Savings, current account and help to buy

Char96

Hiya,

I need some help!
I want to transfer my savings account to a new one as I’m not getting any interest on my Halifax one. I am also looking to open a help to buy ISA. After much researching, the best rates I have found for me seem to be a NatWest savings account (I have a NatWest current account) and Barclays and NatWest both have the same rates for help to buy.
My point is; surely it’s not a good idea to have all three accounts with NatWest - but I don’t know what banks to use!
I want an easy access savings account with decent interest and a good help to buy ISA (Barclays seems to have the best interest rate that I can see)

Can anyone help me out or give me some advise on where to look!

Thank youuuu xoxo

Felix11

I have a Skipton help to buy lifetime ISA. I earn £25 for every £100 I put in.

Char96

For me I think I think I want a help to buy isa rather than a lifetime one (I realise the interest isn’t as high)

wjr4

Felix11 wrote: »

I have a Skipton help to buy lifetime ISA. I earn £25 for every £100 I put in.

There's either a Lifetime ISA OR a Help to Buy ISA - they are not combined. The Lifetime ISA has different rules from the HTB ISA.

wjr4

There's no reason not to have all 3 accounts with NatWest apart from the interest paid (unless you have over £85k with NatWest for the FSCS limit).

Open the Help to Buy ISA with Barclays (2.58% AER vs 2.5% at NatWest).

Easy access savings - possibly the Marcus account - check the main moneysavingexpert website under the 'banking & saving' tab. You can't open a Cash ISA when you are paying into the Barclays HTB ISA so the new Cash ISA is not applicable.

When I was saving for a property, I switched my bank to First Direct for their switch offer at the time of £150. The other reason was because it has a 5% interest regular saver - which I used alongside my Help to Buy ISA.

eskbanker

Char96 wrote: »

After much researching, the best rates I have found for me seem to be a NatWest savings account (I have a NatWest current account)

Really - what account/rate is that then? Perhaps you're getting some sort of loyalty deal but in general their savings interest rates are derisory and I'd have thought they'd easily be beaten via many accounts shown at the likes of https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/savings/savings-accounts-best-interest/.

Char96 wrote: »

For me I think I think I want a help to buy isa rather than a lifetime one (I realise the interest isn’t as high)

Not necessarily trying to push you down the LISA route but that logic seems flawed - it is true that the interest rate on the few cash LISAs on the market is only 1-1.1% and that this is beaten by HTBs paying 2.5% or more, but interest on these products is dwarfed by the scale of the government bonus (25%), so, since you can pay £4K/year into a LISA (earning £1K of bonus) versus (after month one) only £2.4K into a HTB (£600 of bonus), the LISA will give a greater overall return, assuming you can save enough to take advantage of it (and that you're at least a year away from buying).

As well as the article linked above, you might also read through https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/savings/which-saving-account/ for a briefing on which types of account are likely to be most productive and profitable.