Easy Access Savings Account - Invest now

1 February 2008

Description

1. Deposits into a National Savings and Investments Easy Access Savings Account (EASA) are investment deposits in the National Savings Bank and are subject to the National Savings Bank Act 1971 and the National Savings Bank Regulations 1972 (Statutory Instrument Number: 1972/764 - see paragraph 49) as amended or re-enacted from time to time. In the event of any differences between these terms and conditions and the Regulations, the Regulations will prevail.

Definitions

2. In these terms and conditions:
(a) “ATM” means an automated teller machine with access to the LINK® network in the UK;
(b) “BACS” means Bankers’ Automated Clearing Service;
(c)  “banking day” means a day (other than a Saturday, Sunday or bank holiday) on which banks are generally open for business in London, and, in relation to the processing of a payment, any other place of receipt;
(d)  “Director” means the Director of Savings;
(e) “NS&I” means National Savings and Investments operating through its Glasgow office or such other office as the Director may specify;
(f) “PIN” means personal identification number;
(g) “post office” means a branch of Post Office Ltd in the UK.

Interest and tax

3. EASAs earn interest at variable rates. The rate applicable to a particular account at any time will depend on the balance in that account. The current rates, and the balances required to earn them, are published in the London, Edinburgh and Belfast Gazettes (the Gazettes). Both the rates, and the balances required to earn them, may be changed from time to time. Notice of such changes will be given in the Gazettes. Details of the current rates, and the balances required to earn them, will also be set out in our Interest Rates leaflet, available at post offices and from NS&I, and on our website at www.nsandi.com.

4. Interest is earned on a daily basis on the closing balance for each day. The closing balance on any particular day will include all deposits dated that day (see paragraph 13 and paragraphs 22 to 25 inclusive) less any withdrawals dated for that day (see paragraphs 29, 30 and 32). Interest is earned at 1/365th of the annual rate for each day (or 1/366th for each day in a calendar leap year).

5. Interest will be credited annually after close of business on 31 March and will include all interest earned up to and including 31 March. The interest will then form part of the balance in the account on and from the following day (1 April).

6. Interest will be credited to the account without deduction of tax. However it is subject to UK Income Tax so account holders will need to declare their interest to the Inland Revenue.

Who may open and hold an EASA?

7. Individuals. Subject to the second sentence of paragraph 9, if you are an individual of at least 11 years of age, you may open an account:
(a)  in your own name; or
(b)  jointly with one other individual of at least 11 years of age.
You may hold more than one account in either or both of these capacities.

8. Deputies. If you are a deputy with the power to make investments on behalf of a person who lacks capacity of at least 11 years of age (or if you are a person duly authorised in that behalf) , you may invest in a Bond on behalf of and in the name of that person.  

9. General. Apart from Deputies and people acting under a Power of Attorney, accounts cannot be opened by one person on behalf of another person, nor can they be held for a trust. Accounts may not be opened by a person under a legal disability subject to paragraphs 7 and 8.

10. Because withdrawals of more than £300, or to close an EASA, can only be made by direct credit using BACS to a bank or building society account in the name of the EASA holder, you must have such an account capable of receiving payments via BACS before you can open an EASA. The only exception is a person under 18 years of age who may register the bank or building society account of a parent or guardian as their nominated account for this purpose.

How to open an EASA

11. An application to open an account can be made via the internet, by telephone or by post to NS&I; or in person at any post office which carries out NS&I business. In all cases, an application to open an account is subject to acceptance by the Director. Where you apply at a post office, acceptance can only occur when the application is subsequently processed by NS&I.
 
12. Where you apply via the internet or by telephone and this is your first application, you must confirm your application by signing and returning a confirmation form we will send to you by post. In accepting the terms and conditions you are confirming that you are aware that your identity and address will be checked as detailed in the Easy Access Savings Account brochure. We may also write to you requesting documentary evidence of your identity and address. The form and/or letter requesting evidence of identity will specify the time within which the signed form and/or evidence must be returned to NS&I. If the form and/or evidence is not received at NS&I within the specified time the Director will not be able to process your application. We will let you know if this is the case.

