Things were looking a bit rosier for a while, however it’s all started going wrong again for savers as we end the week.
That said, there are still a few positive green shoots in the mix – and we can but hope that the next few weeks bring some ISA cheer, as we approach the end of the tax year.
RATES ARE CORRECT AS AT THE TIME OF PUBLICATION (05/02/2021). All up-to-date rates can be found on our Best Buy tables.
Unfortunately, this week saw Aldermore withdraw its unrestricted easy access account, paying 0.50% AER.
This means that while the top two accounts in our Best Buy table are still offering 0.50%, they both allow only a very restricted number of withdrawals each year.
We’ve seen more and more easy access accounts adopt this feature – so it’s important to check the facts before finding yourself without the access to your cash that you thought you had.
We’ve seen a bit of a battle going on in the fixed rate bond Best Buy tables over the last couple of weeks, especially in the 1, 2 and 3 year tables.
ZOPA and SmartSave, in particular, jostled for a top spot, switching places several times and pushing some of the best rates up to the highest levels we’ve seen for a few weeks. At the peak, the best 1 year was paying 0.71% AER, over 2 years the top rate reached 0.85% AER and over 3 years the best rate was 0.95% AER. But these top rates didn’t hang around for long and things have dropped back down unfortunately.
But it does illustrate that from time to time, there are providers that want your cash and are prepared to fight for it.
Make sure you keep a close eye on our Best Buy tables to try and take advantage of the competition when it happens.
Once again, the brightest spot has been in the Sharia Fixed Term Bond market. This time it’s been Al Rayan Bank that has launched a series of market leading bonds. The Bank is now topping the table over 1 year, 18 months, 2 years and 3 years paying Expected Profit Rates (EPR) of 0.85%, 0.90%, 1,15% and 1.30% respectively and increasing the gap between best buy Sharia accounts and standard fixed rate bonds.
Gatehouse Bank is still paying the very best rate in the market with a 5 year bond paying 1.50% EPR. However, it has enhanced its proposition by launching Fixed Term Green Savers – paying the same rates but for every account that is opened and funded, Gatehouse Bank will plant a tree in a certified UK woodland project.
Cash ISAs
There’s nothing of any interest to report in the Variable Rate ISA table or the Fixed Rate ISA tables, very little change at all and certainly nothing positive. We’ll have to hope that the impending ISA season will bring at least some positive news in the weeks to come.
Short and not terribly sweet this week – but we’ll be back with more news next time.
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