As ever, immediately after the latest base rate hike on 2nd February, things were a bit slow. However, the good news is that the activity has picked up a bit and the usual good guys have been increasing rates across the board, giving another boost to savers.
A particular shoutout goes to the Skipton Building Society and the Principality Building Society for keeping the team extremely busy by increasing the rates of hundreds of accounts between them!
But as ever, we would urge you to check that you are getting a good deal and if you are being shortchanged, switch to a better paying account. So, let's take a look at what else has been happening, specifically on our Best Buy tables?
RATES ARE CORRECT AS AT THE TIME OF PUBLICATION (17/02/2023). All up-to-date rates can be found on our Best Buy tables.
Well, there is plenty to report, with a plethora of rake hikes taking all of the top five accounts above the 3% mark.
The first moves all came on the same day with OakNorth launching its Easy Access Limited Edition Account Issue 1 paying 3.05% and Newcastle Building Society offering the same rate of 3.05% on its Triple Access Saver (Issue 4), both matching Tandem in joint 1st place. At the same time, Shawbrook Bank launched Issue 33 of its Easy Access Account paying 3.01% AER. This left Atom Bank hanging on in 5th place although credit where credit is due, Atom had increased the rate it was offering on Instant Saver from 2.55% AER to 2.95% AER, immediately following the base rate rise. This increase is for new and existing customers and there are no limits to the number of withdrawals allowed, unlike some of the other entrants.
Nevertheless, Atom’s days in the Best Buy table were numbered an low and behold, Sainsbury’s Bank toppled it, by launching Defined Access Saver Issue 8 paying 3.05% AER. As the name suggests, this is one of those easy access accounts that allows a limited number of penalty free withdrawals, so keep an eye out for that.
The action wasn’t over however. The next move came from Paragon who increased the rate on its Triple Access Savings Account Issue 11 - for new and existing customers - from 2.91% to 3.10%, elevating it to the top spot where is stayed until just a couple of days ago, when it was ousted by Cynergy Bank’s latest Online Easy Access Account (Issue 56) offering 3.11%.
Shawbrook also offered some cheer for the customers of the aforementioned Easy Access Account Issue 33, as rather than simply launching another issue, it decided to increase the rate on the existing issue instead, rising from 3.01% to 3.06%.
We’re loving this competition in the Easy Access market. Long may it continue!
Investec made the only positive move in the Best Buy table this week, but it was a cracker. It increased its already competitive 95 Day Notice Savings Account rate from 3.22% AER to a market-leading 3.55% - leapfrogging all the other longer term notice accounts to take the crown. And the even better news is that this new rate will apply to both new AND existing customers.
If you don’t need immediate access to your cash, it’s worth at least taking a look at these often-overlooked accounts.
The fixed rate bond market has continued to be a little flat, although there have been a couple of bright spots we can dwell on.
In the 1-year table, a couple of weeks ago the top rate was 4.17% with Smart Save. Well, very little changed for well over a week until a little flurry of activity has pushed things along a bit in the last couple of days. DF Capital launched Issue 7 of its 1 Year Fixed Rate Deposit, matching Smart Save paying 4.17% AER. But the same day Raisin launched a market leading 1-year bond via Ahli United Bank UK, paying 4.20%. However, true to form, Smart Save has retaliated as we end the week with an improved rate of 4.21% AER – pipping its competitors.
In the 2-year table there has been very little activity and the majority has been bond withdrawals rather than additions. Although Smart Save introduced a bond paying 4.26% that entered mid-table, as we end the week, the top rate remains as it has been for a couple of weeks, 4.35% AER from the Union Bank of India.
It’s a similar story over in the 3-year table although this time it is The Access Bank that starts and ends the two-week period at the top paying 4.40% AER, so marginally more than the shorter term top rate. Smart Save has once again nestled itself mid table paying 4.31% AER.
Finally, there was a small improvement at the top of the 5-year table. Isbank, again via the Raisin UK platform relaunched its bond paying 4.50% AER, fixed for the 5-year term – pushing Union Bank of India back into the 2nd spot.
There has been very little activity in the Fixed Rate Bond tables but things seem to have stalled rather than drop too far. We’ll need to wait and see what the markets predict for interest rates over the short and long terms, which will no doubt feed into what the top fixed rate bonds will offer going forward. For now though it feels as though we have seen the peak, so you may wish to lock some of your money away to enjoy these top rates while they last.
Considering we are hurtling towards what is likely to Be a much more active ISA season, as savers need all the shelter they can get, it’s been disappointingly quiet across all terms in the Cash ISA Fixed Rate tables. That said, the rateS on offer have been more resilient that the top rates on Fixed Rate Bonds and the gap between the two is the narrowest it’s been for years.
Over 1-year, things started out promisingly as we added another Virgin exclusive ISA to the table, this time a 1-year fixed term ISA that is paying 4.25%. In order to access this account though, you need to have a current account with Virgin Money which was opened on or after 4 December 2019. Or, you originally opened your current account with Clydesdale Bank, Yorkshire Bank or B such as a Signature Current Account. But there is no requirement for this to be your main current account.
Whilst nothing has pushed the Virgin Exclusive ISA from the top spot over the last couple of weeks and Barclays is still hanging on in there with its 1-Year Flexible Cash ISA – Issue 36, paying 4.00%, Virgin did launch a new, better paying 1 Year Fixed Rate Cash E-ISA which was available to all those prepared to open an account online. Issue 551 is paying 4.00% too - so matching Barclays – but this has subsequently been withdrawn and replaced with Issue 553 which is paying a lower rate of 3.85%. The only other activity of note was a new ISA from OakNorth Bank also paying 3.85%.
Over 2-years it’s been more disappointing and even the top rate available has fallen from 4.11%, which is what Virgin was paying, to 4.10% with Castle Trust Bank, which has also now been withdrawn for new customers. This leaves the top rate on offer as we head into the weekend at 4.05% from both Close Brothers and Charter Savings Bank, the latter of whom has just reduced the rate on offer from 4.09% which it was paying until the last minute.
It’s slightly better news over in our 3-year Cash ISA table as although we lost the then leader, Close Brothers paying 4.15% AER, Skipton Building Society launched a table topping 3 Year Fixed Rate Cash ISA Issue 204 paying 4.20% AER. And as we end the week, there it remains.
Finally and with less good news, our five year table has seen almost a mirror image of the 3-year activity. Close Brother has been dominating with a 5-year ISA paying 4.20% but that has been withdrawn earlier this week, leaving UBL in the top spot paying just 4.11% AER, followed by the Progressive Building Society which has been offering 4.00% for weeks.
Unlike the non-cash ISA equivalent tables, there is very little to write about, especially when looking at easy access Cash ISAs.
Virgin Money’s Easy Access Cash ISA Exclusive Issue 2 is still the top paying easy access ISA paying 3%. For a few exciting days there was a challenger in the form of Newcastle Building Society who briefly launched the Triple Access ISA (Issue 4) which offered 3.05% but this was only available for a week. So, as we end the week, the top rate on this table is still 3.05% but this is a 120-Day Notice ISA with the Loughborough Building Society, rather than an easy access account.
We can only hope that more demand as we approach the end of the tax year will bring more cheers for savers, but we’ll simply have to wait and see.
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