There has been a huge flurry of activity over the last couple of weeks, with some new rate-busting accounts launched – the highest in well over a decade.
And with yet another base rate increase expected next month, there is bound to be more to come. The good news for savers is ongoing.
RATES ARE CORRECT AS AT THE TIME OF PUBLICATION (26/05/2023). All up-to-date rates can be found on our Best Buy tables.
Once again there have been a number of movers and shakers in the easy access table – many of the same names but also a few news ones to boot.
A key newcomer to the table is an account that has actually been available for a while but we’ve only recently added it. Rather confusingly the account from the Hanley Economic Building Society is called Branch Saver, which would indicate that it’s only available if you head into one of the branches – of which there are only three!
But it is actually also available to anyone to open via the post. The rate of this account is currently 4.25% - so it’s the top rate on the market and as this is a tracker account, so tracks the Bank of England base rate, the rate will be increasing to 4.50% from 1st June. It’s a cracking rate but there are a few terms of conditions to be aware of. The account can be opened with a minimum of £1,000 and the maximum deposit is £50,000. And you can make just one withdrawal a month without penalty. Plus of course, as this is an account that must be opened and managed by post, your money is not instantly available, as it would be with an online account. But for more traditional savers, this could definitely be one to consider.
As well as the Hanley Building Society, another smaller provider made a brief appearance in the top five. The rate on the Chorley Building Society Easy Access Saver Account (2 Withdrawals), was increased to 3.70% AER for new and existing customers and while it is still paying that rate, it has been edged out of table.
Tandem increased the rate on its Instant Access Saver to 3.75% and then Chip retaliated by increasing the rate on the Chip Instant Access Account to 3.82% AER to take the spot below the Hanley Economic.
Principality has been another active provider, increasing the rate a couple of times to its current rate of 3.80% AER, on the Online Double Access (Issue 2) account.
As the week ended, the 5th spot on the table was taken by Shawbrook Bank – increasing the rate on Issue 35 of its Easy Access Account. Once again this is a rate increase being passed on to existing customers as well as new.
Once again, there is a new leader in the Notice Account table. Cynergy Bank launched a new issue of its Online Notice Saver – 95 Day Notice (Issue 4), paying a market leading rate of 4.31% - plus it launched a new issue of the 95 Day Notice Saver, paying the best rate for this term – 4.26%
The average of the top five accounts has now increased to 4.27% - up from 4.12% a couple of weeks ago. A quiet but relentless increase to these underused accounts.
If you're not quite ready to tie up your cash but you'd like to earn a little more interest, a notice account might be the saviour.
Hardly a day has passed without the introduction of yet another top five Fixed Rate Bond, especially in the shorter term tables.
That said, there was a small lull at the beginning of the week, but once the inflation figures were announced, the storm recommenced.
In the 1-year table, Allica Bank held onto the top spot until it was withdrawn at the end of last week, leaving Close Brothers at the top of the table paying 4.96% AER. DF Capital launched a new bond early this week paying 4.99% but Smart Save was back to its old tricks – pipping DF Capital by the smallest of margins – paying 5%. Everything became a lot more competitive once the inflation figures were out. With inflation falling more slowly than anticipated the markets are now predicting that the base rate will need to be raised to a higher level than previously thought.
As a result Smart Save was the first to reinstate the 5% rate, followed by Investec and Isbank, via the Raisin UK platform. Close Brothers was the next to join the fray, launching a new bond paying 5.01% which of course Smart Save was not happy with, so yet another issue of its bond was launched paying, you guessed it, 5.02%. At this point all of the top five were paying 5% or more.
We thought this might be it, but Shawbrook Bank decided it wanted to get in on the action, offering a bond paying 5.06%. Can you guess what happened next, as we ended the week? Yup – the top rate currently on the 1-Year table is 5.07% from Smart Save!
Our 2-year table has been housing bonds that are longer than 12 months, but shorter than two years and strangely these shorter term accounts have been topping the table until the end of the week.
Hampshire Trust Bank was the first to push Allica Bank’s 18-month bond paying 5% from the top spot, by paying 5.01% AER on its bond of the same term. Then United Trust Bank launched a 15-month bond paying 5%, while Smart Save launched the top 2-year bond paying 4.97%. Isbank reinstated its 2-year bond paying 5% via the Raisin platform pushing Smart Save into 5th place.
As with the 1-year table, there has been a real flurry of activity as the week ended, following the inflation announcement, with all of the top five rates increasing. Investec was the first to make a big move, paying 5.15% AER exclusively via Raisin UK. But it wasn’t alone for long, as Hampshire Trust Bank launched Issue 81 of its 2-year bond also paying 5.15%. Smart Save upped its offering to 5.06% with the last two spots taken by Hampshire Trust Bank and DF Capital – both paying 5.05% on their latest 18-month bonds.
Our 3-year table has been far quieter, but the top rate is still higher than it has been. Clearly Hampshire Trust Bank is keen to raise funds as once again it’s in the top spot with a bond paying 5.10%. Smart Save is back too, although it’s content to be in second place with its account paying 5.01% and Isbank via Raisin and Atom are both paying 5%. Two weeks ago the top rate on offer was paying just 4.95% so this is another significant improvement
Over in the 5-year table, there is a new top account from Smart Save paying 5.01%. And all the other spaces are taken up with bonds paying 5%. As with the 3-year table, two weeks ago the top rate was 4.95%, so this recent activity clearly illustrates that the financial markets are expecting the base rate to rise higher than previously expected.
It’s worth a quick gander at the Fixed Rate ISA tables too this week, as although not as spectacular, the top rates across the board are all up.
Over the 1-year term, all of the top five increased as we ended the week. The top rate is 4.45% with UBL UK, with Shawbrook taking 2nd spot paying 4.43%. Two weeks ago the average of the top five was 4.28%, whereas now it is 4.42%.
The top 2-year rate is paying 4.55% AER, again with UBL, up from 4.40% a couple of weeks ago, while the top 3-year is paying the same but this time with Virgin Money. And over 5-years the top rate is lower at 4.25%, although this is up from 4.05% - so an increase yet again.
It's great to see that once again, these rates are higher than they were a couple of weeks ago - let's see how much higher they go
@savingschampion
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