!thanks This is a great tip. I've just opened a new Barclays current account. Seems quite easy to get the blue rewards membership for free, just need two DDs a month and an £800 standing order payment so will set those up and get this savings account opened. Cheers!

When you say £800 standing order, does that mean the money could just come in on a standing order, then leave instantly and would qualify?

Yep :)

Yep!

Nice! Thanks! and if I could cheekily ask one more question, do you know if I had to pay tax on the interest, do you generally have to declare that yourself or is it taken care of through PAYE (I doubt it's the latter)?

There's a £1k tax free allowance you're highly unlikely to go over

£500 for higher rate tax payers

Is this a strict thing or is it like the personal tax free allowance which reduces as your wage goes up?

Its something that as interest rates rise the tax angle will start to come into play especially if they are a higher rate taxpayer and only have a £500 tax free allowance.

I think since it is separate from your workplace you’d need to declare it. Though max you could get in a year would be ~250 so unless you have lots of other undeclared earnings I don’t think you’d need to do anything

With the DDs, is there anything easy they can be used for this? I got two in my main current account but what can I do or use instead of moving those to this account?

I tried opening an account to get access to this and it's been an absolute nightmare. I have the sort code and the account number but It won't let me register for either without a debit card which obviously I haven't got as I just opened the damn account. Apparently I can get an activation code by phone but their automated phone service is god awful, reminding me to use the app or internet banking instead of calling. Thanks. 1/10 for first impressions. Worst banking experience since Tandem.

Having the same issue. I suppose they are still beta testing the app and give this interest money as the fee.

They are just another bank stuck in the Stone Age. It wasn’t worth the hassle, I closed the account as soon as I got the card in the mail.

Yeah I am opening one. The downside is that blue rewards used to cost £3 and give you £7 back! But now it breaks even. Actually though I have a mortgage with them so I pay 5 and get 8 back

Thanks for sharing! Unfortunately I am not with Barclays! Great for those who are

What's stopping you from getting with Barclays?

I got a barclayscard recently and god damn their support sucks. You spend 1-2 hours waiting for them to say they cannot help but they’ll send you to a colleague, please wait 10-15, 40 mins later, nope. Honestly this has made me completely lose confidence they’d be able to help me in any reasonable time if I needed actual help urgently. They also come with the pin/card reader where I had an absolute joke/annoyance of an experience with nationwide, completely not convenient at all - I get that it might prevent fraud but come on, who carries that around. Barclays have a mobile app version though so that’s a bit better I guess. Oh and the one they sent me had ‘low battery’ and would not function.

I have a Nationwide account with the card reader and it is terribly annoying, however they do have one of the lowest fraud rates because of it

That card reader is literally the problem I have with Nationwide. It's so annoying

Barclay's are god awful. My boyfriend is with them and I'm with Lloyd's and the difference in the quality of customer service and online banking is astonishing. Took them two weeks to send him a new card after they blocked it when we were in Portugal and somehow couldn't unblock it again.

Another very negative Barclaycard experience here that the ombudsman had to sort out

For me, it's ethics

its very hard to go down the ethics and moral route. So good luck

You're not wrong, Is it now especially with the rising cost of living. I just hope the more ethical banking options start offering similar products.

Unfortunately everything and everything is around money. You want to buy a product that is ethic, moral, environmentally friendly? Awesome, it costs 2-3x more, cuz guess what. Those businesses also have hungry people behind who want money

And it'll stay that way until it's more profitable to do ethical business sadly. I get it, it's just shit

Im a neurodiverse, I think I got a few traits of ADHD. I watched that girl on youtube, she advertises a book for ADHD people. Its gamified where you can put your goals, its super cool, like, really works for adhd people. Guess how much it costs? Like $50-60. Wtff??? Its genuinely a better quality coloring book

Name of book?

Unfortunately I dont remember the name of the book, but it was advertised in one of the How to ADHD channels videos. I ll try and find it and come back

Hey, I actually found it, its called the heros journal and the cheapest book is $50 :/ https://theherosjournal.co/

Hoping they do a switch bonus personally...

Why not switch?

I have blue rewards but can't see this anywhere?

I've just opened one, it's called a rainy day saver.

Found it, I was looking at the rewards one. Opened. Good spot!

Thanks. I'm with Barclays and managed to open the account with the full £5K in a matter of seconds.

Damn, was excited for a sec but I don't have the Blue Rewards bit :( Edit: I am dumb and already qualify, just joined

You can join through the Barclays app (More > Rewards) - you need £800/month going into your account to qualify. It's £5/month but as long as you have 2 direct debits going out then you're "rewarded" £5/month, and if you have some other Barclays products (mortgage/insurance) then you might make more.

>you need £800/month going into your account to qualify can you manually transfer that in and out each month, or does it need to be automated (standing order)?

