Latest news with #AnnaBowes
Sky News
28-05-2025
- Business
- Sky News
Savings Guide: Rates are staying higher - so what are your best options?
For this week's guide, Anna Bowes, personal finance expert from The Private Office, explores why savings rates are holding up better than expected. Despite the Bank of England cutting the base rate this month, savings rates are proving to be resistant against any drops. In fact, the top easy access rate is higher than the best rate that was on offer before the Bank's decision. "Although many economists still seem to think that there could be two base rate cuts this year, the markets seem to think there will be only one, which could be a key reason that certainly the best rates on offer are holding up well," Bowes says. Topping this week's table is the financial app Chip, which is paying 4.77% on the current issue of its easy access saver. "This account is only available via an app, it may not be for everyone - and the rate will fall by 2.10% if more than four withdrawals are made per year," Bowes says. "The rate also includes a 12-month bonus of 1.47%. This is a good illustration of the need to read all the terms and conditions so that you earn the interest you expect to." Here's a look at the top rates available... Fixed-rate bonds We have seen some bonds withdrawn from the market this week, but overall there has been little movement in the best rates available. The top one-year bond is paying 4.44%, while the top two-year bond is paying 4.42%. Perhaps the most encouraging are the top three-year and five-year bonds, which are paying 4.43%. Here are the top paying bonds... Fixed-rate ISAs The top one-year and two-year fixed cash ISA rates have remained the same over the past week, but the top five-year rate has increased slightly. The top rate of 4.16% offered by Secure Trust Bank was pipped by UBL UK with an ISA paying 4.17%. Over three years, unfortunately Ford Money withdrew its ISA paying 4.2%, leaving two providers, UBL UK and United Trust Bank both offering 4.17%. "If interest rates do fall going forwards, if you've locked in at these longer-term rates, you may well still be congratulating yourself in the future - for grabbing top tax-free rates while you can," Bowes says. Here are the best ISAs on the market... Easy access cash ISAs Competition has hotted up in this part of the savings market in the past week, but no provider has launched a rate to beat those seen at the beginning of May. Chip, which held the top spot last week, saw its competitor Plum and Moneybox come for its title by launching new ISAs paying 4.85%, but it retaliated by upping its rate to match them. Plum responded with a 4.98% rate, but Chip pipped it to the post by coming back with an ISA offering 4.99% for new customers. "Once again though, the devil is also in the detail. Both of these providers are financial apps rather than banks themselves. With Plum, your cash could be deposited with a trio of banks - Citibank, Lloyds and QNB, whilst Chip uses Clearbank Ltd," Bowes points out. Here's a look at the other accounts making it into our top table...
Sky News
14-05-2025
- Business
- Sky News
Savings Guide: Best rates this week - with notable casualty of base rate cut
For this week's guide, Anna Bowes, savings expert from The Private Office, looks at options for locking your cash away, or accessing it anytime... We had been expecting to see saving accounts rates fall after the Bank of England cut the base rate to 4.25% last week. While that was the case for a lot of fixed-rate bonds, the same can't be said for easy access accounts, where we saw rates remain pretty stable and, in some cases, rise. Easy access accounts The West Brom Building Society increased the rate it is paying on its Four Access Saver (Issue 2) - from 4.4% to 4.65%. But Bowes says there was a notable casualty, with Chip closing the previous version of its easy access saver, which was paying 4.76%, replacing it with its latest issue paying just 3.25%. "This has seen it fall way down the ranks, although those who opened an account before the latest rate cut will continue to enjoy the previous rate - for the time being at least," she says. She warns that further falls could also be on the way. "It's vital to keep an eye on the interest rates you are earning on your existing savings accounts and switch them if they're no longer competitive," she adds. "As we've mentioned before, it's also important to read all the terms and conditions of any new savings account that you open. "They often have short-term bonuses or restricted access, which may mean that you don't earn as much interest as you were expecting, or