While living costs remain high, easy access savings accounts provide the flexibility needed for people to dip into their pots easily for support – and some are paying interest up to 5.2 percent. Despite this, Bank of England credit data shows that a staggering £1trillion of the nation’s savings is sitting in accounts earning less than two percent.
Easy access accounts can be beneficial for everyday use, as these pots enable savers to make payments and withdrawals with minimal restrictions. Instead of people leaving all of their money in a current account, experts suggest it can be lucrative to open an easy access saver concurrently to get something back.
Maitham Mohsin, head of savings at Skipton Building Society previously told Express.co.uk: “My motto right now is if you’ve got money in a current account, take the money out of that current account.
“People have this handle of what savings used to pay out. But you don’t have to have a lot of money. If you have a £5,000 pot and you put it in a decent instant access account, [the interest earned] will probably cover Netflix.
“It’s a real pain that gas and electric bills have gone up. So what are you doing to try and offset that? Well, some of the interest you earn can offset some of those increases.
“Think of [interest] as saving you money. Use money from interest to pay for things.”
Given the current high-living-cost environment, a survey from Hodge found more than half of respondents have had to dip into their savings for everyday expenses.
But while interest rates have dipped in past weeks, some providers are still offering particularly competitive deals on easy access accounts. Here are the top five accounts available right now.
Top five easy access savings accounts now
Still topping the leaderboard of easy access savings accounts offering the highest interest rate is Ulster Bank’s Loyalty Saver with an Annual Equivalent Rate (AER) of 5.2 percent on deposits of over £5,000.
Those with deposits lower than £5,000 will be paid a lower AER of 2.25 percent. Interest is paid annually and on account closure, and withdrawals are permitted at any time up to the daily limits.
Savers must be UK residents aged 16 or over and have an Ulster Bank current account. Those who don’t live in Northern Ireland can only open the account online.
Close Brothers Savings and Leeds Building Society place just behind with AERs of 5.1 percent on their respective easy access accounts.
Savers can open an account with Close Brothers with a minimum deposit of £10,000 and up to £2million can be invested overall. Savers must be aged 18 and over and interest is paid on the anniversary.
Meanwhile, a smaller sum of £1,000 is needed to open the account with Leeds Building Society, and up to £1million can be invested. Savers must also be aged 18 and over interest is paid on maturity on March 31, 2025.
Cynergy Bank is also offering a competitive 5.1 percent AER on its Online Easy Access Account.
Savers need to be 18 and over and have just £1 to invest to open the account and up to £1million can be invested overall. The interest rate includes a 1.1 percent introductory bonus for 12 months and is paid on the anniversary.
Taking fifth place is Charter Savings Bank’s Easy Access (Issue 49) with an AER of 5.08 percent.
The account can be opened with a minimum deposit of £5,000 and up to £1million can be invested overall. Interest is paid on the anniversary and savers must be aged 18 and over.
