Shawbrook Bank

[dubre]

A heads up re. instant access accounts.
It appears that they are content to leave your account on "less than best" interest unless you action a change by going on website or by telephone.

I wonder what happens when rates go down?

[Laughton]

Whilst on the subject, this just in.......

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/20 ... nk-merger/

Shawbrook Bank........not very Co-Op like (supposedly).

[SebsCat]

A heads up re. instant access accounts.
It appears that they are content to leave your account on "less than best" interest unless you action a change by going on website or by telephone.

I wonder what happens when rates go down?

Apparently it was the norm for you to have to ask for the account to be changed to the new issue to get increases (there's a specific secure message option for it), but since I opened my account in February there have been several automatic increases and just the once when I had to request it. Does mean you have to monitor it though which is the price you pay for one of the top rate payers (the other top payers all have their own negatives too).

I'm sure rates will be reduced automatically, but they will give 30 days notice.

[mc2fool]

A heads up re. instant access accounts.
It appears that they are content to leave your account on "less than best" interest unless you action a change by going on website or by telephone.

I wonder what happens when rates go down?

It's not at all unusual for "issues" of accounts to stay on an existing interest rate after they are no longer offered and are superseded by newer issues with better rates.

Where Shawbrook is unusual (although some others now do it too) is that you can ask them to upgrade your a/c to the latest issue, in situ so to speak, whereas with others you can't and have to open a new account with the better rate, transfer your funds into it and close the old account.

As SebsCat says, sometimes they do increase the rate on existing issues, and sometimes they don't and you have to ask to be upgraded. I've not detected any pattern as to when/why, but I've had an instant access account with them since 2017, and that started off as issue 12 which I've since asked them to upgrade to issue 15, 28, 29, 32 and (currently) 36 to get the best rate available at any time.

By contrast they've automatically raised the rate on the account (without it becoming a new issue or me needing to do anything) 15 times during the period, but they've only reduced it just twice, even though they've stopped offering issues and superseded them with issues with lower rates. The gaps in the issue numbers above are 'cos the intervening ones had lower or no better rates than the one I was already on, so sometimes I have had better rates than those offered by newer issues.

[GeoffF100]

I was wondering about Shawbrook. It seems to have passed the mc2fool test. It does not seem to have upped its rates since the last base rate rise, but I guess I should give it time.

[SebsCat]

I was wondering about Shawbrook. It seems to have passed the mc2fool test. It does not seem to have upped its rates since the last base rate rise, but I guess I should give it time.

It upped them on Tuesday in anticipation of the rise. It's currently the top rate on the MSE easy access table so they'll wait & see what others do before raising them again.

[mc2fool]

I was wondering about Shawbrook. It seems to have passed the mc2fool test.

In one sense, but they haven't always been top of the table and although I've always upgraded to their best issue, I haven't always had my "instant access" allocation in them.

[stewamax]

Where Shawbrook is unusual (although some others now do it too) is that you can ask them to upgrade your a/c to the latest issue, in situ so to speak, whereas with others you can't and have to open a new account with the better rate, transfer your funds into it and close the old account.

Yes - you simply send them a secure message asking for an 'account switch' to the new issue. The account number stays the same but the issue is upgraded.

In passing, having recently needed to deal with several investment banks during a probate process, in terms of responsiveness Shawbrook are way ahead of Charter, who in turn, are way ahead of Aldermore, who...

[dubre]

ok since most people seem to be content. As for me..."I" failed to upgrade my account with Shawbrook at a cost of~£750 in lost interest & will not be using them so much in future. Ford Money and Kent Reliance, for example, have not been changing accounts and update interest rates without being asked and are therefore likely to get more of my not so hard earned in future.

[mc2fool]

ok since most people seem to be content. As for me..."I" failed to upgrade my account with Shawbrook at a cost of~£750 in lost interest & will not be using them so much in future. Ford Money and Kent Reliance, for example, have not been changing accounts and update interest rates without being asked and are therefore likely to get more of my not so hard earned in future.

Kent Reliance not so much recently but they used to and you had to open a new account to get the benefit of the higher interest, you couldn't just ask them to upgrade your existing one.

They do seem to have a lag in offering rate increases though; their latest issue easy access savings account offering 4.5% was launched on the 4th of August, yet my existing easy access account with them won't see a rate increase from 4.25% to 4.5% until the 18th of August.

If you don't like having to stay on top of the latest rates offered I recommend you avoid Cynergy bank -- their rates are usually very good but in the 2 years since I first opened an easy access a/c with them I've upgraded through 19 issues! Some within a couple of weeks of the last, although it's pretty quick and easy to open a new one and transfer-all-and-close the previous one (and all done within your online access to them, no need for secure messages.)

[Stompa]

If you don't like having to stay on top of the latest rates offered I recommend you avoid Cynergy bank -- their rates are usually very good but in the 2 years since I first opened an easy access a/c with them I've upgraded through 19 issues! Some within a couple of weeks of the last, although it's pretty quick and easy to open a new one and transfer-all-and-close the previous one (and all done within your online access to them, no need for secure messages.)

I went through 14 issues with my Cynergy ISA. The reason I know it was 14 is that they recently sent me 14 separate annual paper statements, each sent separately, and all arriving in the same post!

[mc2fool]

Perhaps serendipitously for this thread, it being the anniversary of my Easy Access Account, Shawbrook have added a statement to my e-documents which, for the first time, shows the interest rate on the account over the last 12 months.

It started off on Issue 29 and all of the increases were automatic except for the ones marked Issue 32 & 36, where I asked for the a/c to be upgraded to those issues.

The 0.05% periods are when I had less than the minimum balance of £1,000 in it, 'cos I'd found better rates elsewhere and shifted the money to there, but there were also auto-increases during those periods, as shown.

