6.49% variable , includes 1 year bonus of 1.24% , easy access..........

http://www.northernrock.co.uk/savings/index2.htm

Is it just me, or is this an odd use of the word 'guarantee':



So, they 'guarantee' to honour some deal (a deal, incidentally, that doesn't sound that wonderful anyway) until they decide they won't...

That's a guarantee?

Well, in that case, I guarantee to pay £1000 to the next person to reply to this thread*.

*Unless I decide not to bother...

I highligted this in my opening post , but beware it says guaranteed to be no more than 0.50% below BOE base rate the base rate is currently 5.25 , so with the first year bonus of 1.24% this makes up to the 6.49% , which looks good , but....

It reads to me that they are setting a trap to get savers in then sneakily drop the rate to 0.50 BELOW base to 4.75 then plus 1.24% bonus = 5.99% . And this is not taking into account any further rate cuts from the BOE .
Am i correct to assume this ??

As long as it's an instant-access account with no penalty clauses for withdrawing your money/closing the account, then it's hard to see how it could be a trap.

Usually, if there are withdrawal penalties on a specific account, then there are also specific interest rate guarantees and periods for that account. It's hard to imagine they could get anyone to commit to anything other than instant access with a non-guarantee like the one they're giving.

Thanx Ologhai , i do know all that though , i have enough accounts all over the place .
NR have poorly worded it all by the looks of it , they say it tracks the base rate and guarantees to be base or above until Jan 2010 BUT then in the terms they write .........

With Tracker Online, the interest rate is variable and guaranteed to be no lower than 0.50% below the UK Bank Base Rate until further notice*.

This implies it might go DOWN to 0.50% BELOW base hence my thoughts on a trap . I phonend them up , you can open immediatly on line and deposit money same day , they are desperate for cash , usually it takes 2/3 weeks from applying to having cash in a on line account as you have to wait for them to send you password and user name seperatly .

I was pretty close to putting money into one of these accounts last week but suspect they'll be dropping the interest rate very soon - and quite possibly by more than 0.25%. T&Cs say something about changing interest rates within 30 days of a BoE decision. And the other thing that doesn't sit so well is the fact that a nationalised bank is sitting at the top of the best buy tables.

For the record the account was set-up instantly online, had to wait three or so business days to get the password through the post. Not too shabby, although the Java-applet based online application form is a bit odd.

Set 2 up yesterday his & hers , sent a quid to each this morning , that should show up Sat. morning , then on Monday i'll send to large wedges to each , not to worried about NR the government is desperate to show the world it can save this bank , even the call centre is open 7 days .

Wasn't impressed with the new website it's clearly been hurriedly done , agree with the applet , pathetic , also my application gave me my account number , but i had to phone for the NR sort code , you would of thought that would of been given that when i got the acc. no's. Also my OP was because they didn't explain the interest rate guarantee well on the web site , since had it confirmed it will track base till Jan 2010 plus the 12 month bonus makes it worth it to me , poured a lot into various 12 month bonds around 6 months ago when the rates were really high cos of the libor .

I was just nosing around NR's website looking for a customer login page. I found this login menu page, but I notice it doesn't mention fixed-rate bonds.

If you're a NR customer who only has (a) fixed-rate bond(s) with them, is there no way to log on -- even if it's just for reassurance that everything is as it should be?

Fixed rate bonds, or at least the recent Fixed-rate Access Bonds, were not online accounts. When I took mine out at the local branch, they told me that I wouldn't be able to access it online, only by post or at the branch.

I'm tempted by this account as well - but the questions is: do I trust the government? And that is a resounding NO. So what to do?

I've stuck my house deposit in NS&I instant access account because of my paranoia. Am I mad?

NS&I is also the government .

So NR it is then.

Both quids already showing up this Friday morning , so took less than 48 hours .Recieved letters of confirmation of accounts yesterday . Although i hate to say it , very quick and efficiant so far by NR .
Will send 2 torpeados packed with cash on Monday via bacs , should hit NR accounts on Wednesday morning .

Depending in the size of the torpedoes, CHAPS may be better, more than paid for itself in my case.

Good tip there Mr Oldie , TBH i'd forgotten about chaps , did do a chaps once when it worth it , only worth doing if i send just one torpeado which might do . Nationwide charge a score but you get 2 days extra Net interest this way , borderline case here , as i'm only putting what i call a medium amount into NR .

Incidently , all cash is guaranteed with NR regardless of the amount , and theres a 3 month warning if this was to change .............. of course if theres a financial meltdown .......................

I set one of these up 2 weeks ago, sent my cheque in and I have heard NOTHING. I already have 30K with them in a bond so are not impressed at all.

I did two CHAPS payments from Sainsburys @ £18 each, bargain . I always allow four to five days for BACS as it can take that time if you're unlucky, CHAPS is same day. I phoned the NR branch and asked them to phone me when funds arrived and had a call back about four hours later .


I think the Treasury guarantee puts the risk on a par with NS&I and Gilts. For increased safety I would perhaps go for CHF 'under the mattress' (unless you get burgled or the house burns down ), but I'm happy with our NR 6.9% Access Bonds at the moment. All of our accounts (currently GBP & EUR) are instant access so we can change plans quickly if necessary. There is no 100% safe option as far as I know, all currencies, banks, precious metals, property etc have their risks.

both are the govt as you now know!


Anyway, if there was financial meltdown, it'd be ta ta wherever the money is. If it were a banking collapse, then surely the govt's own accounts would have the best chance of giving you something back than the private banks?

I may go in to NR too, with instant access it can always be pulled out (run or no run!) if they drop the interest rates unfairly.

Done the just the one chaps yesterday , logged into NR late afternoon saw the cash there , just lumped it all into one NR account as the "guarantee" currently covers all cash ammounts at the mo . I always put safety before that tiny bit of extra interest , NR is my 3rd biggest holding , NSI index link certs is my bigest , the way you can criss/cross the same issues via trusts is very good and they have outperformed all cash accounts , there enoughs in them certs to buy a nice house , 2nd biggest holding is Nationwide, fixed ISA's and bonds they done end last year at 6.75% plus other stuff , plus got about 4 other banks with various amounts in , not to mention a pile of share , funds and bond stuff.......flipping part time job monitoring all this Anyway thanx for the tip .

Off topic a bit here , but i noticed a while back that the fan club had removed the list , shame really cos that list was the funniest thing there