Instant Saver Reward Terms and Conditions (T&Cs)
General info
Our agreement
Banking with Atom is straightforward, so we give you information when it’s relevant to you. At this point, our contract with you consists of our:
- App T&Cs;
- Registration T&Cs;
- General T&Cs;
- these Instant Saver Reward T&Cs; and
- a product specific Summary Box, based on the account you open.
Please ensure you read them, so you understand the terms of our agreement with you. If there’s any conflicting information, these Instant Saver Reward T&Cs take priority.
These T&Cs detail the agreement between you and Atom (‘we’/ ‘us’) when you have an Instant Saver Reward account with us.
Each condition of these T&Cs operates separately. If any court or competent authority decides that any of them are unlawful or unenforceable, the other conditions will remain in full force and effect.
Eligibility
You must be at least 18 years old and a UK resident to open an Instant Saver Reward account.
Alternative format
Please let us know if you need these T&Cs supplied in another format, or if we can help you to use our service in any other way. Get in touch with us via the Help & Support button in the app, call us on 0333 399 0050 or email customersupport@atombank.co.uk.
Your data
Protecting your data
When you open an Instant Saver Reward, we’ll ask you to give us the details of a UK current account in your name. You’ll use this account to make payments in and out of your Instant Saver Reward. You can change this to another UK current account in your name at any time.
We will hold this data in a secure environment, and we will only use it to enable you to make payments in and out of your Instant Saver Reward.
Take a look at our Privacy Policy for more information about how we protect your data.
Your account
Opening an Instant Saver Reward
Once you’ve downloaded the app, registered your ID and verified your identity, you can open an Instant Saver Reward account in the app.
The Instant Saver Reward has two interest rates, which are both variable:
- Reward rate — the interest rate you’ll receive if you don’t make any withdrawals in the monthly interest period.
- Withdrawal rate — the interest rate you’ll receive if you make one or more withdrawals in the monthly interest period, or you close your account.
When you open an account and at the start of each monthly interest period, you will receive the Reward rate. You can check the rate you are on in the account view in the app at any time.
Your Instant Saver Reward does not have a ‘cooling off’ period (a reflection time when you have the option to change your mind and close the account) as you can close your account at any time.
Account holders
Currently, you can only open an Instant Saver Reward as a sole account (just you). They are also limited to one per customer.
If you need someone else to operate your Instant Saver Reward, we may be able to register a power of attorney (POA) for it. If we do this, your attorney will be able to access information about your account. In some circumstances, we may restrict what you’re able to do.
For security reasons, POA administration of an account is managed via our Customer Support team (rather than in the app). So, please call us on 0333 399 0050 to discuss setting up a POA.
At your request, we may be able to add a named third party to your account(s) to support you by providing account information to the named third party. Please note the named third party will not be able to take any actions in relation to any of your account(s).
Interest
You will earn interest on the money in your Instant Saver Reward from the day you pay it into the account. We calculate interest on your balance daily. We will pay interest at the rate stated in your Instant Saver Reward Summary Box (based on the number of actual days in the relevant period and a year of 365 days).
We pay all interest gross, in line with the Personal Savings Allowance (PSA). Find more about paying tax on your savings interest at https://www.gov.uk/apply-tax-free-interest-on-savings.
We will add interest to your Instant Saver Reward account monthly on the day of the month you open the account. For example, if you open the account on the 16th, we will pay your interest on the 16th every month.
If you open your account on the 29th, 30th or 31st, and that date doesn’t appear in a subsequent month, we will pay your interest on the last day of the month.
Changes to your rate(s)
Your Instant Saver Reward has variable interest rates. This means the Reward rate and/or Withdrawal rate may change from time to time, for any of the following reasons:
- if the underlying rate changes;
- where a change is needed to maintain our financial strength in the interests of all our customers; or
- if there are significant changes in the economic environment, and changing variable rates is necessary to address the risks to our business that arise as a result.
When a variable rate changes, it will affect the interest you earn. If your rate is going up, we’ll make the change as soon as possible and let you know once we’ve done it. If your rate is going down, we’ll give you at least 14 days’ notice and confirm the impact of the change on the interest you’ll earn.
Charges
There are no charges applied to your Instant Saver Reward account.
Statements
You can access your account and check your balance at any time in the app. You’ll also receive monthly and annual statements for your Instant Saver Reward.
Every month, we’ll put your monthly statement in your Vault and let you know it’s ready. We’ll also let you know when we put your annual statement in your Vault. We will add this within a few days of your account opening anniversary.
If you need a statement for a specific reason, get in touch and we can discuss it. Contact us via:
- the Help & Support button in the app;
- calling us on 0333 399 0050; or
- emailing customersupport@atombank.co.uk
Closing an Instant Saver Reward
Your Instant Saver Reward does not have an end date, so you can close your account at any time. If you close your account and you are on the Reward rate, you will receive the Withdrawal rate on your balance for the monthly interest period that you are in.
If you tell us you want to close your account, we’ll add any outstanding interest to your balance. You then can transfer all your money out and close it immediately.
