Get 3% on easy access savings with HSBC’s new deal
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There are a number of savings deals that require you to have an active current account with a particular bank to take advantage of them. Here’s our pick of the best three.
The Barclays Rainy Day Saver account pays 5.12 percent interest on deposits up to £5,000.
The account can be opened from as little as €1. Anything over £5,000 will only earn 0.15 percent, so it’s not worth having anything more than that on this account.
Someone who puts £5,000 aside in the Rainy Day Saver will earn £250 in interest after a year.
However, to take advantage of this, savers must be a Barclays Blue Rewards member, meaning they must open a Barclays bank account to sign up online.
Barclays Blue Rewards is a way to collect rewards, including up to £5 per month for making two direct debits from a Barclays current account.
There are a few catches, though, including a £5 monthly membership fee and a commitment to deposit at least £800 into the account each month.
Nationwide’s FlexDirect Current Account
Savers looking for 5 percent interest on their checking account may want to consider Nationwide’s FlexDirect.
Someone who keeps at least £1,500 in the account can earn £75 in interest over the course of a year.
Savers can also insure themselves a £200 bonus for switching from their main current account to the FlexDirect account – the most advantageous switching premium currently on offer.
However, the major drawback is that the special rate is only available to those who do not yet have a FlexDirect account.
The 5 percent interest is also available on balances up to £1,500, and for the first 12 months.
That means the 5 percent rate will expire after one year, after which it will drop to just 0.25 percent. So it may be worth looking elsewhere after the 12 months for a better return on your money.
It’s also worth noting that account holders must pay a minimum of £1,000 per month to take advantage of the in-credit rate. If the monthly income deposited into the account falls below £1,000, they will not receive any interest that month.
Digital bank Chase will finally raise the interest on his popular savings account to 2.1 percent from next Monday. Until then, the rate is 1.5 percent.
The rate increase is automatically passed on to all existing and new banking customers.
Savers can deposit up to £250,000 in total at any time (although only £85,000 is protected by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme) and access their savings as often as they like, with no fees, charges or loss of interest.
Someone who deposits the maximum of £85,000 protected by the FSCS into the savings accounts linked to Chase could earn £1,802 in interest after the first year, if the rate remained the same.
There is no minimum income requirement to open the Chase current account, but they do need a relatively new smartphone to use the account.
The smartphone must have iOS 14 and above or access to Google Play on Android 8.1 and above, which means that some devices are not supported due to hardware limitations.