Icesave Online Savings

On Sat before closure I made a withdrawal from IceSave online bank, on the monday showed as processed and my balance reduced, on Tuesday, the Icelandic government closed withdrawals from Ice Save bank, by friday I still had no money transferred and they had pulled the money back to icesave.

Icesave is a good savings bank. Easy access web site. Movement of money from and to accounts easy. Good rates of interest which others follow.

Good financila results for half year and no exposure to US sub prime market.

Having done my research into the Best Savings Accounts on the current market - Icesave stood out for me. A high interest rate of 6.30% until 2011 and a rate GUARANTEE (to at least match base rate until 2013!) no notice period for withdrawals - no penalties. Very quick and easy to set up my easy access savings account - did it in about 15mins during my lunch break. Paperwork came through within the week. User friendly website - no jargon - so far the product is living up to its claims. Have no WORRIES WHATSOEVER with regard to the security of my funds. I've read a lot of statements within the review centre - I just wanted to put down a couple of FACTS (which I hope some (hopefully most) readers will find useful. (1) Icesave is a member of the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS). All money in UK savings accounts, cash ISAs and current accounts are protected up to the FIRST £35,000 put in there, in the unlikely event it went bust. Icesave IS NO DIFFERENT in that respect. (2) Icesave has opted for the passport exemption scheme which basically means that if it when bust, the first ' 20,000 would need to be reclaimed from the Icelandic compensation system (their home country) and NOT the UK System. The remainder of the £35,000 would still come from the UK compensation scheme. (3) If, in the unlikely event Icesave were to collapse, it would probably be bureaucratically more difficult to get your money back than if a fully-UK bank went bust, but not substantively so, and may actually be faster. In addition, EU Law does require banks in the compensation scheme to repay funds within 3 months. BASICALLY, the credit crunch is a nightmare and picking out "which bank is under threat" almost feels like a game of random chance - I mean, who would've thought that the giant Bear Stearn would have gone bust... now come on - seriously!

Never had any problems setting up a isa, or easy access savinings account or a fixed rate savings account, and there website is easy to log in and access other areas.

Simple to set up fixed term IceSave savings account, money appeared in the account on the expected day. Customer Services polite and helpful, and were able to sort me out quickly when I lost my PIN.

I opened an ISA with Icesave a couple of months ago and was impressed with the user friendly website and prompt efficient welcome pack.

I also opened a high intersted savings account with Kaupthing but again am slightly concerned to see so much negative press about all Icelandic financial institutions.

Is my money safe here or should I look at moving accounts?

I have held my accounts with Icesave Online for 2 years in Nov 08, had no problems, site always works, have never found it down. Interest rates have always been good and have been getting better. Monies have always moved in and out as I've requested and on the correct days.

I opened a easy access account and 4 fixed term bonds during the last 6 months. I put my saving gradually in my easy access account and then trnafer to the more convenient 6 month bond. At the beginning they pay interest in my easy access account, at some point no.

I asked the reasons and the customer centre answer in 1000 different reasons. I asked to talk to the manager but it is always not available. I sent 2 letter. No reply.

Now I am sending a complain to Financial Ombudsman Service.

My whole experience of trying to open a 6 month fixed rate saving account with Icesave has been a nightmare. I started the process online on 20 May, it is now 23 June and the account has still not been opened! I have lost interest on monies that are sitting in a personal account waiting for the account to be opened. Other onlines accounts took only days to open. From my experience this company is a complete shambles and I no longer wish to invest my money with them.

Having just tried to set up an icesave account for the fourth time and yet again have it time out on me (even though I have answered every page as quickly as anyone), it is fair to say that I disappointed by Icesave. Great rates no doubt but if you can't open an account with them then it's pretty useless, and it does make you wonder, if they're this hopeless at opening accounts just how awful must the admin be once you've got one?

I certainly wouldn't like to be attempting to close an account with them!