The UK’s army of savers have been given a wake-up call to check their interest rate and to move their money as soon as possible if they are getting a raw deal.
The Bank of England interest rate was cut from 5% to 4.75% on Thursday, while inflation is currently running at 1.7%.
But, at the time of writing, it was still possible to pick up a fixed-rate savings account paying up to 5%, and an easy-access savings account paying up to 4.9%.
The Bank’s decision means some savings rates will be reduced, and more interest rate cuts are (almost certainly) coming down the track, so you need to be vigilant, and some of the decent deals probably won’t hang around.
That means checking the best-buy tables and moving to a better deal if your current product is lagging behind. “Those who want to preserve their return must move fast by locking in the best deal possible while interest rates remain on the higher side,” says Alice Haine, an analyst at investment platform Bestinvest. “This is particularly important for anyone with money idling in a current account, or an old savings account with a dismal return.”
But that means overcoming inertia: most savers (60%) haven’t bothered switching their savings in the past year. And almost a third haven’t switched in the past five years, new research from rival platform Hargreaves Lansdown shows.
While there are lots of accounts paying more than twice the current rate of inflation, many people are holding savings accounts that are paying a lot less than 1.7% and are therefore seeing the value of their nest eggs gradually being eaten away.
So what should savers be looking at?
Fix at up to 5%
If you are able to tuck some cash away for a little while, a fixed-rate savings account is probably the way to go. With these, savers have to lock their money up but their returns are guaranteed.
The Bank is expected to go a little slower on interest rate cuts after the budget. This changed outlook, plus competition among challenger banks for savers’ cash, has resulted in some providers actually upping rates on their new fixed-rate savings bonds.
At the time of writing, app-based Atom Bank was offering a six-month fixed-rate bond paying 5% (the minimum opening amount is £50), while ICICI Bank UK’s SuperSaver Bond was offering 4.96% for a six-month term (minimum deposit £1,000).
However, one downside of a six-month account is that it won’t be long before it matures and you will need to find a new home for your money.
Because of the expectation that there will be several Bank base rate cuts, it is generally the case that the longer you fix for, the lower the interest rate.
There are, though, some good rates on offer. On Thursday, Atom Bank was offering a one-year, fixed-rate savings bond paying 4.8%, a three-year one paying 4.6%, and a five-year one paying 4.5%.
Easy access – the top deals
Not everyone will be willing, or able, to put their savings out of reach for a while. Some will need the flexibility offered by an easy-access account.
Average easy-access interest rates have fallen since the start of August, when the Bank last cut interest rates, coming down from 3.15% to 3.03%.
Competition between providers means that there are still some decent interest rates around, though Mark Hicks at Hargreaves Lansdown says Thursday’s base rate cut will mean “some accounts get less generous”.
And be aware that some easy access accounts do have restrictions – for example, a limit on the number of withdrawals you can make.
Last Thursday, best-buy easy-access accounts included Atom Bank’s Instant Saver Reward, which pays up to 4.85%, and Coventry Building Society’s Triple Access Saver (Online) (5), paying 4.83%.
An Isa may be nicer
It was announced in the budget that the annual Isa investment limit will stay at £20,000 until at least 2030. With more and more people being landed with an unwelcome tax bill for their savings, tax-free cash Isas are now very much back in vogue. Any interest you earn is all yours, while with a standard non-cash Isa savings account, you may have to pay some tax.
With some non-Isa accounts still paying 5% interest or more, there are people who are not well-off but have decent-ish sums tucked away who are hitting their tax-free limit. This relates to the personal savings allowance, which lets basic-rate taxpayers receive £1,000 of interest each financial year without paying any tax, falling to £500 for higher-rate taxpayers.
So if you are looking to put some money into savings or switch provider, and are not using your Isa allowance at all, or only using a bit of it, that arguably doesn’t make sense. Remember that you can sign up to multiple cash Isas during one tax year, provided the overall maximum allowance is not breached.
The cash Isa market saw renewed competition last week, says Moneyfacts, with top-paying providers now including app-based company Moneybox offering a 5.17% variable on balances of £500-plus. But a lower rate of 0.75% applies if you make more than three withdrawals in a year.
Meanwhile, fixed-rate cash Isas are paying up to 4.6%, with the highest rates typically reserved for those tying up their cash for six or 12 months.
“Savers are the ones who feel the force of cuts to interest rates and, to add insult to injury, they will see no rise to any personal tax or savings allowances in the short term – making cash Isas increasingly attractive,” says Rachel Springall at Moneyfacts.
Have fun with premium bonds
The bad news for Britain’s army of premium bond holders is that the odds of winning a prize are about to get a bit worse. And premium bonds don’t pay any interest, so they are more vulnerable to inflation than other savings.
But one thing they have in their favour – aside from the possibility that you might (but probably won’t) win big – is that any prizes you win are free from income tax and capital gains tax. That will appeal to some people worried about possible tax bills on their savings and investments.
NS&I (National Savings & Investments) recently announced that the premium bond prize fund rate – the proportion of the total amount invested paid out in prizes – is being cut from 4.4% to 4.15% next month. As a result, the odds of winning with each £1 bond number will reduce, from 21,000-1 to 22,000-1.
While the total value of prizes last month was £461m, it is estimated this will fall next month to £435m. And a rejig of the prize pot means there will be fewer big-money prizes and slightly more £25 ones.
Laura Suter at investment platform AJ Bell says the prize fund rate is effectively the average rate paid out on prizes, “but in reality there is no guarantee of receiving any return, as many bond holders will never win a prize, particularly those with smaller amounts of cash saved in the bonds”.
