Zopa launches fixed-term savings accounts

colsten

Proper FSCS-protected savings accounts, middle-of-the-road interest rates

https://www.zopa.com/savings-accounts

DireEmblem

Given you can get 1.16% from NS&I easy access, is their any point to these?

Shankers

DireEmblem said:

Given you can get 1.16% from NS&I easy access, is their any point to these?

Agreed. If they each had 0.5% more, they'd be tempting. As it is, they're redundant. 

ColdIron

Well, they are fixed term so if, or realistically when, NS&I reduce their rates you will have secured a rate that won't change for a known period

Shankers

ColdIron said:

Well, they are fixed term so if, or realistically when, NS&I reduce their rates you will have secured a rate that won't change for a known period

You can get 1.26% for 18 months fixed term through Hargreaves Lansdown's Active Savings at the moment, so that's better than what Zopa is offering.

ColdIron

Shankers said:

ColdIron said:

Well, they are fixed term so if, or realistically when, NS&I reduce their rates you will have secured a rate that won't change for a known period

You can get 1.26% for 18 months fixed term through Hargreaves Lansdown's Active Savings at the moment, so that's better than what Zopa is offering.

But surely they are also are redundant as they fall well short of your 0.5% criteria However the point remains that there is a point to these fixed rate savings accounts when judged against the the original criticism: "Given you can get 1.16% from NS&I easy access". Clearly colsten was not claiming that they were table topping rates, she said they were middle-of-the-road. MSE is an information sharing site and what may not be useful to some may be of interest to others, that's why I thanked the OP

Shankers

ColdIron said:

Shankers said:

ColdIron said:

Well, they are fixed term so if, or realistically when, NS&I reduce their rates you will have secured a rate that won't change for a known period

You can get 1.26% for 18 months fixed term through Hargreaves Lansdown's Active Savings at the moment, so that's better than what Zopa is offering.

But surely they are also are redundant as they fall well short of your 0.5% criteria However the point remains that there is a point to these fixed rate savings accounts when judged against the the original criticism: "Given you can get 1.16% from NS&I easy access". Clearly colsten was not claiming that they were table topping rates, she said they were middle-of-the-road. MSE is an information sharing site and what may not be useful to some may be of interest to others, that's why I thanked the OP

For me, these Zopa products are redundant because they don't add anything better to the market. I've got both the NS&I easy access because it's a good rate (for these times) and easy access, and the 1.26% fixed rate from HL for 18 months because I want to protect some of my cash against rates falling further. I wouldn't want to fix for 2 years + in case rates improve (like they were doing prior to Covid) and because I need some of my cash in July/August 2022. As Zopa doesn't add a better rate to the 1-to-2 year product markets, it's redundant because it adds products which are already (marginally) worse than what is available. To take a punt on a new savings provider I would have wanted something substantially better (the '0.5% criteria'). 

colsten

Just to be sure: I didn't post this to suggest these Zopa products are desirable, or the best. They're not - that's why I said they're middle of the road. 

I just thought it was interesting to see Zopa branching out into FSCS-protected savings, thus changing their business model for sourcing the money they are lending out.

EdGasketTheSecond

Who'd want to fix rates at less than inflation anyway? You are paying someone to use your money.

Rollinghome

Will be interesting to see if being formerly an exclusively P2P platform will help or hamper them.  Those who used them for P2P might be expected to be looking for top rates and those who haven't used them may be more wary of the name, despite the FSCS cover. 

kaMelo

EdGasketTheSecond said:

Who'd want to fix rates at less than inflation anyway? You are paying someone to use your money.

Which of Zopa's offerings are less than the official inflation rate?
(As opposed to your finger in the air offerings of inflation rate)