National Savings and Investments

...keep having a go at National Savings & Investments, but it’s not that I’m prejudiced – it’s that they’re less than generous with some of their products. I used to tell people and particularly higher rate tax payers what excellent value this investment provided. Unfortunately they seem to have realised and the returns offered have fallen. Let me explain to you how Index-Linked Savings Certificates work. You need a minimum investment of £100 and the ...
...did you? This is National Savings!) but it is tax-free. At the moment the Two Year Bond pays Index-linking plus 0.5% AER and the Five Year Bond pays Index-linking plus1% AER. Although it looks as though the 2 year Bond is a good bet there’s no guarantee that you’ll get the same or better deal at the end of the two years, so the 5 year Bond is better if you feel that interest rates are likely to continue falling and they’ve fallen again this week ...

SueMagee 06.02.2003 · Read full review
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Review of National Savings and Investments

...reading the prospectus for the National Savings Ordinary Account and it’s the funniest thing I’ve read in a while. Now I don’t normally find such things funny, but this has to be read to be believed. I’d better give you a bit of background so that you can appreciate the joke as well, hadn’t I? This is the basic Instant Access Account provided by the Post Office. You get a passbook. “Keep track of your savings with your passbook” says the prospectus, ...
...you have to apply to National Savings in Glasgow and this, the prospectus says, can take a few days. You go to your Post Office and ask for a withdrawal form and pre-addressed envelope (not pre-paid then, one assumes?) You then send the completed form and passbook to Glasgow. They then send you either a crossed warrant (i.e. a cheque) or you can ask to collect the money in cash at a named Post Office. You think that’s ridiculous, don’t you? Well, ...

SueMagee 18.09.2001 · Read full review
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Review of National Savings and Investments

...When I opened my National Savings Cash mini ISA in September 2001, the rate on offer was a healthy 5.2%. At the time this compared pretty favourably with anything else out there. As we know interest rates have fallen over the intervening period, and the current rate on offer from the good folks in Durham is just 3.8%. To borrow a catchphrase from Bargain Hunt, if you shop around you’ll soon realise this is not “on the money.” Read the papers, I’ve ...
...redeeming features? Well firstly National Savings and Investments unique selling point is that its’ backed by HM Treasury. You are exceedingly unlikely to loose your money, full stop. Secondly, it’s pretty convenient to set up and operate the savings account. You can pick up an application form at any Post Office, or request a form over the phone. In researching this opinion I checked the website and there was also a facility to set up an account ...

argyle_dave 26.05.2003 · Read full review
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Review of National Savings and Investments

I opened my National Savings Cash mini ISA in January 2002 with just £10 (the minimum payment). A mini cash ISA allows you to pay in up to £3000 a year, and the interest you earn on it is tax free! At the time of writing, the interest rate on my National Savings ISA is 4.15%pa, and the interest earned is paid out annually. Accessing the account is relatively straightforward. Money is paid in by post, telephone (with a debit card), at the post office ...
...least with a name like National Savings you know your money is safe! The only real disadvantage I have found with this account is that it cannot be accessed online but hopefully National Savings will consider this in the not too distant future. As well as ISA's, National Savings can offer Premium Bonds, Ordinary and Investment accounts, Childrens Bonds, Income Bonds and Savings Certificates, to name but a few. I would definitely recommend National ...

natfox 08.06.2002 · Read full review
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Review of National Savings and Investments

...year into. First off, National Savings offer the only Cash ISA backed by a Treasury guarantee. I admit, the chances of your capital vanishing in most other Cash ISAs is very, very slim, but if you're planning to keep the cash in your ISA account building up compound interest for years or even decades, it's nice to know that the only way your capital can be at risk is if HM Treasury runs out of money. NS doesn't have the best interest rate out there. ...
...my room looking for my National Insurance number, it would probably have been less than a minute. Making payments into the account is also easy, you just take your paying in book to a Post Office and you can pay cash or a a cheque straight in. If you want to chase the best interest rates and constantly move your money to realise its full potential, then this account isn't worth a look. If you just want to throw a few hundred quid into an account ...

spiffo 11.05.2001 · Read full review
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Review of National Savings and Investments

...place to go to purchase National Savings products. But did you also know that you can now operate some bank accounts through the Post Office? If you have a personal current account with any of the following - Barclays; Lloyds TSB; Co-Op Bank; Cahoot; Smile; and, of course, Alliance and Leicester, you can cash cheques and deposit funds at your local Post Office.To cash a cheque, simply write it out as normal to Cash or Self and present your chequebook ...
...cashed up to the limit of your card.) To deposit cash, just fill in your personal inpayment slip and hand it over with your deposit; the clerk will stamp your book as a receipt. If you wish to deposit cheques you will need to obtain a paying-in envelope from your bank, and enclose the cheque along with your completed inpayment slip and hand the clerk the sealed envelope. The service is secure and quick,and there is no charge. As more and more bank ...

Suzan 10.12.2000 · Read full review
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Review of National Savings and Investments

...uses as a base for distributing benefits and as an investment-bank (throught the National Savnigs Bank) are a distinct and necessary advantage in British society. But is there any general feeling that, being govenment-funded, the Post Office could pose a threat to banks and what building societies still remain? ...

Satirist 10.08.2000 · Read full review
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Review of National Savings and Investments