Lenders ‘penalise savers with lower returns’

‘I think some providers are hoping that customers aren’t active and don’t realise what they’re earning’

BANKS have been accused of penalising loyal savers by paying them significantly lower interest rates than new customers.

Long-standing account holders with balances of £20,000 are missing out on up to £292 a month, analyst Savings Champion warned.

Instead of increasing rates for all savers, some banks are releasing new versions – or “issues” – of easy-access accounts that offer higher returns.

However, existing customers do not automatically benefit from the new, higher account rate.

Three of Britain’s 10 biggest banks and building societies – Nationwide, TSB and Santander – are offering their loyal customers a worse deal than new ones, the research found.

Nationwide pays 1.75pc on the 1 Year Triple Access Online Saver 15 account, compared with 1pc on some older versions. At TSB, savers earn 0.25pc on the Easy Saver and esavings accounts, but 0.2pc on some previous versions. Santander has moved customers with older esaver accounts to the Everyday Saver, which is at 0.1pc, instead of upgrading them to the new issue rate of 0.75pc.

Out of the top 25 easy-access accounts paying the highest rates, 14 have older versions paying different rates. Seven of the banks offering these accounts have not upgraded the rate on older accounts.

Anna Bowes, of Savings Champion, said: “I think some providers are hoping that customers aren’t active and don’t realise what they’re earning.”

Nationwide, TSB and Santander said their customers could easily move their money into new accounts and had been told about changes in savings rates.