January seems to have been ‘best buy withdrawal month’, with best buys being taken off sale left, right and centre. Even longstanding best buys from the likes of Coventry Building Society, Virgin and the Post Office have fallen by the wayside. Product launches have served mainly to replace withdrawn products with lower paying versions.
Having said that there have been a few positive launches to talk about and whilst on the one hand it could be argued that savers are not in any better position due to higher rates pulled elsewhere, without these, the position would be even worse.
Kent Reliance (KRBS) has launched a new version of its easy access account paying 1.60% gross/AER and contrary to what is happening elsewhere, this is an actual increase in rate. This means that this account is now the top easy access account and there are no withdrawal restrictions or introductory bonus.
Many providers have launched lower paying versions of their fixed rate bonds this month, so the increases from United Bank UK have certainly stood out. The new rates range from 1.90% for 1 year to 3.25% for 5 years.
So whilst we were hoping towards the end of last year for an upward trend for savings rates, this month has not exactly given us cause for optimism. However, it is early days and there is still time for providers to turn things around by improving their offerings.
Rest assured we will, of course keep you informed of new accounts as they hit the shelves via our Rate Alerts and we hope to share news that is more positive in the coming weeks and months. In the meantime, make sure you register your accounts on our free Rate Tracker Service if you haven’t done so already.
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