Savers risk missing out on hundreds of pounds

Ahead of next week’s base rate decision Moneyfactscompare.co.uk reveals savers may be missing out on £100s by leaving their money in low-paying easy access accounts.

• Switching a £10,000 savings pot away from an easy access high street bank savings account to a market-leading one-year fix can earn savers £300 more in 12 months’ time.
• Savers willing to lock their money away for a year could earn up to 4.50% interest. Whereas high street easy access banks are paying between 1.05% to 1.30% – substantially below the current CPI rate of inflation (3.60%).
• The base rate of interest may be cut on 7 August, and the best savings rates could follow afterwards.

Adam French, Head of News at Moneyfactscompare.co.uk, said:

“Many savers risk missing out on hundreds of pounds if they leave their money languishing in an easy access account with one of the nation’s big-name high street banks. The likes of HSBC,  Lloyds Bank, Santander, NatWest and Barclays all have easy access accounts paying no better than 1.3% interest – far below the current level of inflation.

“However, smart savers still have time to bag one of the top-paying one-year fix accounts from the likes of Vanquis Bank, GB Bank and LHV Bank who are all currently paying 4.50%.

“Simply switching a £10,000 savings pot away from a high street bank’s easy access account to a market-leading one-year fix can leave you £300 better off in 12 months’ time. Not a bad return for a few minutes’ work, if you aren’t going to need access to the money sooner.”