The Top Easy Access Savings Discussion Area

patpalloon

Just had the email from marcus re the increase. That's two increases in close succession, but they were trailing quite a bit .

janusdesign

Minty33 said:

Investec online flexi saver 3.26%. 

Min balance £5000

technically, you can have a zero balance, but only £5k and over earns any interest.

janusdesign

Re: Secure Trust @ 3.30% - did anyone answer the question (which I can't find) as to whether you can make a test deposit of £1 or does it need to be the full £1k ?

Eco_Miser

EssexHebridean said:

RedImp_2 said:

I’ve had the mail from Marcus about the rate increase others have mentioned +0.2%

Not good enough for me to move money back but good news for those who have stuck with them I guess (& don’t read this forum 😏)

Or indeed those who have stuck with them, and do... 

BTW - someone said earlier about needing to update their bonus every time the rate increases - not sure what that refers to as I certainly don't need to - the bonus applies from a year from when it was last updated. 

You don't NEED to renew the bonus, but you should. As you say the bonus applies from a year from when it was last updated, and when the bonus drops or stops (which has happened in the past) you'd be very annoyed if you last renewed it 11 months ago.

mebu60

janusdesign said:

Re: Secure Trust @ 3.30% - did anyone answer the question (which I can't find) as to whether you can make a test deposit of £1 or does it need to be the full £1k ?

I braved the £1k. Took a while to appear, about 4 hours or so.

cogrady84

GalacticaActual said:

poppystar said:

GalacticaActual said:

Did Marcus increase its interest rate overnight?

It’s showing 3.20%/3.16% (including the 0.25% bonus rate) this morning 🤔 

Haven’t logged in to my Saga account but it too is now showing as 3.2% on Saga savings page, so I guess the answer is yes🙂.

Really would like NS&I to do something with their interest rates now..

There might be an announcement from NS&I about their interest rates any day now.
During the next financial year, which starts on 6th April, NS&I will have to rake in 25 per cent more than its current £6 billion for this year (2022/23).

The Government has tasked NS&I with attracting £7.5 billion from savers in the next 12 months, despite its recent struggles to stop people leaving for better deals elsewhere.

Have I misunderstood premium bonds then? My understanding was that it didn't have an interest rate, just prizes?

ForumUser7

cogrady84 said:

GalacticaActual said:

poppystar said:

GalacticaActual said:

Did Marcus increase its interest rate overnight?

It’s showing 3.20%/3.16% (including the 0.25% bonus rate) this morning 🤔 

Haven’t logged in to my Saga account but it too is now showing as 3.2% on Saga savings page, so I guess the answer is yes🙂.

Really would like NS&I to do something with their interest rates now..

There might be an announcement from NS&I about their interest rates any day now.
During the next financial year, which starts on 6th April, NS&I will have to rake in 25 per cent more than its current £6 billion for this year (2022/23).

The Government has tasked NS&I with attracting £7.5 billion from savers in the next 12 months, despite its recent struggles to stop people leaving for better deals elsewhere.

Have I misunderstood premium bonds then? My understanding was that it didn't have an interest rate, just prizes?

Your understanding is correct.

NS&I also offer other accounts like Direct Saver, Direct ISA, which offer variable interest. They also offer income and growth bonds, with fixed interest.

The premium bonds have a prize fund rate, but no guaranteed interest

mebu60

cogrady84 said:

GalacticaActual said:

poppystar said:

GalacticaActual said:

Did Marcus increase its interest rate overnight?

It’s showing 3.20%/3.16% (including the 0.25% bonus rate) this morning 🤔 

Haven’t logged in to my Saga account but it too is now showing as 3.2% on Saga savings page, so I guess the answer is yes🙂.

Really would like NS&I to do something with their interest rates now..

There might be an announcement from NS&I about their interest rates any day now.
During the next financial year, which starts on 6th April, NS&I will have to rake in 25 per cent more than its current £6 billion for this year (2022/23).

The Government has tasked NS&I with attracting £7.5 billion from savers in the next 12 months, despite its recent struggles to stop people leaving for better deals elsewhere.

Have I misunderstood premium bonds then? My understanding was that it didn't have an interest rate, just prizes?

It's a prize fund rate. What return you could expect with average luck. It's slightly overstated due to the size of the top prize that you are unlikely to win. But it is tax free. 

fourmarks

janusdesign said:

Re: Secure Trust @ 3.30% - did anyone answer the question (which I can't find) as to whether you can make a test deposit of £1 or does it need to be the full £1k ?

You can test it out with a small deposit. I sent them £10 as a test and a few hours later they sent it back to my bank which is good enough confirmation for me. They will send me a pointless letter in a few days telling me they refused the £10 as it was to small a deposit.

Cold_comfort

cwep2 said:

Worth re-upping for those who are lucky enough to save closer to the max FSCS amount or can save more due to selling house or some other protected lifestyle event:

The Virgin Money Private Savings account pays 4.00% gross (4.06% APR). There is a £25/month fee to have a private banking account. The breakeven to be better than Chip at 3.55% is about £60k. On £85k the effective APR is 3.70%, obviously this goes up the more you save as the fee is fixed but interest is proportional to amount saved.

https://uk.virginmoney.com/private/savings/private-savings-account/#what-is-the-interest-rate

Another potential benefit is that it is locked to the Bank of England rate (Bank Rate -0.25%) and applies rate changes within a business day, so it has been that rate since 24th March. So when Chip was top of the charts at 3.40% the breakeven for Virgin to be better was around £47k.

Interesting and thank you but note this assumes you do not pay income tax. A basic rate income taxpayer receiving 4% interest on £60k will reach their annual personal savings allowance of £1k after 5 months (sooner if you receive interest elsewhere). After you've reached it, a basic rate taxpayer is liable to tax on the excess interest at 20%. Over a full year, on £85k the net advantage is negligible for a basic rate taxpayer except for periods when the interest rate difference is greater.