July 2025’s savings round-up & news

The latest news to help you get the most from your savings account.

Here’s my monthly update sharing changes at leading UK savings accounts, as well as some of the articles you might have missed on the site.

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July’s savings news

Premium Bond prize rate cut

Sorry to begin the round-up with some bad news, but it’s important for all you Premium Bond holders out there.

We had a spate of prize rate cuts since March last year, taking us from a high of 4.65% all the way down to 3.6%, which will apply as of the August draw.

The odds of winning will stay at 22,000 to 1, and the number of prizes available will actually increase by almost 37,000.

But it’s the total prize fund that’s decreasing, this time by a massive £19 million. In total, the prize fund will be worth around £396.7m, down from £411 million. This is as a result of the change in how many of each prize are now available.

In reality, what we are seeing is that the number of lower value prizes increase at the expense of cuts at other levels. So while your chances of winning a prize will stay the same, because the odds are staying the same, you’re more likely to win one of the lower value prizes.

It’s not great news for Premium Bond savers hopeful of winning the jackpot and there are plenty of savings accounts that beat the new 3.6% prize rate – and offer guaranteed interest.

But, if you are thinking of moving your money (see the pros and cons of Premium Bonds if you’re not sure), it’s best to wait after the August draw, just in case you win something for stashing your money in the bonds for July.

Halifax scraps savers prize draw

In other prize draw news, Halifax is getting rid of its Savers Prize Draw altogether. The draw has been running since 2011, and every month there are over a thousand cash prizes to be won. These include three prizes of £100,000, 100 prizes of £1,000 and 1,500 prizes of £100. Sometimes there was a ‘superdraw’ with higher-value prizes, including one of £500,000.

To be eligible for the prize draw, savers need to have a minimum of £5,000 in a qualifying account for a month (a Halifax and/or Bank of Scotland personal savings account), and be registered to take part. You’ll also need to be aged 18 or above and live in England, Wales or Scotland.

But you’ve not got long to win. Halifax has notified customers that the last prize draw will be in September, and qualifying customers will be entered into the remaining prize draws automatically.

If you are a qualifying Halifax customer, make sure your contact details are up to date. And if you’re looking to move your savings, do check out the top rates on our savings best buy tables.

Zopa launches new 7.1% regular saver

Zopa’s offering a new 7.1% regular saver that sits alongside its new Biscuit current account – which has been in beta testing for a while.

It’s a top rate paid on up to £300 a month (the only one that beats it is Principality’s six month regular saver which offers 7.5% although it’s only for six months) and is likely to be an attractive option for those who like to save small amounts each month.

You’ll need to open the Biscuit current account to get it – which isn’t unusual with regular savers. If you save the full amount each month, you could earn £137 in a year – as long as Zopa doesn’t reduce the rate, which it could well do.

An unusual feature of this regular saver is that you can actually make withdrawals and replace the money in the same month. Usually, you can’t take any money out with other providers, so this Zopa one is a bit more flexible.

However, it’s worth noting that you won’t be able to add more than £300 to the account each month – even if you make withdrawals. So if you take out say £600 from your balance one month, you’ll only be able to replace it with £300.

Chase offers 5% for new customers

If you’re looking for a new savings account, and you’ve never been a Chase customer before, you might want to check out its 5% boosted savings account. On top of its standard savings rate it includes a 2.25% fixed bonus for 12 months, so that won’t change.

However, the standard 2.75% rate is variable and linked to the Bank of England base rate. So if the base rate falls, Chase cuts its rate so it’s 1.5 percentage points below it.

You’ll need to open a Chase current account first and then open a a Chase saver with boosted rate within 31 days of becoming a new customer.

No bonus on Trading 212 ISA transfers

Trading 212 has been offering plenty of decent ISA rates recently, which usually include a fixed bonus.

For example, at the moment its easy access Cash ISA pays 4.92% including a bonus rate of 0.82%.

However, be warned the bonus doesn’t apply to ISA transfers – so if you move your ISA money from another provider to Trading 212 using the transfer process, you’ll only get the standard rate.

