Barclays Wealth Sterling deposit account

Quandary

Hey folks,

Like many Irish people worried about their savings, I would like to move some of my money into a Sterling denominated savings account. I currently have a Rabodirect account and of course my AIB account. I have set these accounts up in such a way that I can move any sum of money between them within a 24hr notice period.

I am now looking to open a Barclays Wealth Sterling based savings account, hopefully providing me with another safety net. Having spoken to the account creation department, it seems very straight forward to open the account even though I am not a UK resident.

Has anyone here any experiences or opinions on this? I am fully aware that financial advice is strictly prohibited according to the forum charter; just looking to hear peoples thoughts/opinions!

bailes

Hiya,

I fully agree with what you are trying to achieve. by diversifying your risk it secures your deposits further however i'm not sure about a Sterling Account as your method.

You are opening up a major threat to Exchange rate fluctuations and the value of your investment will fluctuate accordingly. some might say that their is an upside to this as your investment could rise but with the euro the way it is at the moment this could prove very volatile.

They should be able to hold the money in a Euro account, make sure your investment is within the Guaranteed limits €50,000 i think!!!!

Quandary wrote: »

Hey folks,

Like many Irish people worried about their savings, I would like to move some of my money into a Sterling denominated savings account. I currently have a Rabodirect account and of course my AIB account. I have set these accounts up in such a way that I can move any sum of money between them within a 24hr notice period.

I am now looking to open a Barclays Wealth Sterling based savings account, hopefully providing me with another safety net. Having spoken to the account creation department, it seems very straight forward to open the account even though I am not a UK resident.

Has anyone here any experiences or opinions on this? I am fully aware that financial advice is strictly prohibited according to the forum charter; just looking to hear peoples thoughts/opinions!

earlyevening

I recommend a euro denominated account in Nationwide International, based on the Isle of Man. It ticks all the boxes.

phormium

Had a look at them, I see they are same stable as Nationwide UK, would this mean that overall guaranteed amount would be affected by existing Nationwide UK account in Ireland or would they be separate?

Quandary

I am currently in the process of opening the account. My account is London based and Barclays have confirmed all deposits are covered by the UK Financial Services Compensation Scheme guarantee, up to a maximum of 85,000 GBP.

They have been excellent to deal with and setting up the account has so far been a doddle!

eclectichoney

Hi Quandry
Which account did you go for? Is it the iBank Saver account? There seem to be a few different ones. Can you open it via post or did you have to visit the UK?
Thanks

earlyevening

phormium wrote: »

Had a look at them, I see they are same stable as Nationwide UK, would this mean that overall guaranteed amount would be affected by existing Nationwide UK account in Ireland or would they be separate?

It wouldnt be affected by deposits in Ireland covered by Irish deposit insurance. It would be covered up to 50k stg by the equivalent Isle of Man deposit guarantee.

http://www.nationwideinternational.com/home_files/scheme.htm

Quandary

eclectichoney wrote: »

Hi Quandry
Which account did you go for? Is it the iBank Saver account? There seem to be a few different ones. Can you open it via post or did you have to visit the UK?
Thanks

Nope, didn't have to go to the UK at all. The whole thing can be done over the phone and via post. After speaking to the onboarding team, I went for the ibank plus account.

You should give them a call, they are very professional and helpful and will talk you through all the options.

I'm not posting the links here just in case it contravenes the forum charter but I will pm them to you if you like. Alternatively, you can just google Barlcays wealth and get the contact details that way!

Quandary

earlyevening wrote: »

It wouldnt be affected by deposits in Ireland covered by Irish deposit insurance. It would be covered up to 50k stg by the equivalent Isle of Man deposit guarantee.

http://www.nationwideinternational.com/home_files/scheme.htm

If you chose a London based account then you will be guaranteed for up t0 85k sterling - if you're lucky enough to have that much

earlyevening

Quandary wrote: »

If you chose a London based account then you will be guaranteed for up t0 85k sterling - if you're lucky enough to have that much

Yes, but a sterling account introduces exchange fees and a currency risk, something I couldnt accept.

London based, euro denominated accounts I researched had high fees and costs so I settled for the IOM a/c I mentionned.

You are optimistic on the currency risk and accept the exchange rate fees??

Quandary

earlyevening wrote: »

Yes, but a sterling account introduces exchange fees and a currency risk, something I couldnt accept.

London based, euro denominated accounts I researched had high fees and costs so I settled for the IOM a/c I mentionned.

You are optimistic on the currency risk and accept the exchange rate fees??

I've been advised by Barclays that provided i am willing to deposit a certain amount, I can get a very competitive exchange rate. I should be hearing back from them next week so I will be ironing out any kinks with them before I move any sum of money.

I wont be locking my money into any long term deposits with them, and will be able to withdraw any amount with one business day notice. This of course means that I will be getting quite a poor interest rate in comparison with a FTD but my objective is to safeguard my money.

Like I mentioned in my OP, this is merely a "way out" in case something horribly drastic starts to happen in this country!

dev100

Quandary wrote: »

Hey folks,

Like many Irish people worried about their savings, I would like to move some of my money into a Sterling denominated savings account. I currently have a Rabodirect account and of course my AIB account. I have set these accounts up in such a way that I can move any sum of money between them within a 24hr notice period.

