Managing your account.

Open new savings accounts and get online access to view your branch account and mortgage via our online service.

For electronic payments by Faster Payments or BACs enter the Society’s details as follows:

• Sort code: 23-44-48.
• Account number: 00004000.
• Payee: Use your first and last name (please don’t use ‘Suffolk Building Society’).
• Reference: please use your unique Suffolk Building Society mortgage / savings account number where you wish the funds to be placed.

If this is a new mortgage or savings account, it may take up to 48 hours for online banking facilities to verify our details. So, please ensure you check these details carefully.

For a standing order you will need to instruct your bank to set up a regular payment. You can use our standing order form in order to do this, or, to set up directly from your bank account yourself, use the above details for electronic payments.

If you want to meet us in branch, you can book a specific slot online by selecting your nearest branch and a time that suits you.

Book an appointment here.

To check your withdrawal conditions please refer to your individual account terms and conditions. For all withdrawal requests we will require a signed instruction and your passbook, if you have been issued with one. We may also request you to provide proof of identity when making a withdrawal.

Withdrawals from our branches are available as follows:

• Cash up to £1,000 per member per day
• Cheque up to £100,000 per member per day
• Withdrawals to a previously nominated current account in your name up to £25,000, as a next working day transfer. This service is free.
• For instant access accounts, withdrawals to your nominated current account can be conducted over the phone. Please get in touch with us to set up a nominated current account. This is not available for accounts with withdrawal conditions.
• CHAPS withdrawals are available to a current account in your name. For transfers up to £100,000 a £25 charge applies.

For full information about withdrawals please read the General Investment Terms & Conditions.

You can make deposits electronically into your child’s account by Faster Payments or BACs. Enter the Society’s details as follows: Sort code: 23-44-48. Account number: 00004000. Reference: please use your child’s unique nine digit savings account number. If you are visiting the branch with cash, you will need to provide Government-issued photo ID if you do not also hold a savings account with us. We will also verify your identity electronically.

Where a parent, grandparent or legal guardian acts as an authorised signatory for a child’s account any withdrawals made must be for the benefit of the child. Refer to the withdrawals section above for information on making a withdrawal.

Interest is added to your account in line with the product terms and conditions. It is calculated daily from the date we receive your deposit up to the day before withdrawal. Any sums received outside our business hours, or on a non-working day, will be treated as having been received on the next working day.

If you have a fixed rate account your interest rate will not change within the fixed rate period. For variable rate accounts we may change interest rates at any time if we reasonably believe the change is needed. If we increase interest rates on existing accounts we will place notices in our branches, agencies and on our website within three working days of the change, plus include the information in our [monthly email newsletter]. Should we reduce the interest rate we will repeat the previous activities but also write to all affected account holders giving written notification of the change 14 days before it comes into effect, unless there is less than £100 in your account or it is operating below minimum balance interest rate tiers.

We are required to report all interest you receive to HM Revenue & Customs, who use this information to assess your Personal Savings Allowance. Interest earned on tax free products such as Cash ISAs does not count towards your Personal Savings Allowance.

For full information about interest please read the General Investment Terms & Conditions.

There are generally no fees applied in the general operation of your savings account. For additional services or requests we may apply a fee in line with our Tariff of Charges.

We’ll need you to contact us as soon as possible, either by getting in touch with your local branch or calling us on 0330 123 0723. We will also need written confirmation and to check your identity, which can be done by post if you are unable to visit us in person. When you contact us we will be able to explain next steps and also what to do if you need to withdraw funds without a passbook.

For further information on charges related to services and facilities associated with savings accounts, refer to our Tariff of Charges.

You can change your address used on your savings accounts for yourself or a child where you are the operator or registered contact on their account and you live at the same address. You can do this using our Change of Address form you can access here.

Please contact us if you live at a different address to the child.

Where you hold a joint account with another person, each account holder will need to complete the form. Please note that we use an electronic verification system to validate your identity. We may need to contact you for further information.

Request a Certificate of Savings Interest, which shows the sum of interest paid during a specified tax year. No transactional or balance information is shown using the form here.

Please allow 5 working days to receive your certificate.

You can request a statement that shows transactions during a specified period and a balance as at the requested statement end date using the form here.

Please allow 5 working days to receive your statement.

You can read how we handle, store and protect your data in our Privacy Policy.

Losing someone close to you can be very difficult, we’re here to help.

View our bereavement guide here.

Nobody is perfect, and we know from time to time things do go wrong. We want to know when you’re not happy so we can improve the quality of our service and identify possible training needs, and of course we’ll do all we can to resolve your problem. Visit our making a complaint page for full details.

We’ve worked hard to increase the accessibility of our branches, which is why all of our sites are wheelchair accessible. The majority have audio induction loops and we can offer large print on most items. You can find more information about the accessibility and features of each branch in our branch section.  If there is anything we can do to make operating your account easier, please get in touch and we’ll try our best to help.

If you have a fixed rate account, your interest rate will not change during the fixed term period. For variable rate accounts, we may change interest rates at any time. You can find more information in section 8 of our General Investment Terms & Conditions.

Interest rates going up

If we increase interest rates on existing accounts we will place notices in our branches, agency and on our website within three working days of the change. We also email members who are opted in to receive our email newsletter.

Interest rates going down

Should we reduce the interest rate we will repeat these activities but also write to all affected account holders giving written notification of the change 14 days before it comes into effect. Please note we will not write to you if there is less than £100 in your account, or it is operating below the minimum balance interest rate tiers, as per the product terms and conditions.

For further information please read the General Investment Terms & Conditions

You can view information on Confirmation of Payee here.

We report all interest earned on your savings account without deducting any interest penalty that may have applied to a withdrawal or closure. Therefore, the total interest amount, prior to any deductions, counts  towards your personal savings allowance.

We’ve included an example below:

During the tax year, you earned £300 of interest. However, you also made a withdrawal where penalty interest applied. This might be because you were unable to give notice in line with your account terms and conditions. The interest penalty was £50. This means that we will report £300 to HMRC, and you will see £250 printed in your passbook or on your statement. This means a higher portion of your personal allowance will be used up.

We also report interest-based account holder benefit. This means that the value of interest we report to HMRC will depend on whether you were named on the account at the point the interest was paid.

Information for the tax year is shown on your Certificate of Savings Interest, which you can request from us

These changes do not affect Individual Savings Accounts (ISA) because interest earned on ISA accounts is tax-free.