My word is my Bond… now for £1m, says JEFF PRESTRIDGE as NS&I launches new higher prize rate
Today is the first time that NS&I has applied the new higher prize rate of three per cent to Premium Bonds. It means more prizes (nearly five million of them) and a bigger prize pot (approaching £300million – £81million more than last month).
Reader Noel Earley is delighted that NS&I boss Ian Ackerley heeded my advice of last month and pushed up the prize rate.
Last week, he told me: ‘As an avid reader of your column I want to congratulate you on your message to Mr Ackerley to up the rate on Premium Bonds.
Fresh start: Today is the first time that NS&I has applied the new higher prize rate of three per cent to Premium Bonds
He duly obliged within a few days, so here’s hoping there is a big Premium Bond prize for you and me on January 1.’
Fingers crossed, Noel. I’ll let you know as soon as I am notified of the £1 million prize – provided I haven’t overdone the New Year’s Eve festivities! Please let me know if you have come up trumps.
Two other points on Premium Bonds. First, a number of readers believe it is time for Mr Ackerley to increase the maximum individual holding from £50,000.
Finally, I made three Premium Bond gifts in the run-up to Christmas, two to newly-born grandchildren Archie and Arthur.
Sadly, while the gift card for Arthur arrived in time for Xmas, the other two have yet to materialise.
A shame – although in Archie’s case, he’s a little too young (three months today) to be able to get to grips with Premium Bonds. Even personal finance education can start a bit too early.
A day at the races – but don’t expect to bank your winnings after 619 more branch closures in 2022
A massive thank you to Robert Vaughan who worked as a manager in the property department for NatWest and Royal Bank of Scotland in the 1990s and early 2000s.
As part of his role, Robert had to take pictures of the bank’s branches – as well as rival ones (nothing nefarious there, he was on an interbank liaison committee!).
Just before Christmas, he contacted me after learning from this column how fellow reader Robert Montgomery had spent years building up a collection of photographs of bank branches.
They’re off! All the big banks have scarpered from the racecourse town of Ascot
He wondered if his namesake might be interested in his own collection of pictures of bank branches, past and present.
Robert M has said he would be delighted to receive the pictures to add to his archive.
A perfect marriage, given Robert V’s collection is focused on the East Midlands and East Anglia – while Robert M’s is primarily London and its suburbs, Merseyside, Chester and North Wales. What a library Robert Montgomery is amassing.
It will undoubtedly delight historians in the years to come when they will look at the pictures and proclaim: ‘A bank branch? What the hell is that?’
For the record, there were 619 branch closures made last year, meaning more than half of the country’s banks open in 2015 will have shut by the end of August.
A shameful state of affairs.
One final thought on bank branch closures. How is it that Ascot in Berkshire, one of the country’s wealthiest towns, has just lost its last high street bank (Barclays)? It beggars belief.
I often drive through this town with its thriving high street (usually to do a 10km run at nearby Dorney Lake) and, of course, the splendid racecourse. It’s always bustling with activity. If Ascot isn’t deemed worthy of a bank branch (Handelsbanken, admittedly, does have an office on a nearby business park), which town is? Bankers, an explanation please.
Who is my Father Christmas for 2022?
Reader Stephen Phillips is my Father Christmas of 2022
Reader Stephen Phillips is my Father Christmas of 2022. Following my offer of a free Santa outfit to one deserving reader, he replied in a way that I simply couldn’t ignore.
Stephen, above, from Edgware in Middlesex, used the costume I supplied to go in to local hospitals and lift the spirits of old and young – many receiving palliative care. It’s something he does every year.
One hospital trust, egged on by patients and their families, has already asked Santa Stephen to come back next December. How wonderful. Happy New Year to you, Stephen. Maybe next year, I can come as Santa’s helper.
