The small building society offers a best-buy savings interest rate of 4.9% – and even has an app

Savers can now get a best buy rate of 4.9 percent from a little-known investment company.

Furness Building Society has launched a new dual access savings account. Savers who open an account with it would receive £490 in interest on a £10,000 deposit over a year.

The previous best accessible savings account on This is Money’s independent tables paid 4.86 percent, meaning Furness’s new interest rate took the account to the top of the best buys.

Unusually for a building society, Furness has also launched an app, and the new, easy-to-access account can be opened on it.

The account is available to new and existing members and can be opened with a minimum of £1 and a maximum of £250,000 for individual accounts and £500,000 for a joint account.

Up to £85,000 is protected under the Financial Services Compensation Scheme for savings, or up to £170,000 in the case of joint accounts.

However, it is not strictly a purely easy-access account, as savers can only make two withdrawals over the course of 12 months.

If more than two withdrawals are made within a 12 month period, Furness will transfer your account to an access account which pays a lower rate of 2.5 percent.

Furness’ new app, ‘Furness Savings’, can be downloaded from the App Store, Google Play Store and online.

There is also an in-app messaging service available through the app so that customers can contact the customer service team.

For those who don’t want to download an app, the account can be opened in the traditional way by calling a Furness branch or by phone or online.

Furness has nine branches in the North West, including in Barrow-in-Furness, Lancaster and Preston.

Savers looking for easy access without withdrawal restrictions or penalties, Chetwood Bank offers 4.86 percent.

Chip offers 5 percent on its easy-access account, but this includes a 0.93 percent bonus for the first twelve months. Only three penalty-free withdrawals are also possible per twelve months, otherwise the rate will drop to 3.9 percent with the increase.

Larry Chan, head of savings strategy at Furness Building Society, said: “Our new app is a means for us to bring our renowned level of customer service, built through generations of Furness expertise, to a digital audience.

“In line with our commitment to preserving personal banking, our Double Access Saver will also be available in our branches. Our app is designed to complement our in-branch services, giving our customers the freedom to manage their money any way they want.”