🔔 Today's Spring Budget - What does it mean for savers?

Today saw the last ever Spring Budget following the last ever Autumn Statement last November. We shouldn't be too concerned though as the next instalment will be the Autumn Budget later this year followed by the Spring Statement in March next year. That's cleared that up then.

Today we're bringing you a snapshot of the key points in today's budget, including how it might affect savers. Later this week we'll be adding a full rundown of what came out of today's speech, as the devil may very well be in the detail.

So what did we hear for savers?. Well it was pretty slim pickings and little news that we didn't already know about, but there are some bits of interest, most notably the confirmation on the new NS&I Investment Bond. The bond will be fixed for three years and it was confirmed today that the interest rate will be 2.20% gross/AER (as predicted back November). The account will be available for 12 month for those aged 16 and over and can be opened on a minimum of £100 up to a maximum of £3,000. This means savers can earn up to £202 in gross interest over the three year term. 

The rate on offer is market leading, or joint market leading with Atom Bank, however for the latter you need to apply via an app, something that many of NS&I customers may not want to do. What's disappointing is that the NS&I rate is not even higher, given the improvements in the wider market over the time since the bonds were originally announced, in the Autumn statement last year.
 
The very best three year bond that doesn't require that you open the account via an app is with Secure Trust Bank paying 2% gross/AER. This means savers can earn an extra £6 a year by savings in the new NS&I Investment Bond rather than with Secure Trust Bank. And with Secure Trust Bank you can save up to a whopping £1,000,000 unlike the cap of £3,000 with the NS&I Investment Bond.

Of course we very much welcome better rates so confirmation today that the rate will be market leading is a
good thing. But watch this space we doubt it'll be long before more challenger banks quickly catch up and beat the rate on offer from the NS&I. Perhaps this will drive even more competition in the market? 

Other than that there was a brief mention that the Lifetime ISA will be launching from the 6 April and confirmation of the new £20,000 ISA allowance.

So that's it, for now. Or until the Autumn Budget anyway.

Anna Bowes, Co-Founder and Director of Savings Champion