New account pays 9% interest as UK savers offered highest rates for more than a decade

Saffron building society’s 9% interest rate is only available to people who have been members for a year or more. Photograph: True Images/Alamy

A new savings account has been launched that pays an inflation-beating 9% interest – hours after a rival institution unveiled an account paying 7.5%.

The Bank of England’s 12 interest rate rises in a row have spelled pain for millions of people with existing mortgages and those looking to take one out, but the flipside is that savers are now being offered some of the highest rates for more than a decade.