you cannot access the money when you need it." Fixed-rate bonds While we saw some stability across easy access accounts, it was a different picture for the top fixed-term bond rates. "Rates were starting to fall before the base rate cut - and it's continued over the past week or so, albeit still at a trickle rather than a torrent," Bowes says. "Competition between providers is keeping things elevated." We saw a new provider enter the market this week. Conister Bank introduced a stable of fixed-rate bonds, including its one-year bond which tops the best buy table, paying 4.52% on balances from £5,000. Fixed-rate ISAs Bowes says: "It's the same story with the top fixed cash ISA rates - they are coming down too and there have been some slightly sharper cuts to the top two-year and three-year rates." They dropped by 0.13% and 0.15% respectively, to 4.17% and 4.15%. "Once again, while disappointing if interest rates continue to fall going forward, if you've locked in at these rates you may well still be congratulating yourself in the future - for grabbing top tax-free rates while you can," she adds. Easy access cash ISAs Both Plum and Moneybox have withdrawn their previously table-topping accounts, replacing them with accounts paying quite considerably lower rates of 4.80% and 4.81% respectively - down from 5.05% and 5.06%. But they remain at the top of the chart. "Once again as with the easy access accounts, a number of the top rates are being offered by financial apps rather than banks (Moneybox, Plum and Tembo) so you need to check which banks each of these financial app providers have partnered with, so that you know where your money is," says Bowes. "As mentioned above, there may also be accounts that have restricted access whereby the rate drops if you make more than the allotted number of account of withdrawals and there could be bonuses that last for short periods before the rate you are earning drops sharply."
Telegraph
08-05-2025
- Business
- Telegraph
Buy a one-year bond today or you'll lose thousands, experts warn
Savers have been urged to lock in the best deals or risk missing out on thousands after rates start falling. The Bank of England is expected to cut interest rates from 4.5pc to 4.25pc on Thursday amid growing concerns about the economic impact of Donald Trump's tariff announcements. This could be followed by up to three more rate cuts in 2025, economists predict, with some expecting the Bank Rate to fall to 3.5pc by early next year. However, this means savers may be running out of time to secure the top deals. Anna Bowes, of financial advice firm The Private Office, said: 'If you've been thinking about locking away some of your savings, now might be a good time to act – before rates fall further.' Some fixed-rate accounts have already dropped in anticipation of a rate cut. The average rate on a one-year bond has fallen from 4.19pc to 4.12pc month-on-month, according to financial data provider Moneyfacts. Fixed-rate savings accounts let you lock in a certain rate for a specific period – generally the longer you lock your money away, the higher the rate. Sarah Coles, of stockbroker Hargreaves Lansdown, said: 'You'll need to pick the right length of fix for your circumstances – or a combination of a few of them – but if rates continue to come down as expected, these deals will look increasingly attractive.' Tandem Bank, GB Bank and Cynergy Bank are currently offering the highest rate on a one-year deal at 4.55pc. A saver holding £85,000 in a one-year fixed rate bond paying 4.55pc would earn £3,949 in interest. By comparison, a bond paying just 3pc would earn them only £2,585 – a difference of £1,364. The top rate on a two-year bond is slightly lower at 4.48pc with JN Bank. Savers are generally advised not to hold more than £85,000 with any one financial provider. This is because £85,000 is the maximum they can claim under the Financial Services Compensation Scheme if the firm goes under. Savings rates have been coming down ever since the Bank of England started cutting rates last year as inflation cooled. Caitlyn Eastell, of Moneyfacts, said: 'In the past year, many of the top rates have tumbled, savers coming out of a one-year bond could now be £53 worse off in real cash terms.' Banks are usually quick to pass on rate reductions to savers, with over 40 providers slashing the rates on their accounts in the week after the last rate cut in February. On the bright side, a rate cut should bring some relief to mortgage borrowers. Lenders have already started slowly lowering rates which means some homeowners may see a reduction in their monthly payments when they come to remortgage.
