Yorkshire Building Society has launched a new version of its popular regular savings account to help people put money away for this year’s Christmas spending.
The Christmas Regular Saver account has a variable interest rate of six percent and allows customers to deposit between £1 and £150 per month.
Access to to the account is allowed on one day in the year without penalty, or to close the account if required.
Regular savings accounts generally encourage savers to pay money into the accounts monthly. To earn interest, savers need to meet certain requirements on the respective accounts and this generally involves making minimal withdrawals and depositing regularly.
Chris Irwin, director of savings at Yorkshire Building Society, commented: “Our new Christmas Regular Saver encourages people to save money and help to spread the cost of Christmas.
“For those new to saving, using the regular saver will give shoppers a healthy sum to draw on for Christmas 2024 without having to rely on credit. For some people, it may also show that saving regularly can be achievable and if the habit is maintained after Christmas, a healthy savings pot can be built.”
Savers can launch the new account in branches, agencies and online.
The cost of Christmas has skyrocketed since 2020. Research from the Yorkshire Building Society suggested that people planned to spend over £768 on gifts, food, decorations and entertaining for Christmas 2023.
This marks an increase of almost 50 percent from 2020 when the average Briton reported spending an average of £495.
Data also suggests that people should consider where they keep their money to make it work harder. Analyses completed by Yorkshire Building Society and consultancy firm CACI show there is almost £400billion being held in current and savings accounts earning one percent interest or less across the UK.
Mr Irwin said: “With our recent data showing such large amounts are held in accounts paying one percent or less, the start of a new year provides the perfect opportunity to take a close look at your finances and how you could make small changes which add up to much bigger returns.
“It doesn’t matter how you choose to go about it, making just one positive change to your finances, could make a big difference in the long-term.”
According to Mr Irwin, the Christmas Regular saver has “proved popular” in the past years with last year’s account supporting savers to put away over £70million towards the cost of Christmas 2023.
He added: “We’re really proud to offer this popular account again this year, which encourages saving little and often, and also offers a competitive return.”
The Christmas regular saver matures on October 31, 2024, giving access to the funds in time for Christmas spending and popular shopping events like the Black Friday sales.
But while Yorkshire Building Society is offering a more competitive deal, it isn’t currently topping the market of regular savings accounts.
Nationwide is offering a market-leading Annual Equivalent Rate (AER) of eight percent. The rate is fixed for 12 months and Britons can get started with just £1.
The rate is based on how many withdrawals a person makes in the year – if four or more are made, interest will drop to 2.15 percent. Savers can deposit up to £200 per month and savers must have a Nationwide Current Account to apply.
Gatehouse Bank and first direct fall just behind, both offering rates of seven percent on regular savings accounts.
For the full list of the best savings interest rates on the market right now, click here.