I am now looking to open a Barclays Wealth Sterling based savings account, hopefully providing me with another safety net. Having spoken to the account creation department, it seems very straight forward to open the account even though I am not a UK resident.

Has anyone here any experiences or opinions on this? I am fully aware that financial advice is strictly prohibited according to the forum charter; just looking to hear peoples thoughts/opinions!

Usually when people ask the price of something it means they cant afford it but here goes does this account apply to people with a decent amount of money or did they give you a minimum amount to place into the account Sounds like a stupid question excuse my ignorance

Quandary

dev100 wrote: »

Usually when people ask the price of something it means they cant afford it but here goes does this account apply to people with a decent amount of money or did they give you a minimum amount to place into the account Sounds like a stupid question excuse my ignorance

Not at all!

The minimum amount seems to be 5k Sterling. If ya google Barclays Wealth, and then look into International clients/International current account, you will see all the options available.

dev100

Quandary wrote: »

Not at all!

The minimum amount seems to be 5k Sterling. If ya google Barclays Wealth, and then look into International clients/International current account, you will see all the options available.

Its a sad day when I have to start thinking what will I do with my money if the place goes up swanny. What makes me fearful is that they ve started on the pension and what may be next. Tolling the roads is another act of desperation But anyway that s getting off the point. Thanks for informative post

earlyevening

Quandary wrote: »

I've been advised by Barclays that provided i am willing to deposit a certain amount, I can get a very competitive exchange rate. I should be hearing back from them next week so I will be ironing out any kinks with them before I move any sum of money.

I wont be locking my money into any long term deposits with them, and will be able to withdraw any amount with one business day notice. This of course means that I will be getting quite a poor interest rate in comparison with a FTD but my objective is to safeguard my money.

Like I mentioned in my OP, this is merely a "way out" in case something horribly drastic starts to happen in this country!

A few points,

1 Regardless of how good the rate is, you will lose at leaat 1%, prob 2-3 % moving into sterling and the same loss moving back to euro.
2 In the event of anything awful happening to the euro, you wont have 24hrs. It will be instantaneous. We will all wake up and be told that from 9am we have a new currency or whatever.. SImilarly if deposits in ROI accounts are going to suffer a haircut, it will be instant. They would gain nothing by giving people 24hrs notice (not even 24mins notice - they're would be total panic!)

Brings me back to a foreign domiciled euro account - you should ask Barclays about details of this. Its more suitable for what you are trying to achieve IMO.

earlyevening

dev100 wrote: »

Its a sad day when I have to start thinking what will I do with my money if the place goes up swanny. What makes me fearful is that they ve started on the pension and what may be next. Tolling the roads is another act of desperation But anyway that s getting off the point. Thanks for informative post

You should be mindful that Denmark have applied a haircut on deposits over 100k in two of their banks. Its not unheard of.

Quandary

earlyevening wrote: »

A few points,

1 Regardless of how good the rate is, you will lose at leaat 1%, prob 2-3 % moving into sterling and the same loss moving back to euro.
2 In the event of anything awful happening to the euro, you wont have 24hrs. It will be instantaneous. We will all wake up and be told that from 9am we have a new currency or whatever.. SImilarly if deposits in ROI accounts are going to suffer a haircut, it will be instant. They would gain nothing by giving people 24hrs notice (not even 24mins notice - they're would be total panic!)

Brings me back to a foreign domiciled euro account - you should ask Barclays about details of this. Its more suitable for what you are trying to achieve IMO.

Cheers for the suggestion, I will definitely look into it.

Also, I agree with you that if something drastic happens it will be practically instant, but realistically, if i felt we were anywhere near on the verge of something like that happening I would be moving my money right now, and all of it!

As it stands im just creating options for myself for the future. You can't put a price on piece of mind

earlyevening

Quandary wrote: »

Cheers for the suggestion, I will definitely look into it.

Also, I agree with you that if something drastic happens it will be practically instant, but realistically, if i felt we were anywhere near on the verge of something like that happening I would be moving my money right now, and all of it!

As it stands im just creating options for myself for the future. You can't put a price on piece of mind

I definitely agree on planning for these possibilities - just as I said, moving into sterling introduces new costs/fees etc, and London based a/s were more expensive than Nationwide Int. The disadv with my solution (as u pointed out) is the lower deposit guarantee...but I accepted that.

Anyway, lets hope it works out for all of us!

eclectichoney

Thanks for the info guys!
What currency would a Barclays UK euro account convert to if the euro is dissolved though??

Quandary

eclectichoney wrote: »

Thanks for the info guys!
What currency would a Barclays UK euro account convert to if the euro is dissolved though??

I actually asked them this exact question only yesterday. In the event of a complete collapse, any savings in Euro denominated accounts with Barclays will automatically be converted to a mixture of US dollars and GB Sterling.

eclectichoney

Guys I got communication today from Barclays that only Barclays Wealth Accounts are available for non-residents and these are all based offshore so not covered by the UK Deposit Protection sceheme.. So maybe double check!

Quandary

eclectichoney wrote: »

Guys I got communication today from Barclays that only Barclays Wealth Accounts are available for non-residents and these are all based offshore so not covered by the UK Deposit Protection sceheme.. So maybe double check!

Hey,

They have based my account in London and have confirmed it is fully state guaranteed up to 85K sterling.

I contacted http://www.fscs.org.uk/ and they also confirmed the accounts are covered.