May 2024’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.

May’s savings update video

May’s savings news

Inflation drops to 3.2%

The latest inflation announcement saw the rate fall to 3.2%, slightly higher than expected. However, the Bank of England decided to keep the base rate at 5.25% for another six weeks (at least). This means you can still beat inflation with every type of savings account. The next base rate meeting is on Thursday 9 May so I’ll update you then with any changes.

How have savings rates changed since last month?

This table shows the changes to the best paying accounts at the time of writing, compared to my the same point in one month and four months ago.

Account type	Best rate 1 May 2024	Best rate 3 April 2024	Change in percentage points (One month)	Best rate 10 January 2024	Change in percentage points (four months)
Easy/Notice
Current account linked	7%	7%	+0%	7%	+0%
Easy access (no limit)	5.02%	5.06%	-0.04%	5.22%	-0.2%
Limited access	5%	5.05%	-0.05%	5.15%	-0.15%
90-day notice	5.26%	5.25%	+0.01%	5.4%	-0.14%
120-day notice	5.2%	5.2%	+0%	5.35%	-0.15%
Regular
Linked	7%	7%	+0%	8%	-1%
Open to all	5.5%	5.5%	+0%	7%	-1.5%
Fixes
6 month fix	5.25%	5.2%	+0.05%	5.12%	+0.13%
9 month fix	5.15%	5.1%	+0.05%	5.03%	+0.12%
12 month fix	5.18%	5.2%	-0.02%	5.5%	-0.32%
2 year fix	5.05%	5.1%	-0.05%	5.1%	-0.05%
3 year fix	4.72%	4.67%	+0.05%	5%	-0.28%
4 year fix	4.5%	4.5%	+0%	4.55%	-0.05%
5 year fix	4.58%	4.55%	+0.03%	4.55%	+0.03%
ISAs
Easy access ISA	5.17%	5.17%	+0%	5.08%	+0.09%
1 year fix ISA	5.05%	5.05%	+0%	5.25%	-0.2%
2 year fix ISA	4.62%	4.71%	-0.09%		–
Lifetime ISA	4.4%	4.4%	+0	4.25%	+0.15

Chase offers SOME customers a boost

Controversially, a 1% bonus was only offered to some Chase customers. Only those with less than £500 in a separate savings account as on 8 March can get it, and you’ll need to jave been a customer before 29 February this year. You’ll have seen it in your app if you are eligible.

Understandably many Chase customers were angry about this, but ultimately I wouldn’t be too bothered if you have missed out. For a start it’s only until 4 November this year, so a maximum of seven months. Plus, there are accounts offering similar amounts. Oh, and there’s the fact that when the Base Rate is cut, Chase’s rate will drop too!

Of course if you can get it, and you do want to save with Chase, you may as well activate the offer to get the increased 5.1% AER. Here’s our full analysis of the boosted Chase savings rate offer.

Santander e-saver to fall this month

Santander popular 5.2% paying e-saver (closed to new customers) will finally drop to 4.2% on 20 May, so you’ll want to be looking for a new account this month. With many of the top paying easy access accounts disappearing week after week, you might want to open up an alternative now, and then move your money in a few weeks.

Santander Edge saver hack

The Santander’s Edge Saver has been at the top of the tables since it launched, though the 7% rate could be reduced by the linked current account’s monthly fee. Though you can normally wipe that out with cashback earned on bills, I know some of you don’t need the cashback as you have the 123 or 123 Lite account. As a result, some of you have tried a workaround to completely avoid the fee.

So I finally gave it a go too – and it works (for now at least). The trick is to open the Santander Edge Current Account, but not add any direct debits. Though this means you miss out on the cashback, you also won’t be hit with the fee. And that means you get the full 7% on your balance – up to £4,000.

You could take this further and open a joint account which will let you open up two of these Edge Savers, potentially meaning four in total between you and a partner.

However, as I told you when I first looked into this, Santander say they can move you off the Edge Current Account if it’s not being properly used. If that happens you should also lose access to your Edge Saver.

