Act smartly to bag a savings deal
SAVERS need a sharp eye to keep up with the best deals on easy-access accounts.
Top rates are disappearing fast and experts predict more will follow.
Among the latest to go are top accounts from Ford Money, Charter Savings Bank, Kent Reliance and Sainsbury’s Bank.
Since the launch of the Marcus account by Goldman Sachs last September, raising money through easy-access accounts has become more expensive for banks.
Smaller banks and building societies were forced to scramble to compete with its 1.5 pc rate, pushing easy-access rates up to their highest level for two years.
At the same time, more money is heading into easy-access accounts as savers face economic uncertainty.
Some £30 billion has been saved into easyaccess accounts in the past 12 months, while fixed- rate bonds have suffered a £53 billion outflow.
Providers have also just seen a rush of money into cash Isas around the end of the tax year.
Kevin Mountford, chief executive officer at savings marketplace Raisin UK, says: ‘When easy-access money gets more costly, banks need to be a lot smarter to ensure they do not raise more than they need.
‘More are likely to dip in and out, so we may see further cuts,’ he adds.
Ford Money closed its account early this month. It is the first time the car giant has not offered an easy-access account since it launched two years ago.
It still pays 1.42 pc on its Flexible Saver to those already in the account. Charter Savings Bank pays new savers 0.75 pc, against a previous 1.35 pc, a 45 pc drop.
Coventry BS has replaced its Easy Access Saver at 1.15 pc with a new lower version at 1.05 pc.
Sainsbury’s Bank Defined Access is down at 1.25 pc for new savers, 14 pc lower than the previous 1.45 pc. Its easy- access Extra Saver is down by 16 pc at 0.78 pc on sums up to £15,000.
Even the mighty Goldman Sachs has cut the amount new savers can put into the Marcus account — last week it went from £250,000 to £100,000. Kent Reliance has withdrawn its online easy-access account at 1.5 pc and now pays 1.4 pc. The higher rate was on offer for a period of just five weeks.
Both Marcus by Goldman Sachs and Virgin Money pay 1.5 pc online, but come with a catch. The Marcus rate lasts for only 12 months, then drops by 0.15 percentage points.
The Virgin Double Take E-Saver limits you to making just two withdrawals a year.
In the High Street, Newbury BS pays 1.5 pc. But the account is open only to new members living in its operating area — and the most you can put in is £3,000.
Other good deals in the High Street include Kent Reliance at 1.4 pc, through its nine branches, and Family BS Branch Saver at 1.21 pc, through its Epsom, Surrey branch.
More widely available is Virgin Money’s Easy Access Saver at 1.16 pc.
There are higher rates such as Co-op Bank Britannia Select Access Saver 10 at 1.4 pc with four withdrawals a year, and Cambridge BS Your Saver at 1.2 pc with one withdrawal a month.