Premium Bonds boosted again: NS&I raises funding rate to its highest level in 15 years to 3.7%, meaning 24 additional prizes of £100,000 and £50,000 up for grabs
- The prize fund percentage of Premium Bonds will hit a 15-year high from the July prize draw
- Changes will see an additional £39 million in prizes available to bondholders
Premium Bond savers will be offered even better payouts after National Savings & Investments increased the prize fund from 3.3 per cent to 3.7 per cent from next month’s drawing.
The July draw represents the highest level in 15 years for the Premium Bonds prize fund and ensures a further £39 million in prizes is available to bondholders.
The odds of each £1 Premium Bond winning a prize remain 24,000 to 1, with more chances each month for the 21 million customers to win prizes worth between £50 and £100,000.
Most notably, the number of £100,000 prizes rises from 63 to an estimated 71, the number of £50,000 prizes rises from 124 to 141, and the number of £25,000 prizes rises from 252 to 284.
Savings lottery: Premium Bonds offer an average price fund return that has now risen to 3.7% – a level that surpasses many easily accessible savings deals
During the May 2022 draw, there were only six prizes paying £100,000 and eleven prizes paying £50,000.
The change to the Premium Bonds prize money percentage is the fourth increase NS&I has made this year and the sixth change in the past 12 months.
NS&I raised the rate from 2.2 to 3 percent on January 1 and then again in February to 3.15 percent and to 3.3 percent in March.
Dax Harkins, chief executive of NS&I, said: “This is now the sixth increase in the price of the Fund’s premium bond rate in just over a year, making it the highest in more than 15 years.
“With the changes, we expect to pay out more than £374 million to winners in July with more higher value prizes, meaning more lives will be changed by Premium Bonds every month.”
The move comes as savings rates have risen significantly in recent weeks.
The highest easily accessible rate is now 4 per cent from Coventry Building Society – and 18 accounts in our independent savings tables now pay 3.7 per cent or more.
Meanwhile, savings platform Raisin UK yesterday launched a top one-year fixed rate from Ahli United Bank that paid 5.7 percent.
NS&I has also raised the interest rate for young savers with the Junior Isa from 3.4 percent to 3.65 percent. More than 89,000 savers under the age of 18 benefit from this.
However, there are 14 Junior Isa’s in our independent tables that currently exceed this – including 5.1 per cent from Bath Building Society for those living locally, or 4.3 per cent from Coventry Building Society open to all.