13.  Once an application is accepted, the date of opening your account and of the opening deposit will be:
(a)  for applications sent by post, the date your application and payment were received at NS&I;
(b)  for applications via the internet, the date your on-line application, including authority for a debit card payment, was received at NS&I;
(c)  for applications made by telephone, the first date on which NS&I took the details of your application, including authority for a debit card payment;
(d)  for applications at a post office, the date your application and payment were received at the post office.

14. If you apply by telephone or via the internet the opening deposit must be made by debit card in your name. For applications by post the opening deposit must be by personal cheque drawn on a bank or building society account held by you or by a building society branch cheque or bankers draft. If opening at a post office the deposit can be made by cheque, debit card or cash. The opening deposit must not be less than £100 and must not exceed the maximum holding limit of £2,000,000, or £4,000,000 for a joint account (see paragraph 37). The minimum balance to retain an account is £100 (see also paragraphs 26 and 27).

15. We will send you written confirmation that your account has been opened including the date of opening and details of the opening deposit. Where the account is held jointly, the confirmation will be sent to the first named holder on the application to open the account.

Cash card and PIN

16. We will send you a cash card and a PIN. For security, the card and PIN will be sent separately. If you do not receive either your card or PIN within one week of receiving confirmation that your account has been opened, you should immediately report the matter to NS&I by telephoning 0845 964 5000. You will need to use the card when making deposits into your account at a post office; or for making cash withdrawals from your account, either at a post office or an ATM. Where the account is held jointly, both account holders will be sent their own card and PIN.

17. The PIN is a four-digit security number which is used to identify you as the account holder when making cash withdrawals or when requesting a balance enquiry at an ATM or at a post office. You can change the PIN to a number you find easier to remember. We will explain how you can do this once we have opened your account. AS WITH ALL SECURITY INFORMATION, YOUR PIN SHOULD BE KEPT SECRET.

18. If at any time your card is lost or stolen you should report the loss to NS&I by telephoning 0845 964 5000 as soon as possible and we will cancel the card. A replacement card will be sent to you as soon as possible.

19. Unless you have acted fraudulently or without reasonable care, your liability for losses as a result of the misuse of your card will be limited as follows:
(a)  until the card is reported missing, your maximum liability is £50;
(b)  once you have reported the card missing, you will have no further liability.

Deposits

20. Once an account has been opened, the minimum for each subsequent deposit is £10. Subject to the maximum holding limit of £2,000,000, or £4,000,000 for a joint account (see paragraph 37), a deposit may be made for any amount above the minimum.

21. Deposits may be made by telephone or by post to NS&I, at any post office which carries out NS&I business, or via electronic transfer from your bank or building society. If you wish to make regular deposits you can set up a standing order with your bank or building society.

Deposits by telephone

22. You may make deposits by telephone using your debit card. The date of the deposit will be the first date on which NS&I took the details of your deposit, including authority for the debit card payment.

Deposits at a post office

23. You may deposit cash or cheques at any post office which carries out NS&I business. You will need to provide your cash card. The date of the deposit will be the date your payment was received at the post office.

Deposits by post

24. You may deposit cheques by post. You will need to send written instructions to NS&I enclosing your cheque, with your EASA account number written on the back. The date of deposit will be the date your cheque is received at NS&I.

Deposits by electronic transfer including under a standing order

25. If you wish to save regularly by standing order, you will need to complete a form, available from NS&I, which includes a standing order mandate for you to send to your bank or building society. Such deposits will be sent to NS&I by your bank or building society by electronic transfer. You can also make individual deposits by electronic transfer if your bank or building society offers such a facility. The date of deposits by electronic transfer will be the date the funds are received in the Director’s account at the Bank of England.

