Northern Rock Accounts > Reviews > Postal accounts faster than E

Author's product rating:   

Product package
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Advantages:	instant access * , 6 . 5% interest, £1 min bal . opens faster than you think !  !
Disadvantages:	none that I can see so far .  .

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

What!!! I hear you say..postal banking faster than e-banking.. read on. I guarantee this is not an account to be taken lightly!!
I am familiar with Northern Rock's products and services through having a mortgage with Northern Rock so I decided to check out their savings rates. One reason that prompted me to look into postal savings is due to the sheer slackness of some of the e-bankings accounts I have used recently (see my opinions on internet banking).

I have been with Northern Rock since 1993 (prior to their conversion) and they have always offered fantastic rates on both mortgages and savings. It is now in a more favourable position as it has become one of the UK's 11th largest banks offering high performance products by using cost effective methods..read on…see how.

Since the conversion of Northern Rock BS to PLC in 1997 it has introduced a whole range of NEW and competitive SAVINGS Plans and mortgages. They launched a new range of telephone and postal savings accounts called “Save direct” which are operated via a call centre, not branch based, hence cutting down costs of branches/ and offering the benefits to the customer.

You will be amazed to learn how effective the range of Northern Rock’s Save Direct savings plan really are, starting from just £1 you can earn 6.0% gross with instant access.

The save direct savings account is a postal/Telephone account (hey!! Don’t worry it is very quick to open** and is definitely quicker to open than a Nationwide internet e-savings account -see my opinion on Nationwide E-Savings for details.)** I telephoned them and got an application pack within 3 days, and within a week my new account was open. Simple. No fussing, no endless e-mail messages trying to track your application such as some internet accounts.

I opted for the Save direct's "Base rate tracker" account (6.5% gross)which basically 'guarantees' an interest rate that is no lower than UK Bank Base Rate, as an introductory bonus they offered me an additional 1.0% gross on top of 6.0% gross, that was till May 2000, now that has expired the additional bonus is 0.5%, making a total interest rate of 6.5% gross instant access* on balances from only £1 upwards.

This is great, usually in order to earn higher interest rates such as these you either:

a)have to have a huge bank balance in the region of £10K or
b) be prepared to store you cash away for ages!!

With your application pack you are given some pre-paid 1st Class envelopes should you wish to post cheques into your account or vice versa, if you wish to take money out of your account. This is only one method, a faster method of paying money into your Northern Rock savings account would be to set up a standing order, if you wish to make regular payments. Also when you wish to take money out, you can arrange an automatic bank transfer to your current bank account, for example. There are no extra charges for this facility. The telephone line uses a local call rate number (0845) and is available 24hours a day, the operator is available from from 8am-8pm. The automated service options, for which you need a pin no. are available 24hours where you can check balances, make withdrawals to your nominated bank account (e.g current account), get details of your last 5 transactions, inform of change of address etc etc.

*the save direct account allows you to make upto 6 withdrawals per year, which is fairly reasonalble, as most of the others only allow one withdrawal per year!!*

Its main function is a savings account, so its ideal to save for something and then transfer automatically to your current account.

Overall, I am very impressed with this telephone based postal banking service its has proved to be quicker than internet banking(in some instances!!!)

In SUMMARY: I can say great fast service LOW BALANCE (£1+) HIGH INTEREST RATE, Instant access*, no fuss or communication problems.