After almost of decade of waiting and many years of will they, won’t they, the Bank of England finally raised rates last month and savers breathed a sigh of relief – but that was probably a bit premature.
Fast-forward to today and the outlook is pretty bleak, we’re sad to say. By now we would have expected most, if not all, providers to have announced their plans for their variable rate savings accounts, following the recent rise. These plans should detail each and every one of their variable rate savings products, be they on-sale (available to open today) or off-sale (not available to open).
And we should expect to see those increases coincide with any planned rise to their Standard Variable Mortgage Rate.
Of course, in the past, savings providers have not always played fair. Rates on all accounts generally didn’t always rise by the full amount of the base rate rise but many did and most did at least move all their accounts by something, even if it was by a small margin.
But that was how things used to be, before the financial crisis took hold – the link between the Bank of England base rate and savings rates was strong.
Today the picture is very different. A shocking statistic has emerged as just 63 providers out of 136 have changed some (certainly not all) of their accounts following the rise. This means that 54% of the market have simply not increased ANY of their variable savings rates. And that’s not all. With 50% of all variable rate savings accounts seeing no change in rate following the base rate rise back in November last year, some accounts have remained the same following not just one but two base rate increases.
There are just a handful of providers who have passed on the full rate rise to all savers, which deserve another mention; smaller providers Beverley Building Society, Holmesdale Building Society, Monmouthshire Building Society and Swansea Building Society.
Of course, you have to look at the rates being paid to make sure you’re getting a good and fair deal but certainly these building societies are treating their customers more fairly.
Ditch the High Street savings providers!
On the flipside, the high street continues to offer some of the worst rates on the market and have done nothing to impress us following the base rate rise. None of them have raised all their rates and of those that were increased, some were by the smallest margins.
If you take a look at their easy access accounts alone, you can see clearly that you can achieve so much more by moving. The rates before and after the base rate rise are simply appalling. Move your money to the best easy access account on the market, currently with Coventry Building Society, paying 1.40%, and you could pocket almost an extra £1,062.50 in interest over the year on a balance of £85,000. Even on a balance of £10,000 you could earn either £15 over the next 12 months with HSBC, or £140 with Coventry Building Society.
| Rate increase following the base rate | New Rate | Interest earned based on amount deposited | How much more interest earned on best easy access (1.40%) | ||||
| Provider/Account Name | AER % | £50,000 | £85,000 | £50,000 | £85,000 | ||
| Lloyds – Easy Saver | None | 0.20% | £100.00 | £170.00 | £600.00 | £1,020.00 | |
| HSBC – Flexible Saver | 0.10% | 0.15% | £75.00 | £127.50 | £625.00 | £1,062.50 | |
| NatWest – Instant Saver * | 0.10% | 0.30% | £150.00 | £255.00 | £550.00 | £935.00 | |
| Barclays – Everyday Saver * | 0.05% | 0.30% | £150.00 | £255.00 | £550.00 | £935.00 | |
| Santander – Everyday Saver | 0.10% | 0.35% | £175.00 | £297.50 | £525.00 | £892.50 | |
| Halifax - Everyday Saver | None | 0.20% | £100.00 | £170.00 | £600.00 | £1,020.00 | |
| Bank of Scotland - Access Saver | None | 0.20% | £100.00 | £170.00 | £600.00 | £1,020.00 | |
| Royal Bank of Scotland - Instant Saver * | 0.10% | 0.30% | £150.00 | £255.00 | £550.00 | £935.00 | |
| Nationwide - Instant Access Saver Issue 6 * ** | 0% - 0.15% | 0.25% | £125.00 | £212.50 | £575.00 | £977.50 | |
| Best easy access - Coventry Building Society (1.40%) | 1.40% | £700.00 | £1,190.00 | ||||
| Rates based on £50,000 and £85,000 deposited | |||||||
| * This is a tiered account. Rate shown based on balance of £50k and £85k. | |||||||
| ** The Loyalty Saver range of easy access accounts will increase by between 0.05% and 0.10%, depending on your loyalty term and pay much better rates than the Instant Access Saver - from between 0.80% for 1 - 4 years to 1.10% for 15 years or more. | |||||||
But it’s not just the high street savings providers who are behaving badly. A raft of providers have not even bothered to announce any changes and most of those that have, well quite frankly, could do better.
Here’s a breakdown of the providers that have announced. Has your provider played fair or is it time to show them a clean pair of heels and move your hard-earned cash elsewhere. We suspect for many savers it’s the latter! So, make the switch. Check out our Best Buy tables for some inspiration.