Bank of England base rate held at 4.25%

After two cuts this year, the Bank of England base rate was held at 4.25% at the latest meeting.

In short, it means no immediate reductions to savings or mortgage rates but financial markets are still expecting further cuts by the end of the year. However, the Bank of England has said any changes will be ‘gradual and careful’, so a lot less aggressive than previous predictions suggested.

It seems that at the moment economists are divided on what could happen next. There’s still a whole load of political and economic uncertainty around the world and escalations in the Middle East could add to that.

Some experts are predicting just the one cut by the end of the year, taking the base rate to 4%, while others say there will actually be two more taking interest rates to 3.75% by the end of the year. And there are some who are still sticking with three cuts, one in August, November and December, reducing the base rate to 3.5%.

So anything could happen!

July’s savings offers

We’ll share any other deals in our savings deals page if any more come along.

Top savings accounts for July 2025

Remember, these are the accounts at the top of the tables. We’ve more options in our best savings accounts page, which is updated every day by the team.

Current account linked saver picks as of 30/6/25

• Santander Edge Saver (6% AER variable, includes 2% bonus for 12 months): max £4,000
• Chase (5% AER variable, includes 2.25% bonus fixed for 12 months): max £3m
• Nationwide (5% AER variable for 12 months): max £1,500

Easy access ISA picks as of 30/6/25

• Trading 212 (4.92% AER variable, includes 0.82% bonus for a year)
• Plum (4.92% AER variable, includes 1.63% bonus if account is kept for 12 months)
  • drops to 3.29% if balance falls below £100 or after your fourth withdrawal
• Tembo Money (4.64% AER variable) – highest easy-access if ineligible for new customer bonuses elsewhere

Easy & limited access picks as of 30/6/25

• Cahoot Rainy Day Saver (5% AER variable): max £3,000
• Atom (4.75% AER variable)
  • drops to 2.5% in months you make a withdrawal
• Snoop (4.6% AER variable)

Notice accounts picks as of 30/6/25

• 3 months notice Oak North via Prosper (4.74% AER variable): 95-days notice

Fixed savings accounts picks as of 30/6/25

• 6 months Oxbury Bank (4.48% AER fixed)

• 12 months Cynergy Bank (4.55% AER fixed)
• Marcus by Goldman Sachs (4.55% AER fixed)

• 18 months Nationwide (5% AER fixed)
  • Must have been existing Nationwide member on 28 May 2025 to open
• 18 months Oxbury Bank (4.45% AER fixed)

• 2 year Cynergy Bank (4.45% AER fixed)
• 3 year Cynergy Bank (4.45% AER fixed)

• 4 year JN Bank (4.4% AER fixed)
• 5 year Birmingham Bank (4.47% AER fixed)

Fixed ISA accounts picks as of 30/6/25

• 12 months Cynergy Bank (4.35% AER fixed)
• 2 years Marsden Building Society (4.3% AER fixed)
• 3 years Cynergy Bank (4.25% AER fixed)
• 4 years UBL (4% AER fixed)
• 5 years Close Brothers (4.24% AER fixed)

Lifetime ISA pick as of 30/6/25

• Moneybox Cash Lifetime ISA (4.76% AER variable)
  • includes 1.46% fixed bonus for 12 months

Regular Saver accounts picks as of 30/6/25

We’ve got a dedicated Regular Saver best buy article, so you can see further details and more rates there.

• Principality Building Society 6-month regular saver (7.5% AER fixed): min £0 / max £200 a month
• Zopa Regular Saver (7.1% AER variable): min £1 / max £300 a month
  • requires a Biscuit (by Zopa) current account
• First Direct Regular Saver (7% AER fixed): min £25 / max £300 a month
  • requires a First Direct current account
• Co-operative Bank Regular Saver (7% variable): min £1 / max £250 a month
  • Requires a Co-op Bank current account
• Nationwide Flex Regular Saver (6.5% AER variable): min £1 / max £200 per month
  • max 3 withdrawals per year, after which your rate drops to 2.15%.
  • Requires Nationwide current account