Sky News
07-05-2025
- Business
- Sky News
Savings Guide: How to make the most of your cash as expected rate cut looms
Why you can trust Sky News As we approach another expected Bank of England base rate cut, savings rates have started to fall, writes Anna Bowes, savings expert from The Private Office. Easy access After the launch of Chip's easy access account paying 4.76% AER, Sidekick updated its offering for new customers and launched its High Yield Cash Reserve Issue 5, also paying 4.76% - though part of this is a one-year bonus. Sidekick's partner, OakNorth Bank, is a fully authorised and regulated UK bank, so your cash is covered by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS). Remember, though, that if you have money held with OakNorth outside of the platform, you need to consider the total - both on and off platform - when checking your money is still protected. There are plenty of straightforward accounts available too. Although Charter Savings Bank has withdrawn Issue 58 of its easy access account which was paying 4.59% AER, there are others offering similar rates. Oxbury Bank's Easy Access Limited Edition 2 account is paying 4.58% and there is no short-term bonus or restricted access you need to be aware of. But the minimum deposit is £20,000 and you'll earn no interest if your balance falls below. For those with less to deposit, Chetwood Bank's easy access account is paying 4.52% AER and there are no bonuses or access restrictions to worry about. Of course, if there is a base rate cut this week and in the coming months, anyone with variable savings rates are likely to see the interest they are earning come down - so make checking your account rates a priority. Easy access cash ISAs Considering we are expecting a base rate this week, it is very interesting to see that the top easy access rates on offer have not budged over the last week. The top two accounts are available via financial app companies Plum and MoneyBox paying 5.06% and 5.05% respectively. But as they are not banks in their own right, your money is deposited with their partner banks - CitiBank in the case of Plum and a split between Santander and HSBC if you opt for MoneyBox. This means that your cash is protected by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme, assuming you don't hold £85,000 with these banks already. If you'd rather not use a financial app. Vida Savings has a Defined Access ISA Issue 1 paying 4.63% AER. This account can be opened online with a minimum of £100 - but, as the name suggests, you are restricted on the amount of penalty free withdrawals that can be made each year. And although the latest issue of its Easy Access Cash ISA Issue 58 is paying a slightly lower rate than the previous offer that it withdrew last week, Charter Savings Bank, which is also an online account, is paying 4.56% AER that allows you to make as many withdrawals as you like. Fixed rate bonds Although some of the best fixed-term bond rates available have fallen a little in the last month, there are still plenty of inflation-busting accounts available. With the base rate expected to fall this week and again in the next few months, now could be the time to fix the rate that some of your cash is earning. One-year Unfortunately we have seen a few of the best paying one-year accounts being withdrawn recently. LHV, which had been topping the table with its bond paying 4.65%, was the most recent withdrawal. Castle Trust toyed with us briefly with a one-year bond paying 4.62%, but that was withdrawn within a couple of days. This leaves a plethora of top rates paying 4.55% - Cynergy Bank, GB Bank, Tandem and the Access Bank. Things are heading downwards, though, so act fast if you want to lock in at the current rates. Two-year There have been a few more accounts which have been removed from the best buy tables over the last week, including the market leader, Cynergy Bank, paying 4.53% and its short-term replacement from Castle Trust paying 4.54%. This has left JN Bank offering the top rate, paying 4.48% AER. Three-year If you are looking to lock some of your cash for three years, you'll have seen the top rates fall slightly here too - although they are still worth contemplating if you think rates will fall further. At the moment, the top rate available has fallen from 4.55% a week ago to 4.48% - that's £7 less each year on a deposit of £10,000 - not a huge loss as of yet, but things may fall further. The situation is similar for five-year bonds. Once again, the top rate on offer has fallen from 4.55% a week ago to its current level of 4.48%. JN Bank is the provider topping the two-year, three-year and five-year tables. With the top rate of a five-year bond being the same as the two-year and three-year, this could be a good time to lock some cash up for longer, without feeling you are missing out. Fixed rate ISAs There's been less disruption in the fixed rate ISA tables, but we've still seen some rates tumbling. While there's not been an improvement in the one-year table, there is a little bit of good news as OakNorth Bank has decided to join Castle Trust at the top of the table with an ISA paying 4.26% AER. Unfortunately, this simply replaced Kent Reliance and Close Brothers which both withdrew their ISAs paying the same rate. It's been quiet but mixed in the one-year table. While we lost Hinckley & Rugby, paying a joint second place rate of 4.2%, Cynergy launched a new issue paying 4.19%, keeping the overall average of the top five at 4.19%. The three and the five-year tables have seen no changes recently, leaving the top rates paying 4.20% and 4.30% respectively. At first glance, top cash ISA rates may seem less competitive than those offered by fixed-rate bonds. But once tax is taken into account, the effective return on a taxable savings account is often lower. Consider a one-year bond from Cynergy Bank offering 4.55%. After deducting basic rate tax of 20%, the net return drops to 3.64%. On a £20,000 deposit, that equates to £728 in interest-compared with £852 from the leading one-year cash ISA, which is tax-free. That said, if you're a non-taxpayer or haven't yet used your full personal savings allowance, a taxable account could still offer better value.
