🔔 Rates Rundown: Best buy competition heats up along with the weather

Following several quiet weeks in the savings market, this week saw the competition heat up in the best buys, mirroring the warm weather we have been experiencing.

A number of providers made improvements to their fixed rate bonds, including a new market-leading three year fixed rate bond from Masthaven, paying 2.32% gross/AER*.

We also saw Secure Trust Bank improving its position in our one and two year tables. OakNorth and Wesleyan Bank also put themselves into the mix with some improvements.

Amongst easy access accounts, two providers re-entered our top five following a period of absence – National Counties Building Society and Tesco Bank.

We also saw changes amongst Sharia fixed term accounts, with BLME now leading the way for both one year (2.05% gross/AER)* and three years (2.35% gross/AER)*.

Finally, Secure Trust Bank consolidated its dominance of our notice account best buy table, with the launch of a market-leading 60 day notice account.

Long may both the competition and warm weather continue!

Fixed Rate Bonds

Following a lull in action in this usually hotly-contested area of the savings market last week, the temperature rose notably this week, with a number of providers improving rates.

The first significant move of the week came from OakNorth, improving the rates on offer on its 12 month (1.90% gross/AER) and 24 month (2.17% gross/AER) fixed rate bonds.

At the time of launch, the 12 month bond was sitting in second position behind Atom Bank (2.05% gross/AER) and the provider was topping the two year table.

Not to be outdone, Secure Trust Bank continued its recent resurgence in this area of the market by improving its one and two year offerings.

The one year fixed rate bond is now paying 1.91% gross/AER, claiming joint second position back from OakNorth. The improved two year bond, paying 2.18% gross/AER, is now top of the pile, moving past OakNorth by the smallest of margins.

Another key set of changes this week came from Masthaven – improving the rates on offer on its two, three, four and five year fixed term bonds.

The pick of the bunch is the 3 Year Fixed Term Bond, paying a market-leading rate of 2.32% gross/AER*.

The two year (2.14% gross/AER*), four year (2.49% gross/AER*) and five year (2.66% gross/AER*) bonds all make it into the top five for the respective terms.

For more information on Masthaven, take a look at this week’s provider focus, which covers the provider’s background and history.

Then, in the final move of the week, Wesleyan Bank improved the rate on offer on its 1 Year Fixed Rate Deposit Account to 1.91% gross/AER - putting the provider alongside Secure Trust Bank in joint-second position.

For more information on each of these accounts and for other options, please refer to our full fixed rate bond best buy tables.

Easy Access Accounts

Our easy access best buy table saw two new entrants this week – National Counties Building Society and Tesco Bank.

Post Office Money (1.33% gross/AER) is still top of the table, but the new account from National Counties now takes second position.

Paying a rate of 1.31% gross/AER, the 4th Issue Classic Saver does require a minimum balance of £20,000 to be maintained in the account and also sets a deadline for adding funds to the account. After 31 July 2018, no more money can be added to the account, so may not be suitable for those wanting to add funds to their account on a more regular basis.

Also new this week is an improved offering from Tesco Bank, paying 1.30% gross/AER.

Although arguably more straightforward than the account from National Counties, the rate does include an introductory bonus of 0.75% for the first 12 months, as is the case with the top-paying account from Post Office Money (1.08% bonus for 12 months).

You may prefer to avoid accounts with an introductory bonus or indeed accounts that are more complicated and look at a more straightforward option. For more on this, take a look at our recent article on Simple Savings.

If this is the case, the next best options are RCI Bank* and Shawbrook Bank, both paying 1.30% gross/AER.

For more information on these accounts and for other leading rates, please refer to our easy access best buy table.

Sharia Accounts

Sharia accounts continue to offer some of the best returns on the market for a fixed term account.

New this week are three competitive new fixed term accounts from Bank of London & the Middle East (BLME).

Its improved one year fixed term account pays an expected profit rate of 2.05% gross/AER*, its two year account pays 2.20% gross/AER* and its three year account is paying 2.35% gross/AER* - each of the accounts comparing favourably with standard fixed rate bonds.

Please refer to our Sharia account best buy table for more information and take a look at our recent article here for more on Sharia accounts and how they work.
 

Notice Accounts

Finally, Secure Trust Bank’s recent dominance of our notice account best buy table was further consolidated with the launch of a new market-leading 60 day account, paying 1.46% gross/1.47% AER.

This means that the provider now leads the way for 90 days’ notice (1.67% gross/1.68% AER), 120 days’ notice (1.72% gross/1.73% AER) and 180 days’ notice (1.77% gross/1.78% AER) with the new 60 day notice account completing the set.

It is important to note that these accounts are each limited to three withdrawals per year, in addition to the full notice period being given.

To view the current top five notice accounts, please refer to our notice account best buy table or give one of our expert advisers a call for other options that may suit your needs.

Our Bath based savings experts are on hand if you would like any help with your savings, so why not give us a call on 0800 011 9705, we’d love to hear from you.

Alternatively, if you want to keep up to date with best buy rates as they hit the market, follow us on Twitter and sign up to our Rate Alert emails.

*We are occasionally paid by some providers if you click through from our Best Buy Tables and open a savings or current account with them. We will never accept a payment that compromises in any way our independent, whole of market approach to providing information on savings products. For clarity we will indicate those companies who remunerate us with an asterisk (*).

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