First Active eSavings rate update

LUMP SUM DEPOSITS - the following needs to be updated

First Active Ulster Bank - eSavings Plus – 4.00% AER*/4.19% Gross variable (includes a 6 month introductory bonus of 0.50%).

The best buys thread states the following:

Best headline rate for larger sums, but beware withdrawals reduce interest paid!
Ulster Bank: eSavings Plus / First Active: eSavings Plus (Discuss)
4.25% for first six months on €15,000 minimum to €1m maximum
4.00% average rate for first 12 months (AER) on €15,000 minimum to €1m maximum
3.75% after first six months on €15,000 minimum to €1m maximum
Online only. Interest paid monthly. NB If a withdrawal is made, no interest is paid in that month (apart from small introductory bonus in first 6 months). This account is not suitable if you plan to make multiple withdrawals. You can best exploit the account by saving towards a particular goal, and then withdrawing the complete balance on the 1st day of the month.

Click to expand...

What aspect do you think needs to be corrected?

If you were only going to leave the money there for 6 months, 4.25% is the relevant rate to use when comparing with other accounts. The bank are averaging the 6 month introductory rate with the next 6 month rate to give a quoted AER of 4%. This doesn't change the fact that if you only leave the money there for 6 months, you do get an introductory bonus rate that is equivalent to 4.25% if it was payable over a full 12 months. If you closed the account after 6 months and reopened it, or started with an FA account and then moved to UB, the rate would be 4.25% over the whole year (ignoring the impact of DIRT).

The bank were advertising the "correct" rate originally, but they may have been forced to change the advertising so as not to quote a misleading AER. You'll notice the gross rate during the introductory period is still quoted as 4.19%, which compounds to 4.25%.

This issue keeps coming up, despite changes to the wording of this account to try and clarify what's going on. If anyone can think of a short simple wording to make it even clearer, please suggest it.

Its gone down again.


Effective from 24th June 2009
Current Available Products
eSavings Plus Account ( Variable ) Gross AER
*€15,001 - €1,000,000 3.70% 3.50%
€1 - €15,000 0.01% 0.01%


* All figures include standard rate plus bonus rate. The bonus rate is applied to the account for the first 6 months after the account has been opened. Standard rate after 6 months: 3.20% Gross variable and 3.24% AER variable.

Thanks, Best Buys updated.

Down again

Effective from 19th August 2009
Current Available Products
eSavings Plus Account ( Variable ) GrossAER*
€15,001 - €1,000,000 3.46% 3.25%
€1 - €15,000 0.01% 0.01%

* All figures include standard rate plus bonus rate. The bonus rate is applied to the account for the first 6 months after the account has been opened. Standard rate after 6 months: 2.96% Gross variable and 3.00% AER variable.

Thanks, Best Buys are already updated (though there was a typo in the eSavings Plus introductory rate quoted.).

Demand Bonus and Regular Saver accounts have also reduced.