pick one up in the meantime if I'm passing. I received the completed online form today and they include the terms & conditions booklet but not the charges one. Poor form not to clarify to a new applicant what charges might apply. :(
 
The more I think about it the harder I find the €6.5 per quarter charges report to believe.

It means the account needs an initial €623 balance just to cover the charges. So the effective minimum balance is not €1 as stated on their website.

€622.61 = 6.5 x 4 x 5/4 ÷ 0.0522

If it's true I hope First Active's competition milks it for all its worth.
 
Did anyone get their forms yet? Applied online last Thursday and wondering how long it takes. Also what were you asked to send in in terms of ID for money laundering regs.
 
Yes - as I mentioned above I applied online on Monday and the forms arrived in the post on Friday. For ID they need a photocopy (not certified) of passport/drivers license etc. and one original proof of address document (e.g. utility bill, bank statement etc.). Oddly enough they don't request any PPSN documentation as most others do these days.
 
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