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Raisin £50 incentive

Posted: Mon Jul 30, 2018 7:49 pm
by Preston
I've been tempted by a £50 incentive for new customers signing up to and funding a new fixed term savings product through "Raisin", a UK Savings Marketplace.

I've gone for a £1k punt (that is the minimum to qualify for the incentive) in a 1.95% 1 year fixed term ICICI account. Further details are on the MSE site and weekly email.

Looks like a reasonable product - the incentive which is paid 60 days after funding, brings the overall return on the £1k to close to 7% over the year.

Please do your own research to satisfy yourself that it is a good deal and that "Raisin" are OK, before deciding to go for this. ;)

Re: Raisin £50 incentive

Posted: Tue Jul 31, 2018 12:25 am
by Sarah
I saw this mentioned in the MSE e-mail too. Think the messing about sending a bank transfer to Meteor Investment Management & claiming the bonus by e-mail (together with it being a new organisation having no customer feedback) are what put me off. How's it going for you so far?

The launch bonus is only available for a limited time but doesn't appear to specify an end date yet:
https://www.raisin.co.uk/bonus

Re: Raisin £50 incentive

Posted: Thu Aug 02, 2018 8:22 am
by Preston
Sarah, it's obviously early days with me for this but I've been really quite impressed so far.

Before I invested, I rang their customer support for a chat about what to expect from them and how things would progress. They sounded professional, knowledgeable, matter of fact, and helpful in a non-pushy sort of a way. My investment money is apparently covered by the normal financial safeguards at all stages - both pre and post investment.

At every step I've had emails confirming progress. From my initial signing up for the Raisin service, through the receipt of my initial investment money, to them placing the funds in the particular ICICI product I chose, and then also confirmation they had received my launch bonus claim email.

My Raisin account allows me to view my investment on-line, or at least I think that is what it shows :lol:

If the whole things a scam then it's a very cleverly supported and disguised one. I must say that if I hadn't seen Raisin on MSE then there's no way I would have been comfortable going for this because I'd never heard of them before either. I assume that nice Mr L would have satisfied himself that they were legit.

At the moment I'm relaxed, but the first test will be if my £50 launch bonus arrives in the promised timeframe. The next (and real) test will be can I withdraw my matured funds after a year?

I'll keep you posted. ;)

Re: Raisin £50 incentive

Posted: Thu Aug 02, 2018 9:56 am
by DC.
I saw this too, seems like a good offer.
According to the MSE site it advised opening yesterday to lock in the current rate 1.95, but hold off investing as interest rates may change today.

So I'll let you know how I get on too.
I did for myself and GF.

Re: Raisin £50 incentive

Posted: Fri Aug 03, 2018 8:20 pm
by sparkey1
Heard about it as well via MSE. They were looking into it, and initially being cautious. However they seem to be behind it now.

Re: Raisin £50 incentive

Posted: Sat Aug 04, 2018 11:12 pm
by Preston
It looks like the rather generous Raisin one-off new customer bonus of £50 for deposits of £1k and above has been changed for people making an application from now on.

I cut and pasted the following from their website today.

"Whether you're new to Raisin or applying for your next fixed term deposit, you can claim one bonus per savings product for depositing the following amounts:

£20 bonus for depositing £10,000 or more
Deposits between £10,000 and £19,999
£40 bonus for depositing £20,000 or more
Deposits between £20,000 and £39,999
£80 bonus for depositing £40,000 or more
Deposits between £40,000 and £85,000"

So it's no longer a one-off deal now then, but the qualifying deposit amounts for the bonus are much higher and less lucrative in real terms percentagewise. I just scraped in there in the nick of time it would seem! ;)

Re: Raisin £50 incentive

Posted: Sun Aug 05, 2018 7:07 am
by Sarah
The curse of MSE exposure strikes again; yet they might have struggled for customers without it.

I'm less likely to go for it now; not really sure I'd want to put £40K with them although it seems to be a good investment. The available accounts all appear to be fixed terms, with 1 year minimum, so ICICI at 1.95% is still the best deal for claiming a bonus.

Re: Raisin £50 incentive

Posted: Sun Aug 05, 2018 7:19 am
by Sarah
They've updated their article at MSE and point out that with the revised bonus Raisin doesn't beat a new 1 year fixed 2.15% rate from Wyelands Bank. I suppose based on the minimum investment for each tier, the Raisin bonus is now equivalent to a 0.20% uplift for a 1 year fixed rate, so there's actually no difference between them!

https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/savin ... eyearfixed

Re: Raisin £50 incentive

Posted: Tue Aug 07, 2018 7:57 pm
by Sarah
I opened the Wyelands account instead, which was thankfully quick and easy; this leaves Raisin as a possible future opportunity for me if they offer worthwhile cashback, an improved bonus or sufficiently better interest rates sometime later.

Re: Raisin £50 incentive

Posted: Sat Aug 11, 2018 2:35 am
by Sarah
ICICI via Raisin has increased from 1.95% to 2.02% (plus 0.20% bonus)
Wyelands Bank has dropped from 2.15% to 2.05%