Five providers boost savings rates after Bank of England decision

Five savings providers have announced they are increasing easy access deals following the Bank of England’s base rate hike.

Three mutuals, Yorkshire BS, Coventry BS and Skipton BS, are raising floating rates in response to the Bank of England adding 0.25 percentage point to the base rate earlier today to take it to 4.5 per cent.

Two digital challenger banks, Monzo and Chase, also announced changes to their easily accessible deals in response to the base rate decision.

Deposits held with all five providers are protected by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) up to a value of £85,000 per person.

Yorkshire Building Society has announced it will automatically add 0.25 per cent to its floating rate savings accounts.

The increase will increase the minimum interest paid on direct access accounts to 3.05 percent and those with limited access to a minimum of 3.25 percent.

All eligible accounts will be automatically updated with the changes starting May 17, with no customer action required.

Most notably, the walks include the popular Rainy Day Saver which rises to 3.85 per cent on balances up to £5,000 and 3.35 per cent above this level.

Savers can withdraw money only two days a year based on the anniversary of the account opening.

– View the best easy-access rates here.

The Limited Access Isa will also benefit, up to 3.6 percent, which will be a new best buy, though savers will be limited to just one withdrawal per year.

– Check out the best cash Isa rates here.

The Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee continues to push inflation down.

Chris Irwin, director of savings at Yorkshire Building Society, said: ‘Raising rates across our range, including our most popular products and our loyalty savings accounts, continues to reflect our aim to support savers.

“We are also very pleased to be able to implement the changes next Wednesday so that customers will see their accounts benefit from the increase within a week of today’s announcement.”

Coventry Building Society today also announced interest rate increases of up to 0.25 per cent on its variable savings accounts from 1 June 2023.

The increases will benefit all participants with variable savings with a new minimum rate of 2.25 percent or more on all savings accounts.

Notably, the Limited Access Isa and Limited Access Saver will also see increases of 0.25 percent to 3.5 percent and 3.55 percent, respectively.

The mutual insurer’s First Home Saver, aimed at first-time buyers, which allows savers to save up to £1,000 a month for up to three years, also rises to a new high of 4.4 per cent.

Skipton Building Society also announced that it will pass the full base rate hike to floating rate savers from Monday 22 May.

Charlotte Harrison, CEO of home finance at Skipton, said: ‘Bank base rates are now at their highest level since 2008.

“I can confirm that if the bank’s base rate rises by 0.25 per cent this lunchtime, Skipton Building Society will pass today’s 0.25 per cent increase in full to all our floating rate savings accounts and beyond.

“This means that from Monday 22 May there will be no variable rate savings account paying less than 2.55 per cent at Skipton.”

Some challenger banks also announced rate hikes for their banking customers.

Monzo increased the rate on its instant access rate from 3.2 percent to 3.4 percent, while JP Morgan-owned Chase is raising the rate on its popular easy-access savings account from 3.1 percent to 3.3, effective May 22 per cent.

The new rates are automatically passed on to all existing and new customers

Savers can deposit up to £100,000 with Monzo or up to £500,000 with Chase, although both come with FSCS protection of up to £85,000 per person.