How safe is transferring money into premium bonds?

[ssd]

I've got savings id like to put into bonds but I'm nervous transferring a large amount online. You read so many horror stories if daft folk like me sending money to a fake account. I don't know how to check an account is real or not and its putting me off opening a premium bonds thingy.
Anyone got advice?

I know once its 8n there its covered up to 85000, thats not the problem. The problem is transferring the money safely from my account into premium bonds online.

I opened a premium bonds account (National Savings and Investment) last year and put £25 mostly to test it - my savings are elsewhere currently. Why don’t you open an account via the official website and put a small amount in first. You’ll get a letter through the post with your NSI number etc. When you’re comfortable that the small amount has been safely transferred and held, transfer the rest?

I don't have 85000.
Just to clarify.

I'm the same - I always transfer a small amount, then wait for I to show up in the account - then send the full amount on same details.

I actually have 10 pounds in bonds I've had over 40 years. Could I transfer my savings into this account. If I can find any details of it...

You can buy by post and send a cheque or buy over the phone with a debit card. They don’t accept credit card. Read here www.nsandi.com/products/premium-bonds

Yes you will be able to use your existing account.

NS&I do a lot of stuff by post to ensure security.

You can only hold up to 50 000 even if you did have more! It's very safe. If you want to be be certain do as others a=have suggested and do a test run for a low amount first. Once you know it has transferred safely then add the rest. Just so you know, the money will not be entered into the prize draw for a month, so the best time to buy new ones is right at the end of the current month if you are (highly unlikely) getting a decent rate of interest where you currently have you cash saved.

You can only put £50,000 into Premium bonds. One way to be sure it’s working correctly is that you first open an account, link in your bank account, and transfer in a smaller amount (eg £100) using your online banking. Then, you verify that it is really there through any or all of the following ways:
-log in and see your balance
-call NS&I customer service
-wait for postal confirmation from NS&I (I think you get one but am not totally sure about this one)

After you are comfortable that your money is in the right place, then you send the rest, using the same online banking details that you used to send the first £100.

The big advantage of NS&I is that if you have more than £85k, you can Also open a Direct Saver account and put in much more, and still have it backed by HM Treasury, because NS&I is fully government-backed, unlike any bank.

Hope this helps,

You can buy premium bonds with your debit card

Just buy from the official website using a debit card. Probably less risky than trying to arrange a bank transfer (and getting a number wrong).

Yes, agreed, the debit card is the way to do the transfer.

The risk would be if you ended up entering hour debit card on a spoof website. But looking for the and using a reputable search engine to identify the correct URL should guard against that.

I did what PP mentioned, transfer a small amount first, once it went through properly I transferred more of a chunk

When I did it, I paid on debit card, but when I cashed it out, it arrived back as a cheque. So just a heads up there.

Also, having premium bonds will affect your jobseekers allowance, even if it's only £500 worth. So when I signed on years ago, I had to get rid of my premium bonds before I went on JSA.

And just for the record, £500 worth didn't earn me a single penny in the 5 years that I had it.

Its very easy to do on the Premium Bonds website - www.nsandi.com/products/premium-bonds - just pay with your debit card, its all very secure. As others have said wait until the end of the month though to buy them as you have to hold them for a full calendar month before they are entered into the draw (best time to do it is end of Jan as Feb is shortest month!)

They will pay prizes directly into your bank account or if you need to cash in it can all be done on the website - very easy and all done within a few days so almost instant access to your money.

My experience has been that we receive prizes most months on our holding of £20,000. Although these havent been anything more than the lowest £25 ones. Looking back at the bank account we have received £250 in prizes over the past year which is just over 1% return on investment so around what a savings account would give. Of course we live in hope that one day we will get one of the bigger prizes - the odd £250,000 wouldnt go amiss!