The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has recently suggested that Central Banks such as the Bank of England will start to cuts rates back to pre-pandemic levels once inflation is under control.
Of course this is currently just musings and as ever we will need to wait and see what happens next – but in the meantime the good news is that savings rates are continuing to rise! So grab a top deal while you can?
RATES ARE CORRECT AS AT THE TIME OF PUBLICATION (14/04/2023). All up-to-date rates can be found on our Best Buy tables.
The battle of the Easy Access best buy table has resumed over the last couple of weeks, although Chip has held onto the top spot, albeit with a higher rate.
Zopa was the first to make a move increasing the rate on its Smart Saver to 3.34% and while this put it into 2nd place at the time, due to a flurry of activity subsequently, this account has now actually dropped out of the table.
Tandem was the next to increase the rate it is offering to both new and existing customers – upping its rate to 3.50% and jumping right to the top. But Chip was not happy with this and in a definite battle of the app accounts, Chip increased the rate to 3.55% AER – regaining the top place.
The other account of note was The Family Building Society Online Saver (5). The rate on this account was raised to 3.40% AER – again for new and existing customers – making it the best paying non app-only easy access account.
It’s been another couple of quiet weeks in the Notice Account market with very little happening. However, two new accounts from OakNorth Bank means that there is now new top paying 90-day notice account and 120-day notice account paying 3.65% and 3.70% respectively.
It’s been another good couple of weeks in the fixed rate bond tables – over the shorter term in any case. The top paying longer term bonds however are actually paying a little less than they were a couple of weeks ago.
In the 1-year table once again the good news is that in the last two weeks, the top rate on offer has increased from 4.51% to 4.54% - in fact all of the top 5 rates are paying 4.50% or more.
Smart Save has of course been active, launching two new bonds in the last two weeks. But I’m sure the rate setters at Smart Save will be miffed to have been pipped by Oxbury Bank at the last minute, stealing the lead by just 0.01%, paying 4.54%. I guess they now know how it feels.
Smart Save and Oxbury have played the leading parts in the 2-year table too, this time taking joint top spot paying 4.58% AER. Charter Savings Bank and Close Brothers are also paying the same rate as one another, just a fraction lower at 4.57% AER with Secure Trust Bank taking the final place with its latest offering of 4.55%. Just two weeks ago the top rate was 4.54%, so once again there has been some good positive movement to take advantage of.
Over in the 3-year table its Cynergy Bank and Close Brothers that are in joint top place but paying 4.57%, so slightly less than the top rate over 2 years. But this is up from the top rate of 4.55% a couple of weeks ago.
But over in the 5-year table, United Trust Bank launched a new bond paying 4.55% - so less than its previous offering which was in the top spot paying 4.65% AER. This has left Tandem and Monument both paying 4.60% AER as we end the week.
The beginning of a new tax year saw a spike in the best fixed rate ISAs available but as in the fixed rate bond market, this applied to the shorter term accounts. And some of these top rates have since been withdrawn.
Over 1-year, the 6th April saw Paragon and UBL launch ISAs paying 4.20% AER but these were gone by the time Easter was over, leaving Shawbrook and Close Brothers at the top paying 4.17% tax-free AER – a little less but still higher than the top rates two weeks earlier.
Over 2-years it was a similar story. UBL launched a top rate of 4.30% which was withdrawn at the beginning of this week. Paragon, Shawbrook and Close Brothers also launched new higher paying ISAs of 4.28% AER and these are still all available as we end the week.
The top rate of our 3-year Cash ISA table is still 4.20%, which has been the top rate since early March - although Paragon and UBL once again launched market leading rates as the tax year started – each offering 4.25% for just a few days. But it was a case of blink and you missed them as they are no longer available.
Over 5-years, there is very little to report – in the last two weeks the only news was a new ISA from Paragon paying 4%, bringing all five rates on the table to 4% or more, with the top rate on offer still 4.05% from UBL - less than the shorter term ISAs.
It feels like the ISA season could be coming to a close - but the top shorter term rates are still higher than they were just two weeks agon, so it might be worth trying to grab these market leading rates now, in case they too are withdrawn.
The top variable rate ISAs have also increased a little over the last couple of weeks – with the Furness Building Society increasing the rate on its 45 Day Notice ISA from 3.30% to 3.55% to retain the top spot in the table. And the top easy access ISAs are also higher.
The Yorkshire Building Society increased the rate on its Limited Access ISA from 3.10% to 3.35% as the old tax year ended and this rate is still available, and the best easy access ISA currently. That said, as the name suggests you cannot make unlimited withdrawals – in fact withdrawals from this account are only allowed on one day per year, based on the anniversary of the account opening date.
Leeds Building Society, Cynergy Bank and Shawbrook Bank are all offering higher rates on their easy access ISAs too – paying 3.30%, 3.28% and 3.27% respectively and there is no limited access to any of these accounts.
Overall it’s been another couple of good weeks for rate rises for those prepared to shop around.
@savingschampion
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