08/08/2022 23/08/2022 1.75%
24/08/2022 10/10/2022 1.86%
11/10/2022 31/01/2023 0.05% (but auto increased on 17/10/22 to 2% and on 28/10/22 to 2.3%)
01/02/2023 15/02/2023 2.92% Issue 32
16/02/2023 26/03/2023 3.06%
27/03/2023 11/04/2023 0.05% (but auto increased on 28/03/23 to 3.26%)
12/04/2023 27/04/2023 3.36% 
28/04/2023 25/05/2023 3.65% 
26/05/2023 12/06/2023 3.75% 
13/06/2023 07/07/2023 3.91% 
08/07/2023 20/07/2023 4.35% Issue 36
21/07/2023 31/07/2023 4.52%
01/08/2023 07/08/2023 4.63%

[NotSure]

I had the equivalent statement issued today. I had to request one of the changes below, the others were applied automatically. Looks like I may have missed some uplifts early this year.


Date Rate
08/08/2022 1.74%
24/08/2022 1.84%
14/10/2022 1.98%
28/10/2022 2.28%
09/05/2023 3.59%
26/05/2023 3.69%
13/06/2023 3.84%
10/07/2023 4.27%
21/07/2023 4.43%
01/08/2023 4.53%

[bluedonkey]

It's only in the last few months that I have had significant funds to put on deposit. The money has been spread around several deposit takers. Nearly all increase their rate without being prodded except Kent Reliance. My instant access with them is only paying 3.88%. I have emailed them to prod them into doing the right thing, and wait to hear from them.

[didds]

It's only in the last few months that I have had significant funds to put on deposit. The money has been spread around several deposit takers. Nearly all increase their rate without being prodded except Kent Reliance. My instant access with them is only paying 3.88%. I have emailed them to prod them into doing the right thing, and wait to hear from them.

at the risk of teaching grandmothers to such eggs, maybe its time to extract that KR money and put it elsewhere paying substantially better ?

[bluedonkey]

It's only in the last few months that I have had significant funds to put on deposit. The money has been spread around several deposit takers. Nearly all increase their rate without being prodded except Kent Reliance. My instant access with them is only paying 3.88%. I have emailed them to prod them into doing the right thing, and wait to hear from them.

at the risk of teaching grandmothers to such eggs, maybe its time to extract that KR money and put it elsewhere paying substantially better ?

Quite. I'll wait for their reply first though.

[mc2fool]

It's only in the last few months that I have had significant funds to put on deposit. The money has been spread around several deposit takers. Nearly all increase their rate without being prodded except Kent Reliance. My instant access with them is only paying 3.88%. I have emailed them to prod them into doing the right thing, and wait to hear from them.

That's curious, 'cos I've had my current Kent Reliance Easy Access account, issue 33, since 2019 and the rate has always increased automatically, without me having to do anything. Although, as I say above, it usually does so a couple of weeks after they offer a new issue with the increased rate, e.g. mine will go from 4.25% to 4.5% on the 18th of August, whereas issue 63 offering 4.5% was launched on the 4th of August.

I take it the 3.88% is gross paid monthly, not AER? 'Cos for the last year or so mine (which is set for annual interest) has always been multiples of 0.25%...

[SebsCat]

It's only in the last few months that I have had significant funds to put on deposit. The money has been spread around several deposit takers. Nearly all increase their rate without being prodded except Kent Reliance. My instant access with them is only paying 3.88%. I have emailed them to prod them into doing the right thing, and wait to hear from them.

That's curious, 'cos I've had my current Kent Reliance Easy Access account, issue 33, since 2019 and the rate has always increased automatically, without me having to do anything. Although, as I say above, it usually does so a couple of weeks after they offer a new issue with the increased rate, e.g. mine will go from 4.25% to 4.5% on the 18th of August, whereas issue 63 offering 4.5% was launched on the 4th of August.

I take it the 3.88% is gross paid monthly, not AER? 'Cos for the last year or so mine (which is set for annual interest) has always been multiples of 0.25%...

Looking at the withdrawn issues at https://www.kentreliance.co.uk/interest-rates most are on 4.25% but for some reason issues 52 to 60 are on various lower rates. Issue 62 is actually higher than the current offering! (4.53% AER vs 4.50%)

[mc2fool]

That's curious, 'cos I've had my current Kent Reliance Easy Access account, issue 33, since 2019 and the rate has always increased automatically, without me having to do anything. Although, as I say above, it usually does so a couple of weeks after they offer a new issue with the increased rate, e.g. mine will go from 4.25% to 4.5% on the 18th of August, whereas issue 63 offering 4.5% was launched on the 4th of August.

I take it the 3.88% is gross paid monthly, not AER? 'Cos for the last year or so mine (which is set for annual interest) has always been multiples of 0.25%...

Looking at the withdrawn issues at https://www.kentreliance.co.uk/interest-rates most are on 4.25% but for some reason issues 52 to 60 are on various lower rates. Issue 62 is actually higher than the current offering! (4.53% AER vs 4.50%)

Oh yeah, I'd forgotten they had all the withdrawn issues online! I was going by my issue 33 which went from 2% on 1-Nov-22 to 2.75% on 18-Nov-22 and then in 0.25% steps up to the soon-to-be 4.5%.

[Fluke]

I've had an easy access account with Santander for a while, they passed on some of the earlier rate increases but stopped at 3.69% and haven't budged since. After trying and failing to contact them to ask if they were going to be raising the rate again, I opened an account with Shawbrook yesterday and am in the process of moving the funds across, I'll then close the Santander account. I went for the monthly option at 4.53% and opted to have it paid into my nominated account, it's nice to see it arrive every month and will cover one or two monthly direct debits.