How good is your building society?

ReportInvestor

This Investors' Association survey

enables you to see how good your local building society has been towards savers over a five year period.

We assess the average rate paid on all savings accounts & compare it to the bank base rate to give a clear indication of those societies that succeed in passing on a "mutual dividend" to members and those that never get close.

It will definitely be of use to those who want to know which societies offer good rates & don't want to have to constantly move their money around.

"Rate tarts" may also find it useful when comparing two similar "teaser rates" from different BSs. Some societies are simply more able and likely to maintain top rates for longer.

montycat_2

Hi ,
I'm with the Portman and ,some of their rates are good .

Robert_Sterling

I followed the link.
I found about six pages of almost incomprehensible tables.
If any one can be bothered the best thing to do might be to look at what is on offer from the sixty or so building societies and cherry pick the best accounts,

If you want a shorter answer then you do not go far wrong with the Nationwide.

ReportInvestor

I'm sorry you found the tables incomprehensible, Robert.

It's not rocket science.

If your society is regularly in the top ten, that's reassuring. If it's regularly in the bottom half then you can't expect much from it.

cheggers

Got accounts with 18 of the top 20 Building Societies, rates are poor on some accounts, but I do rate the following socities Nationwide, Britannia, Derbyshire, & Coventry

Just waiting for some future demutalisations to come along.

edda

It's worth noting that the figures relate to years 1999-2004. By this time, they could be well out of date.

Robert_Sterling

The intererst rates offered by a Building Society are good or bad according to how high or low they are and irrespective of what the expense ratio is.

It is as simple as this at present:-

Any account paying 5% or more is good in my opinion.
Any account paying less than about 4.5% is not too good.
Any account paying less than 4% is diabolical.
Any less than 3.5% do not even go there.

Let us pretend that there is a Building Society which is paying 6% on all its savings account and its expense ratio is the highest of all the building societies then that would be the one for my savings.

steady__eddie

I found the tables to be quite useful, reinforcing some of my own views. I appreciate that in some instances when contemplating some accounts that it is in ones own interests to hit the "View previous rates" button.
I find it reassuring to know though that some societies are consistent in paying relatively decent rates, especially when it can cost me 25 to 30 quid to be a rate tart.

ReportInvestor

I have merged the key information into one table in response to Robert's constructive criticism above,

See this link

I hope that this new table is of interest to some MSE savers. You will find BS rankings for all years 1998-2004.

ReportInvestor

By way of comparison, we have examined building societies' average mortgage rates over the same period.

Some societies, especially Britannia, have concentrated on new mortgage business at the expense of their savers.

Investors' Association rankings of BSs by average mortgage rate 1998-2004

This table shows more volatility and less consistency than the savings rate equivalent.