Withdrawals

26. The minimum for each withdrawal is £10. Provided you maintain a minimum balance of £100 in your account, you can make withdrawals, within your available balance, either in cash (up to £300 a day) from a post office or ATM; or by direct credit to a bank or building society account in your name (or in the name of a parent or guardian – see paragraph 10). A deposit made by cheque or debit card does not count towards your available balance, and is therefore not available for withdrawal, until your payment has cleared. The time taken for payments to clear is detailed in the EASA brochure. However, the Director may allow a deposit by debit card to be withdrawn before the payment has cleared. If approved, the Director will pay the sum requested by electronic transfer to the account from which the debit card deposit was made. The date of withdrawal will be determined as if the withdrawal had been made under paragraph 32.
 
27. If you are unable to maintain a balance of at least £100 in an account, the account must be closed.

Cash withdrawals

28. You can withdraw cash from your account, up to a maximum of £300 per day, from either a post office or an ATM. The limit of £300 a day applies to all cash withdrawals from an account (including joint accounts) on any one day whether made at a post office or from an ATM. The limit also includes any charges made by an ATM provider (see paragraph 30).

29. To withdraw cash at a post office, you will need to use your cash card and PIN. By entering your PIN and completing the transaction, you will have given the Director authority to debit the requested amount from your account. You will be given a printed receipt showing the date and amount of the withdrawal.

30. To withdraw cash at an ATM, you will need to use your cash card and PIN. The minimum withdrawal at an ATM is normally £10 but some ATMs may have a higher minimum. Some ATMs may have a transaction limit of less than £300. You may request a printed receipt for transactions at ATMs which provide this facility. Although NS&I make no charges for withdrawals, some ATM providers may do so. If this is the case, you will be warned by a message on the screen and can cancel the transaction if you do not want to incur the charge. By entering your PIN and completing the transaction, you will have given the Director authority to debit the requested amount, together with any charge made by the ATM provider, from your account as at the date you made the withdrawal.

Withdrawals by direct credit to your bank or building society account

31. Withdrawals above £300, or to close your account, can only be made by electronic transfer to a bank or building society account in your name (or in the name of a parent or guardian – see paragraph 10). You will be asked to provide details of such an account in your application to open the account. Because the Director intends to use BACS as the means of making these electronic transfers (although he reserves the right to use a different means if necessary) your bank or building society account specified on your application must be capable of receiving payment via BACS.

32. No notice is required for such a withdrawal. If you have registered to use the telephone service (see paragraphs 41 to 46 inclusive) you can apply for a withdrawal by telephone. For a telephone application, NS&I will normally initiate the electronic transfer by the end of the working day following the day on which we take the call. Alternatively, and for those not registered for the telephone service, you can apply by post to NS&I. In this case, NS&I will normally initiate the electronic transfer within three working days of receiving your application. Please note that the timescales for initiating the electronic transfer cannot be guaranteed and may take longer at busy periods. Once NS&I has initiated the electronic transfer, the date of withdrawal will be taken to be the date on which, in the normal course, the requested amount would be credited to your bank or building society account. In the case of BACS, this is normally two banking days after NS&I initiates the transfer.

33. Where an electronic transfer is initiated properly the Director will not be liable for:
(a)  any failure or delay of the receiving bank or building society in crediting the specified account; or
(b)  any failure or delay in any part of the electronic transfer process which is beyond his direct control;
including any failure which occurs because the specified account is incapable of receiving an electronic transfer.

Joint accounts

34. Where an account is held jointly, both holders will be sent a cash card and PIN. Each holder may apply to close the account, or make withdrawals in cash or by direct credit, independently of the other joint holder.

35. Upon the application of all the account holders, or the survivor of them, the Director of Savings may remove the name of any person from the title of the account, and may substitute the name of another person with the consent in writing of the person whose name it is desired to substitute, and every party to the account as altered shall make the declaration required upon the opening of an account.

36. In the event of the death of the last surviving account holder, the Director reserves the right to make payment in accordance with the law of the place in which the account holder resided, or if different, was domiciled at the date of their death.

Maximum holding limit

37. The maximum holding by any person in EASAs (whether in one or more accounts) is £2,000,000. For the purpose of this limit, where an account is held in joint names, half of the balance in the account will count against each holder’s personal holding limit. This limit will not prevent the transfer into a holder’s name of an amount inherited from another investment deposit account with the National Savings Bank.