Once your account is closed, we’ll put your closing statement in your Vault and let you know it’s there.
In some circumstances, we have a right to terminate our agreement immediately (see ‘Our right to terminate’ in our General T&Cs).
You’re responsible for using a compatible device and operating system for as long as you have an Instant Saver Reward with us. For more information about this, please see the ‘Device compatibility’ section in our App T&Cs. If you refuse to meet this requirement, we may close your account immediately and transfer the balance and any interest due to your connected account.
If we need to close your account for any other reason (e.g. if we withdraw our Instant Saver Reward from the market), we’ll give you two months’ notice, then transfer your balance and any interest due out of your account and close it.
Payments
Connected account
When you open an Instant Saver Reward, we’ll ask you to give us the sort code and account number of a UK current account in your name, registered at your address. This is your “connected account”. It will be the only external account you can use to make payments in and out of your Instant Saver Reward.
You can only have one connected account for your Instant Saver Reward, but you can change it at any time. It is your responsibility to ensure you have a valid connected account linked to your Instant Saver Reward. This means that if you close your connected account, you’ll have to replace it with a different one.
If we can’t verify the current account details you give us, for any reason, you won’t be able to connect it to your Instant Saver Reward. This may mean you’re unable to open an Instant Saver Reward or change your connected account.
Payments in and out
You can only make payments in and out of your Instant Saver Reward using the Faster Payment Service.
You can only make payments into your Instant Saver Reward by sending money from your connected account. All accepted inbound payments will usually show in the app immediately. If a payment isn’t visible in the app, it’s worth checking with the bank you’re sending it from, to ensure they’ve released it.
You can make payments out of your Instant Saver Reward at any time by logging into the app and following the instructions. As long as there’s enough money in your account, there is no limit on the number of payments you can make. If you have any problems making a payment out of your Instant Saver Reward, get in touch via the Help & Support button in the app.
If you make any payment out of your Instant Saver Reward account, you will receive the Withdrawal rate for that monthly interest period. This includes:
- transferring money between Atom accounts;
- closing your account; or
- withdrawing to your connected account.
All accepted outbound payments will leave your account and show in the app immediately. This means that once you’ve confirmed you want to make a payment, you won’t be able to change your mind. We’ll confirm in the app whether the destination bank has accepted your payment request. Usually, your money will show up in your connected account immediately, but it may take up to 2 hours depending on the other bank’s processing times. We monitor transactions to keep your account safe. If we see unusual activity, we may contact you and there may be a delay in processing payments while we complete fraud prevention checks.
You cannot use your Instant Saver Reward to deposit income or pay bills.
Balance limits
The total funds held in your savings accounts can’t exceed our Maximum Balance Limit. This limit is currently £200,000. You can hold up to £100,000 in Fixed Savers and up to £100,000 in easy access accounts (Instant Saver, Instant Saver Reward and/or Holding Accounts). We may breach the limit in some circumstances — e.g. to add interest to your account.
If you breach your Maximum Balance Limit, we will return the excess funds to your connected account. This won’t impact the interest rate you will receive for that monthly interest period.
The legal stuff
Changes to these T&Cs
We’ll give you 30 days’ notice to consider any changes to these T&Cs, unless they’re to your advantage, when we’ll make them straight away.
In some circumstances, we may be required by regulation to give you more or less notice. In these cases, we’ll tell you how much time you have to review the changes.
You can object to the changes before they take effect, and, depending on the circumstances, you may be able to close an impacted account. Otherwise, you’ll be deemed to have accepted the changes from the date they take effect.
We’ll only make changes to these T&Cs to:
- reflect developments in our app or proposition (including our products / services);
- respond proportionately to changes in the law or decisions of the Financial Ombudsman Service;
- meet regulatory requirements;
- reflect new industry guidance or codes of practice which raise standards of consumer protection;
- proportionately reflect other legitimate cost increases or reductions associated with providing the particular product or service you use;
- ensure we are being fair to all our customers; and/or
- respond to changes in general banking practice for the benefit of all consumers.
We’ll only do this if we reasonably expect to be affected by one of the above reasons.
Compensation
Atom is covered by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS). The FSCS can pay compensation to savers if a bank is unable to meet its financial obligations. Most savers — including individuals and small businesses — are covered by the scheme.
An eligible saver is entitled to claim up to £85,000. For joint accounts, each account holder can claim up to £85,000 (a total of £170,000 where there are two account holders). The £85,000 covers all the funds held in the eligible customer’s accounts with the bank, including their share of any joint accounts, and not to each separate account.
We’ll share detailed FSCS information with you when you apply for an Instant Saver Reward account. We’ll save this in your Vault once your account is open.
For more information about the FSCS (including amounts covered and eligibility to claim) visit http://www.fscs.org.uk/. You can contact the FSCS directly with any compensation-related queries on 0800 678 1100 or 020 7741 4100.
Applicable law
These T&Cs are governed by the laws of England and Wales and if there’s any disagreement about them, or between us about your account, we each agree that this’ll be dealt with by the Courts of England and Wales.
Instant Saver Reward T&Cs_v1.0. Effective from 17/07/2024.