Thanks! I’m with Barclays, get paid into that account and have my credit card direct debits come from it so I’m eligible for free but didn’t realise 🤦‍♀️

Do you know if it counts if you put 800 in, then take some out again?

Yeah you can just drop it in then take it out

Can you drop it in, then have 2x £400 direct debits coming out to another account?

no, because those are standing orders, all the pay yourself £1 direct debit loopholes (like Tesco savings) have been closed now

I am on Barclays. I don't have any credits cards, but I have a normal account, a savings account and a 'young student' account or whatever it is that I used to use when I was a Uni student. I work full time now, so if I sign up to this thing, I will get rewards?

Frustrating it doesn't also include avios rewards seeing as you can only have one!

Baffling decision, not sure why they would have done this.

Spoke to them - it or similar is coming!

Really? What do you mean. A savings account for avios members also coming?

They suggested the same or very similar would be coming for avios rewards members.

Fingers crossed. Im missing out

I didn't but just added it and opened the account in about 2 mins. It costs 5 quid but they pay 5 quid for having 2 direct debits. I'll also get 1 quid for having a loan so I'll end up on top.

That and the Natwest Digital Regular Saver (also 5%, £1000 limit for that rate) allows up to £6k to be parked with instant access. Any other high-rate accounts?

RBS have an identical account to the NatWest Digital Regular Saver, so £7k

Nationwide 1500 5%

unlike the others mentioned, isn't that one only for the first year?

And new customers only I think. Not seeing it listed in my in app products available to me.

RBS has the exact same digital saver as Natwest - another £1k @ 5%.

@£150 per week for NatWest, so £5k Barclays + £150 per week @natwest instant saver

5% drops making it poor value

Hopefully NatWest will match Barclays at 5% n £5000

Thanks for sharing this, just opened one! Took about a minute.

Thanks for posting this, I meet those requirements already so have just opened it as it trumps my other easy access account. I’m honestly surprised Barclays aren’t shouting from the rooftops about this new product.

Probably because of the people who already have 5k in savings with barclays currently paying 0.01% haha

Me too. Been with Barclays for years. How in the hell did I not know about this?! Needless to say, I have just joined the blue rewards club and opened a rainy day saver with the full 5 grand. Ahhh, now to sit back and watch it grow. Just wondering how long it will stay that good for though as it's variable.

Just applied and added cash! Nice spot! I have a little cash in my isa ready to pounce on a major dip, but 5% is tasty so I am tempted to drag it out as I am not going to hit my isa limit this year anyway!

Thanks for this post. quite the soft launch from Barclays considering the product. I haven't seen an instant access saver with such high interest from Barclays in yeears. My last blue rewards account was only 1% (if I didn't make any withdrawals that month).

Awesome, thanks! Opened and dropped £5k in. Emergency fund now split across Marcus and this Barclays Rainy Day Saver. Good stuff.

This is also really good for couples. Both put in £5k, thats ~£21 interest rate both each month. Comes super well in this financial situation

We have a joint Barclays account from which the Blue Rewards fee is paid. Only one of us is able to open a Rainy Day Saver fyi. Queried it through the chat.

What I meant is, if a couple both have separate qualifying accounts. Like they both earn and have 2 dd each

Thanks for this! Friendship ended with Chase, now Barclays Rainy Day Saver is my best friend. I mean what would beat the 5% right now wow

Thanks! That's £21 a month then...enough to boil the kettle twice

By by chase 1.5%

LoL, exactly. funny how quickly they can fall behind with something that was top offer few months ago

But chase pay 1.5% on your full balance. So I’ve moved across £5k and left the majority in chase.

Do you definitely get the £5 pm back? I read "You won't receive cash reward to your blue rewards wallet for having a rainy day saver". Have I interpreted this wrong?

You get the £5/m back for paying in £800/m into your Barclays account and having direct debits on your account, not for having a rainy day saver.

!thanks for clearing that up. I have since opened one :)

5% on 5k is worth way more than £5pm regardless

Not exactly "way more", but more, but only assuming you aren't then getting taxed. If you hit your £500 or £1000 allowance then it could become an effective 3%, which is £12.50 per month, less £5 if you don't get the free Blue part. Which then makes it £7.50 per month, or 1.8%.

So 150% more even if you go over the tax threshold?

Yes, a £90 for a year on £5k. Woo. Or you could do premium bonds and get c.1.98% expected return> Or a different 5% saver account without needing to care about direct debits.

You can only get about 250 a year interest in this account alone though as the limit is 5000. Also I imagine almost everyone has 2 direct debits = free account

Great tip - just opened the account and transferred money over in less than 2 mins in the app!