Current account linked saver picks as of 1/5/24

• Santander Edge Saver (7% AER variable, includes 2.5% bonus for 12 months): min £0 / max £4,000
• Ulster Bank (5.2% AER variable): min £5,000 / max £1m (part of Natwest/RBS)
• Barclays Blue Rewards Rainy Day Saver (5.12% AER variable): min £0 / max £5,000

Top loyalty easy access picks as of 1/5/24

• Skipton Building Society Member Bonus Saver (5.5% AER variable includes 1.7% bonus for 12 months): min £1 / max £3,000
  • Only for Skipton members who joined before 11 January 2024

Easy access picks as of 1/5/24

• Cahoot Sunny Day Saver (5.2% AER variable for 12 months): min £1 / max £3,000 (part of Santander)
• Oxbury Bank (5.02% AER variable): min £1,000 / max £500,000
• Monument Bank (5.01% AER variable): min £25,000 / max £400,000
• Paragon Bank via Raisin (5% AER variable): min £10,000 / max £85,000
• Kent Reliance (4.96% AER variable): min £1,000 / max £1m

Easy access from investment accounts pick as of 1/5/24

• Trading 212 (5.2% APY): min £0 / max N/A
  • No FSCS protection
  • see full analysis here.

Limited access picks as of 1/5/24

• Principality Building Society (5% AER variable – includes 0.15% bonus for 12 months): min £1 / max £1m2 withdrawals per year

Notice accounts picks as of 1/5/24

• 45 days notice Shawbrook Bank (5.16% AER variable) 45-day notice: min £1,000 / max £500,000
• 3 months notice Oxbury Bank (5.26% AER variable): 90-day notice: min £1,000 / max £500,000
• 4 months notice Cynergy Bank (5.2% AER variable): 120-day notice: min £500 / max £1m
• 6 months notice United Trust Bank (5.25% AER variable – tracks the base rate) 180-day notice: min £5,000 / max £1m

As ever, these could well change again in the coming days, so check out my best buys guide for more options and updates.

Chip users might need to reinstall the app

If you have an account with Chip and use an Apple device, you may need to delete the app and reinstall it. It’s down to a bug which stops the app opening – which obviously isn’t great if you need to get hold of your cash. I checked and I didn’t need to, but obviously some people will be impacted. Thanks to

Chip adds £50k prize

I’m not a fan of Chip’s prize draw account as the chances of winning are very, very low. BUT if you do use it, it’s worth knowing there’s now a top prize of £50,000, but significantly fewer small prizes. From May onwards the prizes are:

• 1x £50,000 prize
• 1x £10,000 prize
• 250 x £10 prizes

For a chance to win you need to hold an average of £100 over the month, and get another entry for each £10 on top. I’ve not updated this review with the new prizes, but it explains how it works.

Emma app adds autosaves

A quick one – Pro and Ultimate users of the budgeting app Emma can now get free autosaves. However, it’s 50p per save on Free and Plus. And since you can get it for free on all Plum plans I don’t see any benefit it using Emma for this.

New ethical savings account shares interest

For those who want their money to be doing good when saved up, you might want to look at Planet Saver. The two accounts currently available will give you some cash, and also put 1% towards “the planet”.

• 3 months fixed: 3.03% to you / 1% to the planet
• 1 year fixed: 3.4% to you / 1% to the planet

The money is held with BLME, so it’s an expected profit rather than technical interest, but it’s pretty much the same thing and protected by FSCS. You can read more about it, and who gets that 1% on the Planet Saver website.

Short fixes rates increase a little

With markets now predicting a later cut to the base rate, some of the shorter fixes have gone up – six and nine month ones. While competition has seen slight increases for longer fixes. But in the middle it’s very little change at the top.

Remember, most fixed rate accounts will pay all the interest at the end of the term, so the longer fixes will very likely take you over your personal savings allowance, meaning you’ll be subject to tax on the excess. So check what’s best for you when you apply.

Here are the leading options right now. Make sure you keep an eye on my best buy list for all the options.

Fixed savings accounts picks as of 1/5/24

• 3 months Emirates NBD via Hargreaves Lansdown (5.09% AER fixed): min £1 / max £10m
• 6 months Atom Bank (5.25% AER fixed): min £50 / max £100,000
• 9 months Atom Bank (5.15% AER fixed): min £50 / max £100,000
• 12 months SmartSave (5.18% AER fixed): min £10,000 / max £85,000
• 18 months Allica Bank (4.85% AER fixed): min £10,000 / max £250,000
• 2-year RCI Bank (5.05% AER fixed): min £1,000 / max £1m
• 3 year fix SmartSave (4.72% AER fixed): min £10,000 / max £85,000
• 4 year fix ISBank via Raisin (4.5% AER fixed): min £5,000 / max £85,000
• 5 year fix SmartSave (4.58% AER fixed): min £10,000 / max £85,000

No change with regular savers

It’s been a few months since Nationwide and Gatehouse reduced their top paying regular savers – but there’s still a chance we could see reductions on other best buys, so do see if one will work for you. We’ve got a dedicated Regular Saver best buy article, so you can see further details and more rates there.

