While the Bank of England Base Rate rests at a 14-year high of 4.5 percent, banks and building societies have grown increasingly competitive with the interest rates on their own products.
Saffron Building Society is currently topping the list of high interest savings accounts with its limited edition Members’ Month Loyalty Saver, offering an Annual Equivalent Rate (AER) of nine percent.
It’s an exclusive savings account designed to reward members of the building society, and it’s only available to those who have had an account since June 1, 2022. But this isn’t the only rule that qualifies a person for the nine percent rate.
The nine percent interest rate is fixed for 12 months on the basis that a person does not let their account fall below the minimum balance of £1.
If the account is to drop lower than £1, the more generous nine percent interest rate will reduce to a significantly modest 0.05 percent.
READ MORE: Top 10 easy access accounts paying interest rates up to 4%
This means savers must be cautious to keep more than £1 in their account during the course of the term in order to benefit from the higher returns.
The account also comes with additional terms that people must follow in order to get the most out of it.
Firstly, people can deposit up to £50 every month, meaning the maximum amount that can be paid into this account is £600 over 12 months.
People can make multiple payments to their account each calendar month as long as these payments do not exceed the maximum monthly allowance of £50.
If any monthly payments are missed, savers will lose their allowance for those months. Any unused amounts of the allowance will also be lost if they aren’t deposited within the month.
Payments that cause a person to exceed the £50 allowance will result in the whole payment being returned, meaning the person will miss out on contributing to their savings that month.
In terms of withdrawals, people are only allowed to access their money once a month. This means the account can be closed at any time.
People must be 16 or over and a UK resident to apply, and it can only be opened in a branch or online.
For those who may not qualify for Saffron Building Society’s limited edition account, there are a number of other high-interest-paying savings accounts that also encourage people to save money monthly.
first direct’s Regular Saver offering an Annual Equivalent Rate (AER) of seven percent on up to £3,600 per year. People must apply for a first direct current account holder to qualify.
Interest is calculated daily and paid on maturity of the account exactly one year after opening. Savers can deposit between £25 and £300 per month in multiples of £5.
Withdrawals are not permitted throughout the duration of the 12-month term. In the event of this, the account will have to close and interest will be paid up to the closure date at the Savings Account variable rate instead.
NatWest and the Royal Bank of Scotland are offering Digital Regular Savers with an Annual Equivalent Rate (AER) of 6.17 percent.
The 6.17 percent interest rate is awarded to savings up to £5,000, after which a one percent rate will be applied to savings from £5,001 and over.
There is no minimum deposit required to open the account and people can save up to £150 each month. Unlimited withdrawals are permitted without penalty and interest is awarded monthly.
