It could be “grab them before they’re gone” time when it comes to some of the top-paying savings accounts, assuming that UK interest rates are now at or near their peak.
There are accounts on offer paying more than 6% but some savings experts said this week that those thinking of signing up may want to get a move on, as the very best deals may not be around for much longer.
This may already be starting to happen: during the last few days, some fixed-rate savings bonds have had their rates trimmed.
“With the base rate potentially having peaked sooner and lower than anticipated, we could start to see [fixed-rate] bonds being withdrawn once the tranches have been filled,” says Anna Bowes, a co-founder of the Savings Champion website.
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She adds: “If you see something … now is the time to act.”
While we are not generally seeing further increases to fixed-rate bond interest rates after the decision by the Bank of England on 21 September to hold the base rate at 5.25%, Bowes says we are “still seeing a little bit of upward movement” on some easy-access account rates.
Sarah Coles, the head of personal finance at the investment platform Hargreaves Lansdown, says that if you have been waiting to grab a top fixed savings rate, “it’s worth getting your skates on”, although she adds: “While we may see some of the most competitive rates retreat, we’re not expecting dramatic drops in the immediate future.”
Here, we round up some of the top-paying accounts that may be worth grabbing now if you have money you can afford to put into savings.
View image in fullscreenThe Flex Regular Saver is available exclusively to Nationwide’s current account customers. Photograph: Neil Hall/EPA
The account paying 8% interest
Called Flex Regular Saver, this is available exclusively to Nationwide’s current account customers, and it tops the table for regular savings accounts. If you are not with Nationwide, the building society is attempting to attract new current account customers by offering a £200 payment to anyone who moves to it using the bank industry’s switching service.
The 8% interest rate lasts for a year, and customers can save up to £200 a month in the online-managed account, which permits up to three withdrawals within the 12 months. If four or more withdrawals are made, the rate on the account will drop to 2.15%.
If you put the maximum £200 into the Flex Regular Saver on the first day of each month, after the 12 months you would have earned £104 interest.
View image in fullscreenAre you making the most of your savings? Photograph: Russell Hart/Alamy
Fixed-rate bonds paying 6.2%
At the time of writing, National Savings and Investments’ (NS&I) one-year fixed-rate guaranteed growth and income bonds paying 6.2% still had the top spot in the best-buy table for one-year fixed-rate savings bonds – but it is far from clear how long they will be around for. They were launched at the end of August and are likely to have proved hugely popular, so if you want to benefit from that rate, it is probably best to apply sooner rather than later.
You can invest from £500 to £1m, and you can’t take your money out until after the 12 months are up. Once you have bought one of these bonds, you can’t add any more money to it. You can buy more bonds, though, assuming they are still on sale. (Each bond is a separate investment with its own maturity date.)
Fixed-rate savings bonds paying 6% or more
Ford Money and Ikano Bank are two of the slightly better-known providers offering bonds paying 6.05%. Ford Money – a division of Ford Motor Company – is paying that rate to people who tie up their money for one year, 18 months or two years.
To get 6.05% at Ikano Bank – originally part of Ikea and still owned by the family that founded the retailer – you need to put your money away for two years. If you go for a one-year account, the rate is 6%.
The highest-paying savings bonds where the rate is fixed for five years are paying a little less than 6%
The Ford Money accounts have a minimum opening deposit of £500, while at Ikano Bank, it is £1,000.
Other providers who were at the time of writing offering fixed-rate bonds paying above 6% included Sainsbury’s Bank, which has a one-year bond paying 6.01%.
The highest-paying savings bonds where the rate is fixed for five years are paying a little less than 6% – about 5.75% to 5.8% was the best you could get this week, according to the data provider Moneyfacts – but if interest rates end up falling back quite a bit from where they are now over the next couple of years or so, taking out one of those could look like a canny move. However, some people will not want to tie up their cash for that long.
Bonds paying 5.7%
Savers who want to make a difference with their cash are still able to stash money in NS&I’s Green Savings online-only bonds which are fixed for three years.
There are three-year savings bonds available that pay slightly more than 5.7% – for example, Ikano Bank offers one that pays 5.95%.
However, NS&I has the backing of the Treasury, which guarantees 100% of everything you invest. Also, money invested in the green bonds helps finance projects chosen by the government, ranging from offshore windfarms and flood defences to tree-planting and sustainable farming schemes.
To open one of the NS&I accounts, you must pay in between £100 and £100,000, and savers will not be able to access their money during the three years.