38. If the maximum holding limit is reached no further deposits may be made but interest will continue to be added each year.

Account statements

39. NS&I will send you a quarterly statement showing all transactions for the previous quarter ending on the 15th of February, May, August and November. The statement for the quarter ending on 15th May will include details of the interest added to the account.

40. Where an account is held jointly, the statements will be sent to the first named holder on the application to open the account.

Telephone service

41. You may apply in writing to NS&I to register to operate your account by telephone. The application can be made as part of the original application to open the account or at any time thereafter. In order to apply, you will be required to supply some personal security information as required by NS&I. We may use this information to help verify the identity of the caller requesting a telephone transaction. In addition, and as the main method of security, you will need a password. If the account is held jointly, either or both holders may apply to use the telephone service. If both apply, each holder will have their own password.

42. When you first apply to register for the telephone service we will send you a temporary password. Before you can use the telephone service, you will need to change this temporary password to one of your own choosing. Your chosen password must be 6, 7 or 8 characters long and can be any combination of letters and numbers. You can change the temporary password when you make your first call. However, the temporary password will expire after 60 days so you will need to change it before then or your application to register to use the telephone service will lapse. AS WITH ALL SECURITY INFORMATION, YOUR PASSWORD SHOULD BE KEPT SECRET.

43. Once you have changed to your own password, you may use the telephone service to:
(a)  make deposits using your debit card;
(b)  request withdrawals;
(c)  check your account balance;
(d)  check recent transactions;
(e)  notify NS&I of changes to your personal details.

44. You should take reasonable precautions to prevent unauthorised use of the telephone service or unauthorised access to your account. You should not disclose any information which will give access to the account via the telephone service to any other person except to NS&I. Please note that NS&I is entitled to debit the account with any withdrawal made through the use of the telephone service if particulars of the password were correctly given.

45. If you have any reason to suspect that your password or other personal security information has become known to a third party, you should immediately notify NS&I by telephone. We may ask you to confirm this in writing. We will then arrange for a new password to be set up so that you can continue using the telephone service.

46. For security purposes and to maintain the highest level of service, telephone service calls will normally be recorded.

Changes to these terms and conditions

47. The Director and the Treasury reserve the right to change any of these terms and conditions at any time. If any change is to your disadvantage we will notify you personally, by writing to you at your last address recorded at NS&I, at least 30 days before we make the change. In the case of a joint account, the notification will only be sent to the first named holder on the application to open the account. At any time up to 60 days from the date of the notice you may, without notice, penalty or charge, switch to another of our products available at that time or close your account. Any other change may be made immediately but we will notify you about it within 30 days either by a notice with a quarterly statement or by putting a notice on our website and in a range of national newspapers.

Customers with special needs

48. Some of these terms and conditions may not apply if we have agreed changes with you in order to make an EASA more accessible. If so, any differences will be agreed with you individually.

Regulations

49. As at 1 January 2008, The National Savings Bank Regulations 1972 (Statutory Instrument Number 1972/764) have been amended by the following Statutory Instruments:

Law and jurisdiction

50. These terms and conditions and any agreement made on the basis of them will be governed by and interpreted in accordance with English law.

51. Subject to paragraphs 52 and 53, the courts of England are to have exclusive jurisdiction to settle any dispute (including claims for set off and counterclaims) which may arise in connection with these terms and conditions or any agreement made on the basis of them and which, subject to the Regulations, falls to be determined by a court of law.

52. Where section 16 of the Civil Jurisdiction and Judgments Act 1982 applies the relevant court of law of the relevant part of the United Kingdom shall have jurisdiction to settle any such dispute.

53. Paragraphs 51 and 52 are included for the benefit of NS&I. Accordingly NS&I retains the right to bring proceedings in any other court which has jurisdiction to whose jurisdiction the depositor irrevocably submits.

Easy Access Savings Accounts
National Savings and Investments
Glasgow
G58 1SB

1 February 2008

PLEASE KEEP FOR REFERENCE