Savings Interest Rates Getting Worse

[rockits]

Now as we all know Interest Rates have been low for some time and the disparity between lending rates and savings rates seemingly widening.

I have being doing 3 regular savings accounts for a few years now. Not brilliant but no real hassle and worth doing in comparison to woeful rates in other savings products.

I have been doing this with First Direct at 5% and HSBC for 4.5% I think for a while at £300pm and £250pm max respectively.

I get a notice this morning!

How does it go from 5% to 2.75% overnight? The base rates haven't changed.

 

[zagatoes30]

Wattie will be along to tell you to buy gold but seriously banks are a close second to politicians in my list of untrustworthy groups. They seem to apply rules that always suit themselves but cry foul as soon as they caught out. A lot of the financial issues over the last few years seem to be down to banks questionable actions.

 

[Hawk13]

2.75% remains a pretty decent annual rate if you have instant / easy access. But agree that the slashing in rates is not linked to base rate changes .... and if you don't like it, move your money.

 

[Hawk13]

Wattie will be along to tell you to buy gold but seriously banks are a close second to politicians in my list of untrustworthy groups. They seem to apply rules that always suit themselves but cry foul as soon as they caught out. A lot of the financial issues over the last few years seem to be down to banks questionable actions.

Yeah yeah..... and drivers of V8s have caused global warming.

Any other generalisations we can make

 

[midlifecrisis]

Yeah yeah..... and drivers of V8s have caused global warming.

Any other generalisations we can make

All Europeans hate British people

 

[rockits]

The problem being created that was never great in the first place is we are biasing everything towards spend not save. If we can't balance the books as a country and make the economy work well in these situations there is no hope in the future.

With people spending all they earn/have and more beyond this we are going to have a ton of dependents in this country who are not able to financially fend for themselves. The sensible and prudent people will save/invest but why should we/they bail out the people that have just spent all their life.

I think I have done it all wrong. Should have blown all I had when I had it and had no assets or savings. Then just live of the state, sensible and prudent people.

There is no real encouragement to save so much any more. You are disadvantaged it for doing it in real terms it seems and better off blowing it all and letting others bail you out.

A gross return of 2.75% is pretty pathetic really when you think how much the banks are earning by using your money during this time.

Should have been a banker!

 

[rockits]

Yeah yeah..... and drivers of V8s have caused global warming.

Any other generalisations we can make

I'm not sure anyone can honestly support many of actions of most of the global banks can they? I can't. The care about nobody other themselves.

Ironic really as they need our money and business to survive. Maybe we should pull it all out and stick all our cash under the mattress!

The direction now though with more electronic transactions is that it is almost anti competitive as there is little choice other than to have a bank account. However they can use our money and pay us a pittance in return. It is pretty much a monopoly as what is the realistic alternative?

If the govt made the banks pay a fixed minimum decent level of interest to savers then there would be more encouragement to save. Maybe that is exactly what they don't want!!

 

[iainw]

Now as we all know Interest Rates have been low for some time and the disparity between lending rates and savings rates seemingly widening.

I have being doing 3 regular savings accounts for a few years now. Not brilliant but no real hassle and worth doing in comparison to woeful rates in other savings products.

I have been doing this with First Direct at 5% and HSBC for 4.5% I think for a while at £300pm and £250pm max respectively.

I get a notice this morning!

How does it go from 5% to 2.75% overnight? The base rates haven't changed.

This just makes it far more sensible to buy ludicrously priced Supercars as there is no advantage to saving money now #manmaths101

 

[rockits]

This just makes it far more sensible to buy ludicrously priced Supercars as there is no advantage to saving money now #manmaths101

LOL...I think you're right. We have just solved the issue in a few posts.

 

[allandwf]

Just buy stuff.

 

[Hawk13]

I'm not sure anyone can honestly support many of actions of most of the global banks can they? I can't. The care about nobody other themselves.

Ironic really as they need our money and business to survive. Maybe we should pull it all out and stick all our cash under the mattress!

The direction now though with more electronic transactions is that it is almost anti competitive as there is little choice other than to have a bank account. However they can use our money and pay us a pittance in return. It is pretty much a monopoly as what is the realistic alternative?

If the govt made the banks pay a fixed minimum decent level of interest to savers then there would be more encouragement to save. Maybe that is exactly what they don't want!!

There are without a doubt a number of banks who took wholly unnecessary risks and who chased profit at the expense of any morals, but there are an equally large number of banks / building societies that didn't.

It is also very easy to moan about banks and forget the no cost services that they provide which most people take for granted. For example:

• free direct debits / money transfers
• free (to the consumer) use of bank cards
• free ATM network
• compensation (subject to limits) if the bank becomes insolvent

And irrespective of how meager the returns may be on savings, it is better than sticking it under the mattress.

