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 blog.
June’s savings update video
June’s savings news
Virgin Money tops the easy-access rates once more
The top-paying account for your savings is once again Virgin Money. The Virgin Saver account now pays a rate of 1.56% on balances up to £25,000 (up from 1%). After this, it’s 0.75%.
To get the account you need a Virgin Money current account, the best of the bunch being the M Plus as you’ll also get 2.02% interest on balances up to £1,000. It’s possible to also have an additional joint M Plus account, which will come with its own linked M Saver account (and extra £25,000 at 1.56%).
This pushes the account just ahead of Chase Bank’s 1.5% rate, though you can earn that on up to £250,000.
A warning to split your savings
The same day that Virgin increased rates, their app went down – and stayed offline for most of the day. This prevented lots of customers from accessing their cash. Though it was fixed – and this can happen to any online or app banking – it’s a timely reminder to not have all your money in one place.
I used to suggest having £1,000 in Virgin Money at 2.02%, and then the rest at the next best paying account. Now Virgin is the top for both, there is the risk you’ll put everything in there. Don’t.
Even if it means getting a lesser rate, I’d still have an emergency pot seperate to the bulk of your savings.
6-month fix worth considering
I’m not always a fan of fixed-rate savings, especially when we’re finally seeing movement thanks to a series of Bank of England rate rises (and likely more to follow). But there’s been movement recently on a short-term fix that could be a winner.
Locking your money away for six months with Shawbrook will earn you a rate of 2% – that’s 0.44% above the best easy-access account. Even if we assume there will be further base rate increases before Christmas totalling around 0.75% to 1%, it’s unlikley all of that will be passed on to savers, so you’d hopefully be up and then ready to take advantage of boosted rates when the fix ends.
Of course, you could lose out, and the money will be locked away for that time, so you won’t want to put all your emergency cash there.
An alternative is a notice account. Right now 90-day notice accounts offer 1.6%, and 120-day at 1.7% – though I’d stick with an easy access option.
Premium Bond prize rate improves
Another notable hike is from N&SI which has nudged the Prize Rate on Premium Bonds from 1% to 1.4%. I’ve written in more detail here about what this means, but let’s have a quick look at the likelihood of winning based on your deposits, and then comparing it to the best easy access rates.
| Amount saved | Likely winnings | Equivalent rate | Interest at 1.56% | Interest at 1.5% | ||
| £500 | £0 | 0% | £7.80 | £7.50 | ||
| £1,000 | £0 | 0% | £15.60 | £15 | ||
| £5,000 | £50 | 1% | £78 | £75 | ||
| £10,000 | £100 | 1% | £156 | £150 | ||
| £20,000 | £250 | 1.25% | £312 | £300 | ||
| £30,000 | £350 | 1.17% | £450 | |||
| £40,000 | £500 | 1.25% | £600 | |||
| £50,000 | £500 | 1% | £750 |
Inflation reaches 9%
Once again even if you get the highest interest rate your savings are still losing out compared to inflation. The latest figures show inflation has hit 9% – the highest rate in 40 years.
Chase account waitlist could last five weeks
Finally, a quick note on the Chase Bank account. New applicants to their current account (which is required to get the savings account) could now be waiting three to five weeks before the account is opened. This coincides with the bank ending a popular £20 refer-a-friend scheme on 7 June 2022. Here’s more about how the waitlist works.
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Where to put your savings in June 2022
Make sure you check for updates in my regularly updated savings best buy article, and of course you might have existing accounts closed to new customers with better rates.
Of course you can fix your money for better rates, or if you’re happy to have your money in lots of different places you can mix and match the options. But if you’re looking for relative simplicity right now I’d look at the following easy access accounts:
Best places to save up to £4,000
The best option for the first £1k is Virgin Money as it is truly easy access. The next £3k is with the Claro app, but this is just for Apple devices.
This combination gets you the highest interest rates and some extra freebies.
| Amount saved | Account | Rate | Notes |
| £1,000 | Virgin Money M Plus current account | 2.02% | Can only earn interest on the first £1,000 saved (additional joint account is allowed) |
| £3,000 | Claro app | 2% | Only via the Claro app |
Best places to save more than £4,000
So you’ve filled up Virgin and possibly Claro too? The highest place for the rest is the linked Virgin Money or the Chase account, though I’ve shared some alternatives if you have more than an extra £25,000 (Virgin), don’t want to wait for Chase, or don’t want that account.
| Amount saved | Account | Rate | Notes |
| Up to £25,000 | Virgin Money M Saver | 1.56% | Current account required |
| Up to £250,000 | Chase Bank | 1.5% | Smartphone required |
| Up to £500,000 | Yorkshire Building Society | Up to 1.38% | Rate depends on the amount saved |
| Up to £1m | Cynergy | 1.32% | |
| Up to £100,000 | Tandem | 1.25% | Claims to be sustainable |
| Up to £100,000 | Gatehouse | 1.3% | Sharia account |
Best places for ongoing savings
If you are saving money every month then these accounts will beat the above accounts. Read more on regular savers here.
| Max amount saved per month | Account | Rate | Notes |
| £300 | First Direct Regular Saver | 3.5% | This lasts for 12 months and then closes. Current account required. |
| £150 | Natwest Digital Regular Saver | 3.3% | Current account required. You can save up to £1,000 and get 3.04% interest. It’s a flexible account so you can take money out and pay it back in. There’s also no set end date like with many regular savers |
| £150 | RBS Digital Regular Saver | 3.3% | You can have both the RBS and Natwest accounts, though you’ll need a current account with both |
| £200 | Nationwide Flex Regular Saver | 2.5% | This lasts for 12 months and then closes. Current account required. |
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