The new year has seen several providers make changes to their current account offerings, encouraging customers in with various incentives. High Interest Current Accounts currently offer some of the best rates on the market for savers, so the options on offer are worth looking at in more detail.
Elsewhere, Paragon Bank has entered the Notice Account Best Buy Table with a re-launched account that is now market leader. New accounts from State Bank of India feature in the Fixed Rate Cash ISA tables and Close Brothers now appears in our Fixed Rate Bond tables.
Whilst things appear to have gone fairly quiet amongst Help to Buy ISAs after the initial flurry of activity following the launch of the scheme in early December, Barclays Bank has joined the competition with a new best buy account.
M&S Bank now offers a cash incentive for those who switch to one of its current accounts, of up to £220, in the form of M&S gift cards. £100 will be paid once the switch is complete and an additional £10 a month for the first 12 months, subject to terms and conditions.
If you don’t want to switch your account, you can still get 5% AER from TSB Bank and Nationwide on in-credit balances of up to £2,000 and £2,500 respectively.
Santander increased the monthly account fee on the 123 Current Account, from £2 to £5 on Monday 11th January. However, you can still obtain 3.00% AER on up to £60,000 by opening three accounts; one in your sole name, one in joint names and one in your partner's name with £20,000 in each.
The account remains one of the very best High Interest Current Accounts on the market for savers, due to the larger amounts that can be saved. But make sure you're also taking full advantage of the cashback facility to further mitigate the increased fee.
For more information on how to maximize your savings using High Interest Current Accounts, call 0800 321 3581, to speak to one of our expert advisers.
Paragon Bank has re-launched its 120 Day Notice Account (Issue 4) paying 1.96% gross/AER and is now the market leading notice account.
State Bank of India has launched a new 2 year fixed rate ISA paying 2.00% tax free/AER, which is currently the highest paying 2 year fixed rate on the market. The provider also improved its 3 year fixed rate ISA and is now paying 2.30% tax free/AER, putting it in line with United Bank UK at the top of the 3 year table.
Close Brothers has improved the interest rates on selected fixed rate bonds for new accounts opened. The 1 year bond pays 2.00% gross/AER, the 2 year bond pays 2.25% gross/AER and the 3 year bond pays 2.50% gross/AER. All three bonds now appear in our best buy tables.
Barclays has launched a new Help to Buy: ISA, paying 2.25% tax free / 2.27% AER. The account has gone straight into our Help to Buy Best Buy Table in third place after Halifax (4.00%) and Virgin Money (3.00%).
For more information on Help to Buy ISAs, please call us on 0800 321 3581 or take a look at our handy guide.
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