Challenger banks

[Humpy D]

Got a fair amount of money to invest which I only want to tie up for a year. Looking at 1 year fixed bonds and the best rates are all with challenger banks. Shawbrook being the best with a rate of 1.9%.

I am reasonably savvy when it comes to these new banks and as Shawbrook are covered by the FSCS I am happy if it all goes pop I'll get my money back but is there anything else I should be aware of??

Thanks.

[mattnovak]

Hi,

Ex Aldermore employee here, although in Commercial Finance rather than savings.

Challenger banks are, if anything, more heavily scrutinised than high street banks (who get to set their own risk grades, probabilities of default etc based on huge data sets). However, all banks have to adhere to the savings protection scheme which IIRC protects savings up to £80k.

[K12beano]

Assuming level playing field for security - as above ^^^ - it's down to returns and customer service.

I am a current Aldermore customer, and apart from one glitch (which was probably something I partially misunderstood) I can testify that their customer service, including fixing problems, is pretty good. Sometimes I feel the website is not too intuitive and it's naturally a frustration that you just added a further set of security measures to access your loot.

I'd search out as many reviews as you can and see if you can work out which are currently best for sorting out problems - after all you hope there won't be any, but planning for the worst is sensible!

What happens if you sign up with your details of your main bank current account and your fixed term expires just after you moved your main bank; where does the money go!!!?

What's in the small print about conditions when you can or cannot get your money back in emergency - or what they can change in their terms and conditions?

...just my £0 0s 2d

[4159265]

I had a savings acc with Aldermore - did what it said on the tin.

Challengers are usually more scrutinised and technologically nimble - although maybe be wary / aware of banks like 'B' which is basically a rebadge of Clydesdale.