State Savings Rates Cut: Full Details

The Ghoul said:
Somewhat off topic comment, I've just noticed the following text in the new Solidarity bond brochure.



Does this also apply to the savings certs and bonds?

I never considered this - I thought that the State Savings limits were per product, not per product issue.
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They are per product issue.
 
The 10 year bond still looks fairy good compared to what else is out there at this moment ,but what are the chances of interest rates doubling in the next 5 or 6 years and trapping you in a 10 year bond with a rate that is not so great anymore?
 
slumdogz said:
The 10 year bond still looks fairy good compared to what else is out there at this moment ,but what are the chances of interest rates doubling in the next 5 or 6 years and trapping you in a 10 year bond with a rate that is not so great anymore?
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There is no simple answer as to the direction of rates over the next 10 years. It is a very long time horizon and difficult to forecast that far into the future.
 
I am angry at finding out only today, on receipt of the annual statement, that "deposit account plus" is down to 1% from 3% since 16/12/12, and I was not notified of a change that will cost me a lot.

How dare An Post/NTMA treat us so high handedly? Only there is a politeness requirement on this site I would vent a lot more.

But now my anger is focusing - what chances of a challenge via the financial ombudsman? Are we mad to trust them? Maybe gold seems a better bet even at its present price. FWIW I don't own any gold so am not touting just thinking.
 
It is normal for banks to give 2 months advance notice for rate changes on instant access and notice accounts. Normally. It does not always happen.

A rate change is typically put in a newspaper and not notified to each customer.

The NTMA did not give any major advance notice of the rate changes. They did place ads in the newspapers. They did not, like banks, give advise each customer.

Hence, what the NTMA did, by not notifying each customer, is reasonably normal. Not saying it is right.

Anyway, switch.
 
@ CiaranT thanks this is what I set them:

Dear Sirs
I have the above account jointly with my wife. I was happy enough
with the 3% interest rate before DIRT that it was earning. I was
dismayed on reading your leaflet the rate was reduced without direct
notification to us, to 1% on 16th December last. That represented a
gross reduction of about €40 p.w. since that date.

I am very dissatisfied at your lack of direct communication of the
reduction. I have lost faith in your reputation for fair dealing with
your savers. I have no interest in your other products, and wish to
make a formal complaint concerning your business conduct. I request
reinstatement of the interest rate to 3% pending account closure. I
request closure and full refund regardless of the outcome of this
complaint and request.

Failing a satisfactory resolution of my complaint, I intend to pursue
the matter further, specifically first making a complaint to the
financial ombudsman.

Kindly advise receipt by email, and advise your contact details by return,

Yours faithfully
 
@hhobbit fair play to you for speaking up against how banks fail to adequate efforts inform customers of rate changes. However, you have no chance of getting 3% applied post rate change. Time to switch.
 
I hope their reply to me will be interesting, likewise that of the ombudsman. I better advise them I intend to make public their reply. And in this day and age of dinternet there is no excuse for their poor communication, any reference to security would be a self serving PoS answer.
 
I don't think you have much chance of getting anywhere with your complaint.

But as general advice for anyone shopping around for rates, go the Deposit Best Buy threads on this site, use the "Thread Tools" menu at the top of the page to subscribe to the thread, and you will get e-mails whenever there are new posts.

Personally, I am only interested in the lump sums thread, and I am subscribed there. This mechanism works because Ciaran T religiously updates the thread with a notification any time any of the rates change, so let me take this opportunity to thank you very much indeed for this most valuable service.
 
Thanks for the kind words Dub_Nerd. Good to see that people are making use of the subscribe to thread feature to get updates.
 
Hi All,

I am a bit behind the times and have only just seen the rate change. I have a 3 year cert expiring in June and had intended topping it up and re-committing to another 3 years. I presume this will mean the cert gets re-issued so I get the lower rate? If you just roll your money over and re-invest, then its the new rate you get?

Thanks
 
boe said:
Hi All,

I am a bit behind the times and have only just seen the rate change. I have a 3 year cert expiring in June and had intended topping it up and re-committing to another 3 years. I presume this will mean the cert gets re-issued so I get the lower rate? If you just roll your money over and re-invest, then its the new rate you get?

Thanks
Click to expand...
Correct. Maturing cert finishes in June. You cannot rollover. Any new investment will be at new rate.
 
dub_nerd said:
But as general advice for anyone shopping around for rates, go the Deposit Best Buy threads on this site, use the "Thread Tools" menu at the top of the page to subscribe to the thread, and you will get e-mails whenever there are new posts.

Personally, I am only interested in the lump sums thread, and I am subscribed there. This mechanism works because Ciaran T religiously updates the thread with a notification any time any of the rates change, so let me take this opportunity to thank you very much indeed for this most valuable service.
Click to expand...

I have always found this thread very useful, I don't have much to save,but it's important to make the best of things. Well done,Ciaran T on your hard work here.
 
Couldnt Agree more. That thread is practically my entire financial plan. Its a great time saver and incredibly useful. Thanks Ciaran!
 
Thanks guys, glad you get use from the best buy threads. Any feedback to make the best buys better is welcome.
 
Yeah, thanks CiaranT. The best buys were particularly useful when interest rates seemed to be going up on a weekly basis despite low inflation. Great fun was had moving money around and rooting behind the sofa looking for spare cash to take advantage of new deposit rates!

Personally I used to be extremely lazy about shopping around for good rates, had 100k in a current account at one stage. AAM knocked that out of me.
 
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