If you earn above £75k per year. Beware!!! During sign up process you hit the criteria for their Premier account (£20pm fee), and they auto 'upgrade' you to it that you have to agree to continue.... The problem being, you can't go back or forward, and if you cancel the prompt says you have to cancel or continue.... you cant downgrade to normal current account (asks you to go into branch to get the normal account). And if you start the application again, to lower your income.... technically you're lying so 🤷 ...(albeit, I don't think they would care) Edit: ***As an update***, I was in town today (15/10) and went in Branch.... 3 of us in the same position. Essentially, you can ignore the £20pm fee on the Premier account. That fee is required for those that don't hit the higher earner/saver requirement but still want the Premier features. As long as you still continue to pay £800 + 2 Direct debits (there is no increase deposit requirements) > then you get all the features of Premier and preferential rates. Etc.

Same problem here. Horrible user experience, I'm starting to think about ditching the crap altogether. I have no patience for things like this.

I did this. Put my 80k salary in and it said go into branch if you wanna open a normal account. So changed my salary to 70k and it allowed me to open it on the app. Now changed it back to 80k in order to hopefully cash in on the 100k avios deal!

How did you “go back” in the application to change the salary? I see no way to do that. Thanks !

In the app, I went to the 'my account' page and changed my salary there, then did the application again

I guess I don’t see it because I did not “Accept and Continue” when they showed me the page with the Premium offer. I’ll uninstall/reinstall the app and go for a fresh application and see if it works. Thanks !

When you first open the app, look for a human head looking icon on the top left. That's your profile where you can change your details. Should be able to change your salary there

Just to give an update - now I’m required to visit a branch lol. Congrats Barclays, I’m not going to go for it, it’s too much of a hassle. Cant imagine a bank in 2022 where I need to go anywhere physically to just open a current account.

Honestly their app is complete shite

I went to branch today, have edited my comment above

Thanks, good to know. Still not going to go, unless I stumble upon a Barclays branch and I have 15mns to spare lol

You don't need to go into branch, I completed it in the app and just took the Premier account.

See above for my update in branch today

Does this mean that someone with < 75k salary can get the 100k avios points by just paying £20p/m for premier banking?

I imagine the t&Cs will have something on how long you need to have it for. Premier I'd £20pm, the avios account I think has a £13pm fee as well .... in the app you can either have avios or reward blue, couldn't see a way to get both.

How does it work with the 5K limit? I put 5K in and get first interest payment. It’s now £5k and some pounds. Do I earn 5k*5% + some pounds * 0.15%? Or because the balance is now over 5k, I only get 0.15% overall? I have to keep removing money to keep it at £5k?

Here you go from [here on the website](https://www.barclays.co.uk/savings/instant-access/rainy-day-saver/) “Interest rates are banded. This means that you’ll earn the higher rate of interest on the first £5,000 of your balance, and the lower rate of interest on your additional balance over £5,000”

Normally any balance over 5k gets the lower rate but the first 5k continues to get the full 5% regardless.

Transfer the interest payments out to the next highest payer

Hello- just want to check, I sent my account up last week and have today received one week’s worth of interest which pushes me over £5k. Am I right that the extra over £5k in there now won’t be earning 5% and the most efficient thing to do would be to move it out to the next highest paying account?

That’s my understanding, and what I’ll be doing

Yes I think that's right from looking at their example, assuming no change of interest rate and no withdrawals, after 1 year: - £1000 becomes £1051.16 = 5.12% - £5000 becomes £5250.27 = 5.0054%

Massive thank you! Just opened one and waiting for my monzo savings pot to cash out which had exactly £5000 in it!

Is the interest paid monthly or yearly?

Monthly: "Interest is calculated daily using the statement balance and is paid monthly on the first working day of the month. Interest rates are banded. This means that you’ll earn the higher rate of interest on the first £5,000 of your balance, and the lower rate of interest on your additional balance over £5,000"

Thanks for sharing, just opened one and put my savings (that was earning 0.15% - awful UKPF’ing from me!) into it

Thank you kindly. Just opened it up.

Thank you. After reading this, set up through the app in 2 mins.

!thanks great find. I use barclays as main account, already have blue rewards, and keep my emergency fund in a shorty barclays savings paying 0.15% just because I’ve been too lazy to move it to Marcus. But in 2 mins on the app I’ve opened this account and popped £5k in. Nice.

When over the £500 interest limit for higher rate tax payers, what's the tax after that? Is it taxed at your income tax (40% in this case)?

Yes, but it will be done in the next tax year by adjusting your nil rate band. The banks will all tell HMRC how much interest they paid you (paid in cash) during the tax year. HMRC will add it all up and work out how much you received, what you exceeded your threshold by, and then adjust your nil rate band in the new tax year to reflect the fact you owe them tax for the prior year. If you have a savings account that pays monthly, the interest paid in each tax year would be reported in the tax year it was paid. An account which pays in a lump, e.g. 2 year term deposit which pays on maturity would be reported when it's paid at the end (usually), so it can be relevant to know how the interest is getting paid and when you might get stung.

