Flurry of top offers vie for your money

BANKS and building societies are coming out with new accounts paying top rates for new savers.

But don’t just go for the rate — make sure that the terms and conditions suit you.

Virgin Money’s Double Take E-Saver, available online, pays 1.21 pc. The rate on the new easy-access account puts it just behind the top rate of 1.25 pc on Ulster Bank’s e-Savings account. But it limits you to two withdrawals a year. There are no restrictions with Ulster Bank.

Closing your account counts as a withdrawal, and so you will not be able to leave if you have made two withdrawals in a calendar year.

Skipton BS’s new Cash Isa Plus pays 1.02 pc, putting it among the top payers on easy-access cash Isas. But the rate includes a 0.27 percentage point bonus payable for the first 12 months. Your rate will drop to 0.75 pc once you have been in the account for a year.

Virgin Money has also introduced a new version of its Defined Access Cash Isa, at a top rate of 1.06 pc.

There is no bonus, but you are restricted to three withdrawals a year. If you make any more, your rate tumbles to 0.25 pc for the rest of the year.

The best deal on easy- access cash Isas with no bonus and no withdrawal restrictions is from Paragon Bank at 1.05 pc.