Banking / savings help

[TaupePanda]

Two things really...

The first one is to see if anyone knows if Nationwide charges a fee to move a large amount of money out of an account and close the account down. I have tried the chatbot (I wanted to scream) and looked on the internet (not clear answer) and tried calling (apparently they aren't answering today).

Second thing is, where are people finding good savings rates for larger sums? A lot of accounts seem to have an upper limit of £100k and we need to deposit more. However, we need access to it as we may finally find the house we want and buy. If we don't, I would like it to earn a decent amount. I've been looking at lesser known banks but lots don't allow for a joint account. I have basically come to the end of my patience with researching what I. thought would be a fairly simple thing.

Any help most appreciated.

Thanks

Only £85k is backed by government guarantee. I'd put that amount into one account and rest in different account.

If its a joint account then it is doubled up. So, we can get away with having 2 joint accounts rather than many single accounts. I definitely want to avoid that, as we are not really admin people and I just know it will end in a headache

You just open lots of accounts and put £85,000 in each to keep FSCS protection.

NS&I is unlimited protection as its government protected.

I less you're closing a notice or fixed term account outside of the account conditions you'll never be charged for withdrawing your own money.

Is that a factor here?

Bank transfers do tend to have fees attached; the system you can operate yourself for online banking generally has a daily limit (which can vary between banks and accounts, I've seen £20k £25k and £50k although the latter may have been a business account). For a larger one-off transfer you might arrange a CHAPS payment which has a fee ? £30 or thereabouts?

I'm not certain what happens when fixed term accounts close, I think there won't be a charge if the money goes to an account nominated when the fixed term was first taken out.

I tend to use moneysavingexpert to find a shortlist of potential savings accounts (am helping an elderly relative manage their savings).

I transferred a large isa from nationwide to another provider and it took 3 weeks to transfer. No charges.

Thanks all. I finally got through to Nationwide (5 calls later) who confirmed they do charge a fee for transactions over a certain amount, out of pretty much any account other than a fixed term (which isn't what we have) or an ISA (also not what we have).

Having researched this, I actually am not sure that what we are looking for is available. It seems anyone offering good rates are online / new banks that don't offer joint accounts. More traditional banks don't offer very good rates. So it's ease and efficiency or lots of admin on lots of accounts but a better return. A problem for another day I think...

My (rather well off) friend has a lot of savings in cash. I would second the comment above that you might want to consider spreading it around between multiple banks so as to ensure you are covered by the £85k FSCS protection. Although it is a little extra hassle (because you need to onboard with more banks) these days the onboarding process for most new banks is really quick.

That aside, my friend has put a decent amount with Marygold & Co (with the underlying savings account provided by Griffin Bank, which is covered by FSCS up to £85k) precisely because they have no upper limit on deposits and pay decent interest. But just note that any balances over £85k are not covered by the government guarantee scheme.

NS&I would be my choice

I’ve also used Marygold Savings myself but for different reasons. I wanted the extra protection from the 7 day withdrawal delay they offer so I don’t need to worry about being scammed or losing money after phone theft.

Can you split it in half and open two savings accounts, one in each of your names? Atom Bank have a good rate at the moment, easy access, and it’s very easy to open an account. I think it’s called Fixed Reward Saver.

When I last looked into it very few places offered joint savings accounts and those which did didn’t offer a good rate.

What about a device like flagstone or insignis? They spread your cash across multiple accounts keeping you below the 85k limit but you only have to log into their portal. I’m not sure if they do joint accounts but if not just split it and open an account each.

Barclay's ISA is very good, as it allows you to make 3 withdrawals per annum, without penalty. Only up to 10% of the balance though. You can also add to it any time (up to the personal allowance of £20k obvs). Rate is 4.1%.

NS&I are good for larger sums, as you can invest up to £2m, but, you would need to leave it for at least a year. When I get my pension lump sum, I'll be putting it into an NS&I bond.