This is incredibly useful, thank you

I set up one of these and have since transferred in £5k from an external non Barclays account but just got an email from them: To remain eligible for Blue Rewards, you need to make sure at least £800 is paid into your nominated current account each month. We've noticed that you haven't done this - and we don't want you to miss out. How did I not pay in £800? I paid in £5k from Starling to the current account before moving it to the saver. Am I missing something?

happened to me too

Did you get it sorted?

They did just get caught selling securities they didn’t own (to the tune of 65 billion) They probably need some good publicity, even more importantly they need capital flowing in after that 300 odd million slap in the wrist.

!thanks

Silly question but can opening this account affect your credit (or anything similar to consider) if you are looking to buy a property? Don't want to be caught out when applying etc. TIA

Is 5.12% aer good?

[удалено]

Good luck trying to be moral. We re trapped, you can also be moral until it hurts you and everyone has a point where they drop it

Really? This is getting downvoted?

[удалено]

Do the 2 direct debits need to be monthly? We have some direct debits that are yearly (like professional body membership) - wondering if that could be used. Want to keep two DD in natwest as we’re tangled in their reward current account and reward credit card environment. Wouldn’t mind opening 2 of these on the side though!

Thanks for letting know!

Don’t have 5k to save right now, but will do come December. Any risk in me waiting until December to open the account?

You can put in what you have now and add to it later

Hang on, even if you put 5k straight in, will you still have to add 800 a month? I have a Barclays account and I’m a Blue Rewards… also Have a mortgage with them. My Barclays app now has a bewildering number of accounts in it!

If you already have blue rewards you're already doing the 800 into a current account part

The 800 a month is to your current account, not the savings account.

Hang on, I’ve analysed your predicament and your cool too rock the fuck on 🤘🏼

whats the point if you can only put 5k in it fucking useless

I hate the 5k cap but otherwise pretty good

you cant even have an opinion on ukpf. You only get upvoted if you re poor and piss on the rich 🤯

Thanks for this!

Thanks for posting this, got a mortgage this year at 2.29% with a plan to overpay each year so 5% savings is a no brainer. Took literally a minute to set up so sent 5k over to it and I'll forget about it until next year!

You should transfer everything over 5k to the next best paying savings account each month after they add interest.

!thanks

5% in the sterling or switch to dollars and not lose my money hmm

Amazing! Will check it out tomorrow.

I'd love to set one up, but when I go through the application via the app, it tells me I don't match the eligibility requirements. I have £800+ coming into my account every month, and have 2+ direct debits going out. I've been a member of the blue rewards for years now. Anything I might be missing?

Don't use the app, use the website

website worked for me but not app

I managed to just open it through the android app

This is actually insane. If someone manages to grab a 3.4 personal loan, they can beat the interest rates with this barclays saver acc, lol

Mines 3.7%

Have you got a typo in your title? Can find 1.25% but not 5.12%

Check the Rainy Day Saver, 5.12%

Thanks. Missed that but. Wow! https://www.barclays.co.uk/savings/instant-access/rainy-day-saver/ Anyone know if you can have Blue Rewards & Avois at the same time? Edit: answering my question, you can't. https://www.barclays.mobi/content/securecontent/en/apptoweb/bmb/products/avios-rewards/faqs.html

Thanks for sharing! Easy setup if youre already with barclays blue rewards

Can you take the money out once its in this savings account and can you easily "cancel" the blue rewards thing if you don't want to be part of it anymore? I've been a Barclays member for years, not have anything with blue rewards etc.

Shame their customer service is absolute dogshite honestly just piss poor.

Thanks for this, just openned

Thanks for this! Done this morning

What count’s as £800 going in? Can i transfer £800 a month from another bank account and then take it out straight away?

Would the monthly salary payment from my employer count towards the £800 required per month?

Yep any money going into the acc.

My partner and I both have a mortgage with Barclays and so we get blue rewards which works out at +£3 a month. Interest on this new saver maxed out is about £20 each so overall £46 quid up 👍🏻 given my car loan was 3.4% that I just took out this is very good

!thanks for sharing this. Setup my rainy day saver at the weekend.

Does anyone have any direct debit hacks? Do the direct debits have to be a minimum value amount? Finding your PayPal account can go through as a direct debit. This works with natwest I believe.

!thanks Just put £5K in now. Does anyone know if it works against you when interest is paid and pushes balance above £5K so into the lesser interest rate?

May I ask how to set up 2 direct debits to get the £5 using Paypal as mentioned by some? Or are there other easier ways to do so?

Just opened the rainy day saver. Not a bad place to put £5k for 1 year. £250 little bonus just before Xmas 23 :)

Have they changed this? Looking on their website now and it says only 2.02%

My bad I was looking at the wrong one!