Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what estimate he has made of the average time taken by NS&I to facilitate customer requests to transfer funds away from the NS&I; and what proportion of those requests fell outside NS&I’s policy.
Approximately 90% of customer withdrawals from NS&I are made online or by telephone. The payments normally reach the customer’s nominated bank account within two banking days after the day that NS&I has received the customer’s instruction. This service performance is within NS&I’s usual service level of two working days. Approximately 10% of customer withdrawals from NS&I are made by post. The payments normally reach the customer’s nominated bank account within three banking days after the day that NS&I has received the customer’s instruction.
Postal withdrawals from NS&I are currently taking longer to process than their normal timescale due to operational constraints caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. As of 9 March 2021, the proportion of customer withdrawals that fell outside NS&I’s usual service level of two working days was approximately 10%. However, NS&I has prioritised these withdrawals and is currently processing straightforward cases by the fourth working day from receipt.