| Provider | Did all Rates Change | Lowest Increase | Highest Increase | Average Increase | Effective Date(s) |
| AA - Bank of Ireland Group | No | 0.15% | 0.15% | 0.15% | 01-Sep |
| Aldermore | No | 0.25% | 0.25% | 0.25% | 31-Aug |
| Allied Irish Bank | No | 0.05% | 0.05% | 0.05% | 04-Sep |
| Bank of Cyprus UK | No | 0.15% | 0.15% | 0.15% | 06-Sep |
| Bank of Scotland | No | 0.15% | 0.25% | 0.22% | 31-Aug |
| Barclays | No | 0.05% | 0.10% | 0.07% | 03-Sep |
| Beverley Building Society | Yes | 0.25% | 0.25% | 0.25% | 28-Aug |
| C.Hoare & Co | No | 0.10% | 0.25% | 0.18% | 06-Aug |
| Cahoot | Yes | 0.15% | 0.15% | 0.15% | 03-Sep |
| Cambridge Building Society | No | 0.05% | 0.25% | 0.15% | 30-Aug |
| Cater Allen | No | 0.10% | 0.25% | 0.20% | 31-Aug |
| Clydesdale Bank | No | 0.05% | 0.25% | 0.14% | 31-Aug |
| Co-op Bank | No | 0.03% | 0.25% | 0.06% | 30-Aug |
| Coutts & Co | No | 0.15% | 0.25% | 0.20% | 03-Sep |
| Coventry Building Society | No | 0.05% | 0.25% | 0.17% | 01-Sep |
| Cumberland Building Society | Yes | 0.15% | 0.30% | 0.21% | 01-Sep |
| Danske Bank | No | 0.15% | 0.25% | 0.22% | 03-Sep |
| First Direct | No | 0.05% | 0.10% | 0.09% | 03-Sep |
| First Trust Bank | No | 0.05% | 0.30% | 0.19% | 04-Sep |
| Furness Building Society | No | 0.10% | 0.25% | 0.19% | 01-Sep |
| Gatehouse Bank | No | 0.25% | 0.25% | 0.25% | 17-Aug |
| Halifax | No | 0.25% | 0.25% | 0.25% | 31-Aug |
| Hampden & Co | Yes | 0.15% | 0.25% | 0.18% | 17-Aug / 20-Nov |
| Hanley Economic Building Society | Yes | 0.10% | 0.15% | 0.14% | 01-Sep |
| Hinckley and Rugby Building Society | No | 0.10% | 0.30% | 0.13% | 29-Aug |
| Holmesdale Building Society | Yes | 0.25% | 0.25% | 0.25% | 01-Sep |
| HSBC | No | 0.05% | 0.25% | 0.15% | 03-Sep |
| Kent Reliance | No | 0.04% | 0.35% | 0.21% | 01-Sep |
| Kingdom Bank | No | 0.10% | 0.10% | 0.10% | 03-Aug |
| Lloyds Bank | No | 0.15% | 0.25% | 0.20% | 31-Aug |
| Manchester Building Society | Yes | 0.10% | 0.25% | 0.17% | 01-Sep |
| Marsden Building Society | No | 0.10% | 0.50% | 0.21% | 01-Oct |
| Metro Bank | No | 0.10% | 0.25% | 0.16% | 31-Aug |
| Monmouthshire Building Society | Yes | 0.25% | 0.25% | 0.25% | 01-Sep |
| National Counties Building Society | No | 0.03% | 0.25% | 0.14% | 11-Sep |
| National Savings & Investments | No | 0.05% | 0.15% | 0.10% | 01-Oct |
| Nationwide Building Society | No | 0.05% | 0.25%* | 0.10% | 31-Aug |
| Natwest | No | 0.05% | 0.25%>^ | 0.16% | 03-Sep |
| Newbury Building Society | No | 0.10% | 0.25% | 0.17% | 13-Sep |
| Paragon Bank | No | 0.10% | 0.26% | 0.21% | 31-Aug |
| Penrith Building Society | No | 0.20% | 0.25% | 0.24% | 01-Sep |
| Post Office | No | 0.15% | 0.25% | 0.16% | 01-Sep |
| Progressive Building Society | No | 0.10% | 0.25% | 0.19% | 10-Sep |
| Royal Bank of Scotland | No | 0.05% | 0.20% | 0.10% | 03-Sep |
| Saffron Building Society | No | 0.10% | 0.30% | 0.24% | 31-Aug |
| Sainsbury's Bank | No | 0.07% | 0.25% | 0.16% | 05-Sep |
| Santander | No | 0.10% | 0.25% | 0.18% | 03-Sep |
| Scottish Building Society | Yes | 0.10% | 0.20%~ | 0.20% | 17-Sep |
| Scottish Widows Bank | No | 0.25% | 0.25% | 0.25% | 31-Aug |
| Skipton Building Society | No | 0.05% | 0.30% | 0.16% | 16-Aug / 31-Aug |
| Smile | Yes | 0.13% | 0.28% | 0.21% | 30-Aug |
| Stafford Railway Building Society | Yes | 0.10% | 0.25% | 0.17% | 01-Oct |
| Swansea Building Society | Yes | 0.25% | 0.25% | 0.25% | 01-Oct |
| Teachers Building Society | Yes | 0.10% | 0.25% | 0.15% | 01-Sep |
| The Access Bank | Yes | 0.20% | 0.20% | 0.20% | 01-Sep |
| The Family Building Society | No | 0.10% | 0.25% | 0.19% | 11-Sep |
| Triodos Bank | No | 0.05% | 0.25% | 0.09% | 03-Sep |
| TSB Bank | No | 0.10% | 0.25% | 0.12% | 01-Sep |
| Ulster Bank | No | 0.10% | 0.10%> | 0.11% | 03-Sep |
| United Trust Bank | No | 0.25% | 0.25% | 0.25% | 08-Aug |
| Vernon Building Society | Yes | 0.05% | 0.25% | 0.22% | 01-Sep |
| Virgin Money | No | 0.25% | 0.25% | 0.25% | 01-Sep |
| Yorkshire Bank | No | 0.05% | 0.25% | 0.14% | 31-Aug |
| *Help to Buy ISA will increase by 0.50% to 2.50% | |||||
| >Help to Buy ISA will increase by 0.49% to 2.47% | |||||
| ^Regular Saver will increase by 0.50% to 1.50% | |||||
| ~Regular Saver will increase by 0.40% to 2.00% | |||||
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