Goldman Sachs set to unveil details of its new cutting-edge savings account

INVESTMENT bank Goldman Sachs is expected early this week to confirm key details of the first savings account that it is making available to the UK public.

Although officials are keen to keep a tight lid on information ahead of the impending launch, the interest rate on offer is likely to be between two and seven times that available from mainstream banks.

Branded ‘ Marcus’ after the bank’s founder Marcus Goldman, it is understood the easy access account – available online and using cutting-edge technology – will pay a savings rate of around 1.5 per cent.

If modelled on its US counterpart which launched two years ago, the rate could be available on balances from as little as £1. To put this interest rate into perspective, the average for easyaccess savings accounts across banks and building societies is 0.6 per cent – with some paying much less.

For example, easy access accounts from NatWest (Instant Saver) and Lloyds (Easy Saver) are paying a miserly 0.2 per cent.

In recent weeks, Goldman has been testing the new account among its 6,000 staff so as to ensure its launch is not undermined by any glitches. The UK operation i s headed by Des McDaid who joined from rival TSB last year.

Anna Bowes, a director of Savings Champion, says Goldman Sachs’s arrival in the UK savings market is ‘great news’.

She believes it has the financial muscle to become a major challenger, even bigger than recent digital savings entrants Atom Bank and Starling.

In the United States, Marcus has extended its product range since launch to encompass fixed rate savings accounts and online personal loans – a strategy that is likely to be adopted in the UK.