 

[allandwf]

Other than covering the cost of "money" with tangible asset, why do I need a bank to do my dds and money transfers? It's only a computer program. Surely I could be paid straight to me and just shuffle numbers on my own computer. Other than making money on the back of mine I really struggle to see what they do. (Apologies to any one in banking here.)

 

[CatmanV2]

Keeping it (mostly) secure and (mostly) reliable is not something you're likely to be able to do on your own pc.....


C

 

[allandwf]

Keeping it (mostly) secure and (mostly) reliable is not something you're likely to be able to do on your own pc.....


C

Back to plan A and buy stuff then

 

[Oneball]

Keeping it (mostly) secure and (mostly) reliable is not something you're likely to be able to do on your own pc.....


C

Best use the mattress then. The scrappy down the road from where I used to work bought a new crane many years ago, with cash delivered in Safeway bags.

 

[rockits]

Decentralised blockchain payment platforms exist and work. I know someone who has lots of knowledge in this area and provides them. However there will be an awful lots of resistance by banks and such like for obvious reasons.

With organisations like PayPal, Google/Apple pay and the like I can only see this developing. There is no need to have a bank processing payments anymore. They are often very old dinausaurs on ageing creaking platforms. Some of the stories I've heard of back-ends from people I know who work in this environment is sometimes comical.

Not sure if they still do but I remember talking to some guys about DWP and their arrangements with their chosen processor of payments RBS. It was quite funny to hear how long it took to process payments. Not minutes or hours....a smidge longer

 

[rockits]

There are without a doubt a number of banks who took wholly unnecessary risks and who chased profit at the expense of any morals, but there are an equally large number of banks / building societies that didn't.

It is also very easy to moan about banks and forget the no cost services that they provide which most people take for granted. For example:

• free direct debits / money transfers
• free (to the consumer) use of bank cards
• free ATM network
• compensation (subject to limits) if the bank becomes insolvent

And irrespective of how meager the returns may be on savings, it is better than sticking it under the mattress.

Yup, that's it banks.....the shining lights with a moral compass of the highest order

None of their services are free in real terms as you are just paying for it under the counter or embedded into other products or services. I would prefer to be charged. Some banks are indeed charging for personal accounts. No business accounts are free are they though only personal accounts.

I think the banks do OK out of us so I'm not worried that they may go hungry or run dry. Even if they did we would bail them out anyway so what is their risk

If my little business loses money and goes bust it does so.....nobody bailing us little businesses out.

I'm not sure this compensation scheme is far reaching or works does it? When has anyone ever used this?

Trying explaining this to the millions whose savings, investments, pensions and lives have been shot to pieces by banks and their actions. I'm not sure they would agree. Did they get any compensation or money from govts when they lost so much money.....er.....no!

 

[RobinL]

So back in the early 70's I worked for Barclays. ATM didn't exist, statements were sorted and posted by hand, the 'computer' I used had programs loaded by a paper tape punched hole cassette. One to process payments in, the second for payments out. Cheques were collected for clearing every night by Securicor and took 3 days to process.
The branch staff knew most customers by name. There was no electronic fraud.

2019. Cheques still take 3 days to process, statements are online, unless like my mum you can't navigate their system. Bank branches & staff are viewed as an unwanted expense as opposed to a cost of doing business, electronic fraud eats into profits (unless you tick the box to say if anything happens it's your own fault - with banks itching to make that a default option)

Businesses that use cash frequently can't even pay it into a branch, because it has closed down and the nearest one is many miles away.

My mum managed to lock her account because she forgot her passwords. They sent her an email telling her to go to the branch (local one closed), I drove over 1.5 hours each way to take her!

Progress?

IMHO in the wrong direction!

Sent from my ONEPLUS A5010 using Tapatalk

 

[RobinL]

Oh and whilst I'm on a roll - First Direct sent me a note to let me know that changes to overdraft structures which the government have forced on them, mean they are not allowed to charge differing rates for arranged and I arranged overdrafts. So their solution is to raise my agreed rate from (I think) 15.9% to 39.9% as of April.

Luckily I don't use that overdraft but where in all that's righteous do they get away with that behaviour.

But fair enough if I WAS using the overdraft they would allow me to transfer it elsewhere and not charge me for doing so!! How f--ing kind of them!

Gold coins it is then!

Sent from my ONEPLUS A5010 using Tapatalk

 

[CatmanV2]

Best use the mattress then. The scrappy down the road from where I used to work bought a new crane many years ago, with cash delivered in Safeway bags.

Bloody hard to do a dd from the mattress ITYF

C