General

When you open an account, we ask for your national insurance number to verify that you are a UK resident.

To be eligible for a Chetwood Bank savings account, you must be a UK resident only. If you don't meet this criteria, you won't be able to open a savings account with us.

If you’ve lost your National Insurance number, you can find it at: https://www.gov.uk/lost-national-insurance-number

It's very quick to open a savings account - we just need a few details about you, including:

- Your National Insurance number- Information about where you're tax resident if you pay tax outside of the UK- Your UK-based address details for the last two years- The sort code and account number of the current account you'll make deposits from.

We're sorry that you've been unable to open a savings account.

This is usually because we weren't able to verify your information electronically. As an online bank, it's really important that we can verify your identity before you open your account.

We’re sorry we can’t help you reach your savings goal today.

There are a few reasons why we may send money back to you, including:

- You've sent a deposit using an incorrect savings account reference number - You've sent a deposit from a bank account that isn't your nominated current account

If you've applied for a Fixed Rate savings account, we may also have sent money back to you because: 

- You've sent a deposit after your 14 day deposit window has closed- You didn't meet the minimum balance requirement of £1,000 within the 14 day deposit window.

The maximum protection from the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) is £85,000. Please note that this applies to the total of any savings you have with Chetwood Bank and SmartSave, either directly or via our distribution partners. Find out how the FSCS protects your money.

The best way to contact us is to log in and send us a secure message. If you'd prefer to speak to us on the phone, our number is 01978 803976. 

AER and gross interest both tell you how much interest you can earn, but they work differently.

AER considers compound interest (interest on interest), while gross interest doesn’t. That makes AER a better estimate of what you'll actually earn over time. 

When interest is applied to savings annually, the AER and gross interest rate will be the same because there's no opportunity for interest to compound. When interest is paid more frequently (such as monthly), the AER will be higher than the gross rate because of the effect of compounding interest. 

For a thorough explanation of how interest rates work, take a look at our Interest Rates explainer.

As a digital bank, we try to use digital channels for communications where possible. This means that in most cases, we'll email or telephone you if we need to contact you. There may be circumstances that require us to send you a letter in the post, so it's important that you keep your contact information up to date at all times. If you need to change any of our personal information, please contact our customer support team. 

The best way to contact us is to log in and send us a secure message. If you'd prefer to speak to us on the phone, our number is 01978 803976.