Sky News
30-04-2025
- Business
- Sky News
Savings Guide: The current best rates to make the most of your cash
Why you can trust Sky News As we approach another Bank of England base rate decision next Thursday, the markets are expecting to see a cut from the Monetary Policy Committee, writes Anna Bowes, savings expert from The Private Office. So, ahead of that meeting, I thought I'd round up some of the most popular accounts and see how the top rates have fared recently. Easy access There is now more than £900bn in easy access savings accounts, according to the latest figures from the Bank of England. Much of this is likely to be earning a poor rate of interest, especially if it is languishing with the high street banks. There is also a staggering £301bn sitting in current accounts earning no interest at all. There are plenty of competitive rates available, paying more than inflation and even a few paying more than the base rate of 4.5%. But it's important to look beyond the headline rates as many of the top accounts have restricted access and/or short-term bonus rates. There have been small positive changes to leading accounts over the past month. At the beginning of April, the top rate available was 4.75% and the average across the top five accounts was 4.67%. Last week, the financial app Chip launched the Chip Easy Access Saver, which has gone to the top of the table, offering 4.76% AER. However, this account allows only three penalty-free withdrawals a year - any more and the rate drops to 2.1% for the rest of the year. In addition, it includes a 12-month bonus rate of 1.20%. There are plenty of straightforward accounts available too. The latest issue of Charter Savings Banks Easy Access Account (Issue 58) is paying 4.59% AER, with no bonus or restricted access. Easy access cash ISAs It's another positive story in the easy access best buy table, with two more accounts paying more than 5% AER. This means the top rates on offer are paying more than the non-ISA equivalents - even more of an incentive to make sure you use your cash ISA allowance - which remains at £20,000 this tax year, although this is under review. These two new accounts are available via financial app companies Plum and MoneyBox, paying 5.06% and 5.05% respectively. They are not banks in their own right, so your money is deposited with their partners CitiBank, in the case of Plum, and a split between Santander and HSBC if you opt for MoneyBox. Your cash is protected by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme, assuming you don't hold £85,000 with these banks already. If you'd rather not use a financial app, Vida Savings has a Defined Access ISA Issue 1 paying 4.63% AER. This account can be opened online with a minimum of £100 but, as the name suggests, you are restricted on the amount of penalty-free withdrawals that can be made each year. Charter Savings Bank, which is also an online account, is paying 4.59% on its Easy Access Cash ISA Issue 57, but this allows you to make as many withdrawals as you like. Fixed-rate bonds Although some of the best buy fixed-term bond rates available have fallen a little in the past month, there are still plenty of inflation-busting accounts available. Now could be the time to fix given the base rate is expected to fall next month. At the beginning of April, you could have fixed for one year at 4.70% - today it's a little less at 4.65% AER. That's still higher than inflation, 2.6%, even if tax is deducted. The top rates for longer fixes have fallen but, again, only by a very small amount. You can still lock in for two years at 4.53%, three years at 4.55% and five years at 4.56%. Fixed-rate ISAs The drops have been a little harsher for fixed-rate ISAs. That said, you can still find accounts paying more than 4.20%. Two-year and five-year terms are both paying 4.30%, the top one-year cash ISA is paying 4.26%, and the top three-year ISA pays 4.20%. Although the top ISA rates look lower than the bond rates, if you pay tax on your savings, the net rate is likely to be lower. Example If you were to deduct the basic rate tax, 20%, from the LHV Bank one-year bond paying 4.65%, the post-tax rate is 3.72%. On a balance of £20,000, you would take home £744 from the bond, whereas you would take home £852 from the top one-year tax free ISA. If you are not a taxpayer or you are not yet fully using your personal savings allowance, then the ISA might not be the best choice.