Regular Saver accounts for current account holders picks as of 1/5/24

• First Direct (7% AER fixed) – min £25 / max £300 (requires current account)
• Co-operative Bank Regular Saver (7% variable) – min £1 / max £250 a month (requires a 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 – full review)
• Club Lloyds (6.25% AER fixed) – min £50 / max £400 (requires current account)

Regular Saver accounts for all picks as of 1/5/24

• Halifax Regular Saver (5.5% AER fixed) – min £25 / max £250 a month
• Principality Building Society (5.5% AER fixed) – min £1 / max £250 a month
• Gatehouse Bank Regular Saver (5.3% expected profit rate variable) – min £1 / max £300 per month

Regular Saver accounts for existing customer as of 1/5/24

• Skipton Building Society Member Regular Saver (7% AER fixed) – min £0 / max £250 a month
  • requires BS membership on or before 11 January 2024

New ISA rules very much “optional”

In my ISA update last month I mentioned how I’d spotted at least one building society saying they weren’t implementing the new ISA rules on partial transfers and being able to pay into more than one of the same type in a financial year.

Well, as we covered in our Your Money, This Week episode of the podcast the other week, it seems that’s the case for the majority of banks and building society.

However, that doesn’t mean you can’t pay into more than one ISA – it’s just you’ll need to do it with different providers, or find one, like Zopa or Nationwide, that let you do this already under a ‘portfolio’ account.

ISA rates still down on end of March

Sadly, we’ve still not seen much competition pushing up rates on any fixed ISA, or non-app easy access accounts. I think a lot of that is down to the way the new rules were communicated, and banks aren’t actively chasing ISA deposits in the way they usually would.

You can keep an eye on the tables (we update them every day) in our best Cash ISA accounts article.

ISA picks as of 1/5/24

• Easy access Chip (5.1% AER variable)
• Limited access Plum (5.17% AER variable) max 3 withdrawals
• 1 year Virgin Money (5.05% AER variable)
• 2 years OakNorth Bank (4.62% AER fixed)
• 3 years OakNorth Bank (4.4% AER fixed)
• 4 years UBL (4.05% AER fixed)
• 5 years Shawbrook Bank  (4.17% AER fixed)
• Lifetime Moneybox (4.4% AER, drops to 3.5% after one year)

Where to put your savings in May 2024

Below are my “simple” tips – the accounts that’ll give you the highest rates, though make sure you check for updates in my regularly updated savings best buy article,

Of course you might be able to fix your money for better rates. The same goes if you’re happy to have your money in lots of different places. And you might have existing accounts closed to new customers with better rates. But if you just want one or two accounts, these are the ones I’d go for right now.

Best places to save

The best rate is via Santander’s Edge Saver so it’s worth a look. But if you want to keep things simple, I’d look at using any of the accounts offer 5.1% for anything beyond this you need access to.

Amount saved	Account	Rate	Notes
Between £2,000 and £4,000	Santander Edge Saver	7%	£3 monthly fee
Between £5,000 and £20,000	Plum Cash ISA	5.17%	Only three withdrawals a year

Best places to save extra each month

If you’re looking to save every month then it’s worth looking at a regular or monthly saver. The top paying ones all require a current account, but I’d go for the Nationwide Flex Regular Saver, or lock in the fixed 6.25% via Club Lloyds.

Amount saved	Account	Rate	Notes
Up to £300 a month	First Direct Regular Saver	7%	Requires a current account, fixed for 12 months

Best places to avoid tax on interest

If you’re going above your Personal Savings Allowance (or don’t have one), then you can obviously save up to £20,000 in an ISA and £50,000 in Premium Bonds. I’m assuming you don’t need access to this money.

Amount saved	Account	Rate	Notes
Up to £20,000	Plum Cash ISA	5.17%	Only three withdrawals, lower rate if transferred

Best ethical savings option

The easy shorthand is to go for a building society account, though Tandem also claims to be building a green bank and has decent rates.

Amount saved	Account	Rate	Notes
Up to £85,000	Principality Building Society	5%	Only two withdrawals a year
Up to £85,000	Leeds Building Socity	4.85%