Savings

Opening your account

• All or part of your initial investment (minimum £100) must take the form of a cheque drawn on the current account to be linked to the DirectSaver.
• Existing savings members may open an account by transferring money (minimum £100) from an existing Britannia savings account to the DirectSaver (subject to terms and conditions). If you transfer money from an existing Britannia account you will still need to provide proof of your linked current account, for example an up-to-date statement.

Linked bank account

When you open your DirectSaver account, we'll ask you for details of the bank account you want it to be linked to. You may then make withdrawals either by phone or online servicing, by arranging transfers to this linked account from your DirectSaver. The minimum withdrawal amount is £100. Please note, it takes 4 bank working days (excluding the day of instruction) for funds to be transferred to your current account.

Operating your DirectSaver account

Once your account is open, there are two easy ways for you to check your balance, view previous transactions and request withdrawals to your current account. You can either register to use online servicing or you can operate the account by phone. You can choose to use both, but for your protection, we will ask you to create different security information for online and telephone usage.

Online
To register your DirectSaver account for online servicing, all you need is an active email address and your DirectSaver account number. We'll ask you to set up some security information to protect your account from unauthorised access.

Phone
To operate your account by phone, simply call us on 0845 121 7905. Our lines are open from 8am-8pm Monday to Friday and 9am-12noon on Saturdays. Calls from a BT Together landline will cost no more than 4p per minute plus a call set up fee of 6p. Mobile and other providers' charges may vary. Calls may be recorded and/or monitored. When you contact us for the first time, we'll run through a few simple security questions and ask you to choose a telephone password.

Making a deposit

If you want to deposit money into your DirectSaver account, you can send a cheque through the post (minimum £100), or ask your current account provider to send it to us electronically. If you pay money in by cheque, you cannot withdraw against it until the cheque is cleared, although you will accrue interest from the day it is paid in. A cheque currently takes a minimum of 5 bank working days to clear excluding the day you pay the money in and the day you make a withdrawal.

Your current account's telephone or internet banking service can be used to deposit money. Money deposited in this way will be available as cleared funds as soon as it reaches your account (this normally takes three to four bank working days but is dependent on your current account provider).

As this is a direct account, you cannot make withdrawals or deposits through the branch network.

Joint accounts

Joint accounts are available for up to two people. However, you can only make transfers to accounts which must be held in the same joint names as the DirectSaver account, or alternatively, linked to a sole current account which must be in the name of one of the joint DirectSaver holders.

Only one account is available per person whether held as a sole account or a named person on a joint account.