On the 2nd of February first direct (firstdirect.com) launched a new best buy offset tracker mortgage which tracks the Bank of England base rate plus 1.89% (currently 2.39%).
The mortgage requires a 65% loan to value and has an arrangement fee of £999.
It must be pointed out that research from first direct shows that many home-owners still do not understand the benefits of offsetting .
Actually, just two of them in 10 (21 per cent) see offsets as a way they can save money on their mortgage. And close to half (48 per cent) admit they don’t understand the basic principle.
The key features of first direct’s offset tracker mortgages are:
- financial benefit of offsetting any credit balances against the mortgage
- customers don’t receive interest on their linked savings with an offset Mortgage, instead reducing the amount of interest on their borrowings, they don’t have to pay tax on their savings
- ability to move the mortgage to a new property, as many times as they like without any product fees
- ability to redraw funds at the same rate throughout the term of the mortgage, back to the original mortgage limit
- minimum loan size is £30,000
- the flexibility to make unlimited overpayments in either lump sums or regular payments
- available for both purchase and remortgage
Santander (santander.co.uk) is currently offering the online savings account Santander eSaver (Issue 2).
This online savings account grants an interest rate of 2.50% gross/AER (variable) for 12 months, after which the standard interest rate of 0.50% gross/AER (variable) applies.
Interest is calculated daily and received monthly or annually.
Santander eSaver can be opened with just £1 and, being an online savings account, it allows instant access 24 hours a day 7 days a week.
Earlier this week Barclays (barclays.com) has unveiled an important new enhancement to its mobile phone banking service.
Actually, Barclays has made a further enhancement to its mobile phone banking service which will allow customers to make payments to third parties.
The first UK bank to offer this facility, Barclays’ latest addition to the service means that customers can pay funds to existing or new beneficiaries that have been set up on online banking.
An interface has been developed specifically for viewing over a mobile phone, making it simpler, faster and easier for customers to do their banking whilst on the move.
Barclays mobile phone banking service was launched in May 2009 and receives approximately a million visits from mobile devices per month.
In addition to the new payments service, Barclays customers visiting www.barclays.mobi can also view balances, mini-statements and make transfers between their accounts.
Barclays’ mobile services have been developed to operate on all of the main mobile platforms, which means that all customers including those with Apple, HTC, Nokia, Motorolla, Blackberry and all other internet-enabled mobile phones can access these services.
Barclays customers can register for online and mobile banking by visiting www.barclays.co.uk.
