Chelsea Building Society Launches Market Leading Savings Product

Added: (Wed Jun 29 2005)

Pressbox (Press Release) - EMBARGOED UNTIL 00.01HRS SATURDAY 2 JULY
29 June 2005

Britain… the land of broken promises?

Britain is clearly a land of broken promises, where we habitually promise to do the ‘right thing’ but more often than not – don’t…

It is not surprising to see the success of Channel 4’s ‘How Clean is Your House’ when 43% of Brits promise they’ll spring clean but simply don’t. To mark the launch of a new savings product, Chelsea Building Society recently commissioned a ‘Promises’ survey1 to see what the most popular promises are that people break. The top three in order were:

1. Spring clean the house
2. Not to buy that sneaky chocolate bar
3. Almost a third of Brits promise themselves they’ll rise early enough to hit the gym or go for a jog and fail!

A closer look at the results shows that 16-24yr olds are perhaps the biggest promise breakers of all, suggesting there is a growing amount of indiscipline, laziness and a ‘can’t be bothered’ attitude breeding in Britain. They are the biggest culprits by age of hitting the biscuit tin, not going to the gym, not sorting out bills, failing to call people back, failing to recycle, not washing up and not staying for just one drink despite their best intentions!

Meanwhile women, as a rule, fare worse than their male counterparts, with exercise, dieting, cleaning, hooking up with old mates, returning calls and recycling all falling by the wayside. Is this however a sign of a more hectic role where women are still expected to juggle everything – sooner or later, something is bound to drop…

Is it any wonder that Britain is spiralling into debt when, rather worryingly, 28% of us vow we will sort out our bills and fail to do so (which could be costing the nation billions in late fees and fines)?

Chelsea’s Investment Marketing Manager, Kerri Morgan, commented, “We thought this would be a fun way to launch our new Chelsea Triple Guarantee savings account by looking in contrast at the top three most popular promises people fail to keep. Some are quite light hearted but there may be cause for concern when over a quarter of the UK admit to not sorting out their financial affairs”.

Our new account is called Chelsea Triple Guarantee. The market leading launch rate is 5.40% gross pa*AER† (4.32% net pa*) or monthly 5.27% gross pa*, 4.22% net pa*. The account carries three promises that won’t be broken;

Guarantee 1: The annual variable interest rate is guaranteed to be at least 0.50% above the Bank of England Base rate until 10 January 2006;

Guarantee 2: From 11 January 2006, the annual variable interest rate is guaranteed to be at least 0.25% above the Bank of England base rate until 11 January 2007;

Guarantee 3: From 12 January 2007, the annual variable interest rate is guaranteed to be at least the same as the Bank of England base rate until 12 July 2007.

The account is available to open from Saturday 2 July and can be opened and operated via a branch or by post. There is a low minimum opening and interest earning balance of £100 and the maximum investment is £500,000**. Withdrawal information is shown in the Editor’s Notes Section below.

To find out more about Chelsea Investment accounts or interest rates visit www.thechelsea.co.uk. Alternatively, contact the Society at your local Chelsea branch, or by calling our dedicated savings team on free-phone 0800 169 1076#.

Editor’s Notes


1. Survey carried out by Tickbox.net. Sample - 1038

* Gross/Net: Net interest equals gross interest less income tax at the rate specified by law.

† AER: AER stands for Annual Equivalent Rate and illustrates what the interest rate would be if interest was paid and added each year. Withdrawals may affect the AER.

** Provided that the account holder’s total investment in the Chelsea does not exceed £1 million.

# Calls to the Society may be recorded and/or monitored for security, training and customer services purposes.

 Annual interest will first be paid on 1st August 2006 and annually thereafter. Interest can be added to the account, transferred to a bank account or another Chelsea account.

 Chelsea is the UK’s 6th largest building society with assets of over £8.9bn

 Further information for media about the Society can be found by visiting: www.thechelsea.co.uk/html/index_media_centre.html

Withdrawals

Withdrawals in the first Guarantee period

Up to and including 10th January 2006:
 90 days’ prior written notice can be given for penalty-free withdrawals;
 Immediate withdrawals will be subject to the loss of 90 days’ interest on the amount withdrawn.

Withdrawals in the second Guarantee period

From 11th January 2006, up to and including 11th January 2007:
 60 days’ prior written notice can be given for penalty-free withdrawals;
 Immediate withdrawals will be subject to the loss of 60 days’ interest on the amount withdrawn.

Withdrawals in the third Guarantee period

From 12th January 2007, up to and including 11th July 2007:
 30 days’ prior written notice can be given for penalty-free withdrawals;
 Immediate withdrawals will be subject to the loss of 30 days’ interest on the amount withdrawn.

From 12th July 2007, withdrawals will be notice and penalty free.

For further information about this press release contact:

Andy Barr
Public Relations Team
Andy.barr@thechelsea.co.uk
01242 271466
0777 416 9535

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