Another week – similar story. It’s been a month now since the base rate increased to 0.75% - yet there are still far more to providers that still need to let us know how they are going to treat us. Just 34% of providers have announced so far if they are going to play fair or not.
There has been a flurry of activity this week – with 11 more providers showing their wares. But there are still 91 providers who have remained silent!
So, what are the highlights and the lowlights this week?
The prize this week goes to… the Monmouthshire Building Society. The Building Society has joined the very small exclusive club that has passed on 0.25% to all accounts.
On the flip side, NS&I announced its plans this week to increase just three accounts on the 1st October – Income Bonds by 0.15% to 1.15%, Investment Account, up by 0.10% to pay 0.80% and Direct Saver is increasing by just 0.05% to 1%.
There’s no mention of an increase to the Premium Bond Prize fund!
NS&I savers will no doubt be disappointed that they will not see a full 0.25% rise on their savings accounts – in fact, Direct ISA savers will see a cut on 24th September, from 1% to 0.75%.
However, this muted response from NS&I was expected, as NS&I’s net financing target for the current tax year has reduced considerably since the beginning of 2017-18 and now stands at just £6bn.
This latest announcement follows the news in June that the amount you can invest in NS&I’s Guaranteed Growth and Guaranteed Income bonds was reduced from £1 million to £10,000 per person. They are clearly looking to stem the inflow of deposits.
The increases to the three account are comparable to most of the other increases that we’ve seen so far and compared to the paltry rates on offer from the high street banks even after the base rate rise, these accounts from NS&I look positively competitive – especially the Income Bonds.
But savers can do better.
At the moment, the best easy access accounts are offering as much as 1.35% gross/AER (for unlimited withdrawals) from Birmingham Midshires, and Coventry Building Society is still offering an account paying 1.40%, but a maximum of three penalty free withdrawals is allowed per year.
Post Office is the other popular provider to announce its plans this week. Unsurprisingly only a handful of rates increased by 0.25%. The majority of those that did increase, did so by 0.15%, so check carefully to see what your account is now paying, and whether that is competitive.
| 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 |
| 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 |
| Co-op Bank | No | 0.03% | 0.25% | 0.06% | 30-Aug |
| Coventry Building Society | No | 0.05% | 0.25% | 0.17% | 01-Sep |
| Cumberland Building Society | Yes | 0.15% | 0.30% | 0.21% | 01-Sep |
| Halifax | No | 0.25% | 0.25% | 0.25% | 31-Aug |
| 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 | 0.10% | 0.25% | N/A | 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 |
| 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 |
| Post Office | No | 0.15% | 0.25% | 0.18% | 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 |
| 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% | 31-Aug |
| Smile | Yes | 0.13% | 0.28% | 0.21% | 30-Aug |
| Swansea Building Society | Yes | 0.25% | 0.25% | 0.25% | 01-Oct |
| 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 |
| TSB Bank | No | 0.10% | 0.25% | N/A | 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 |
| *Help to Buy ISA will increase by 0.50% to 2.50% | |||||
| ^Regular Saver will increase by 0.50% to 1.50% | |||||
| ~Regular Saver will increase by 0.40% to 2.00% | |||||
Remember to check in next week for the latest instalment and if you think your friends and family will find this useful too, forward this link to them so they can stay up to date.
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