Customer Service

We are committed to providing you with brilliant service. We believe that it is our people that make the difference, which will make us your first choice for financial services. This page will give you useful information about using your investment account.

How to get in touch with us

Ring our Savings and Investments Team on 0845 602 2828. There will be someone to take your call Monday - Saturday between 8.00 am and 8.00pm.

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Time-saving tips

Help us to help you by doing the following:

  • When you phone us with a query, have your investment account number handy. If your question's about a letter we've sent, keep the letter near you because we might need a reference number or contact name. Always take the name of the person that you speak to in case you need to ring again.
  • When you write to us, please put down as much information as you can, such as your account number, full name and address.

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Taking money out of your Birmingham Midshires account

Postal Withdrawals

We will only send cheques, never cash, through the post. You need to:

  • check you've enough money in your account to cover the withdrawal.
  • make sure everyone who needs to has signed the withdrawal form.
  • tell us whether you want to wait for the period of notice to pass or take your money straight away and pay an interest penalty.
  • tell us who the cheque should be made out to. Unless you tell us otherwise, we'll make it out to you and send it to your registered address.

You might want us to send your money straight to your bank account by Telegraphic Transfer but you'll need to talk to our Savings and Investments Team about this as there is a charge for this service.

Phone Withdrawals

You can do it all by phone if you have a specific telephone operated account. You simply call the appropriate number, answer our security questions and we'll send the money to your chosen account electronically, using the Banking Automated Clearing System (BACS).

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Making a transfer between your Birmingham Midshires accounts

If you want to transfer funds between Birmingham Midshires accounts, there are a couple of things you need to do before you contact us:

  • make sure you have the appropriate passbooks, certificates and other account documents(as applicable)
  • look into how much notice you need to give and the penalties you face if you want the money straight away
  • get everyone involved to sign their approval

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Paying a cheque into your Birmingham Midshires account

The Banking Code glossary definition of the central clearing cycle for cheques and automated payments is normally 3 days.

Please see relevant sections for when funds are available.

You can do this by post to accounts that accept cheque payment. Funds are available from the sixth banking day after receipt of a cheque. So, a cheque paid in on Monday will be available on the following Tuesday. If the cheque is paid in after 3pm it will take an additional banking day.

Cheques should be made payable to Birmingham Midshires, followed by your account number, (or followed by your name if it is a new account) and marked "account payee only". For telephone accounts, additional funds must be paid in electronically by transfer from a linked bank account.

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Lost or stolen Birmingham Midshires passbooks and certificates

You should contact us as soon as possible, by calling our Savings and Investments Team on 0845 602 2828 (Monday to Saturday, 8am to 8pm), or by writing to our corporate centre.

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What happens when interest rates change?

From time to time we change our interest rates.

We publish changes in at least two daily national newspapers - currently these are the Daily Express and The Guardian. If you have a postal, Internet or telephone operated account, we will write to you personally.

You can also call us on 0845 602 2828 (Monday to Saturday, 8am to 8pm).

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Requesting your balance, tax certification or maturity certificate

If you require any of these services please call us on 0845 602 2828 (The lines are open 8am to 8pm, Monday to Saturday). We'll then be able to take you through your telephone security and confirm the details you require or arrange for the information to be posted to you.

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I am a non-tax payer. How do I register my telephone account for gross interest?

Please phone our Savings and Investment Team on 0845 602 2828 to register for gross interest

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How we work out your interest

This is calculated according to the balance in your account at the end of each day. Cash deposits will earn interest from the day after we receive them. Cheques earn interest from the fourth working day after receipt (except fixed term accounts where interest is calculated from the first working day).

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Standards of service

If you write to us, we'll try and deal with your letter within five working days of receiving it. If it's going to take longer, we will write to let you know when you can expect to hear from us and who is dealing with your letter.

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Data Protection Act

You have a right to see all your records that we hold. You can do so by contacting the Compliance Team at our corporate centre in Pendeford.

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Customer complaints

Click here for a copy of your complaints policy that applies to all areas of Birmingham Midshires

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Charges

We have to charge for some services,such as replacement passbooks,Telegraphic Transfers, stopped cheques and details of account transactions.

Please call our Investment Services Team for details.

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Customer suggestions

We want you to be completely happy with the service we give you. If you have any comments or suggestions for improving our service, please contact our Savings and Investments Team.

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Calls may be monitored and recorded for security and training purposes. 0845 numbers may not be available outside the UK. Calls from BT landlines will cost a maximum of 4p per minute plus a 6p call set-up fee. The price of calls from other telephone companies and from outside the UK will vary. The call price is correct as at today's date.

Internet Savings Account