May 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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May’s savings update video

May’s savings news

Three base rate cuts this year?

Following the turmoil of the Trump Tariffs, it’s now looking incredibly likely the Bank of England will cut rate at their next meeting on 8 May 2025. And some, including the IMF are forecasting we’ll see at least two more this year. Others say there could be more.

Though there have been a range of predictions for most of the year, and it changes all the time, right now it does look like we’ll see more cuts – and that’ll lead to lower savings accounts rates.

Bear that in mind when comparing rates right now, as easy access ones will likely all fall in the next few weeks if we do see a May cut, while longer fixes will reduce if those providers now factor in a third cut too.

End of the three month bonus?

Good news to kick off this update. Last month I shared my frustration with short term bonuses artificially pushing some savings providers to the top of the best buy tables, particularly with easy access ISAs.

The good news is most of these have providers have now reverted to 12 month bonuses. Yes that still means the rate will drop by after a year, but at least you can more easily compare different accounts.

That doesn’t mean shorter offers can’t work out better, but you’ve got to be ready to move your money earlier if you can get a better return after this time.

We’ve added a separate ‘short term bonus’ category to our tables to help you spot when these boosts are short term.

Trading 212 cuts rate for existing customers

Though the investing app is still offering high rates for new customers, the standard rate (before any bonuses) on it’s Cash ISA will be 4.35% from 1 May, down from 4.5% That can be beaten elsewhere, so you might want to look to transfer your cash to a better paying ISA.

The rate for uninvested cash with Trading 212 remains at 4.6%.

Barclays Rainy Day saver’s second cut this year

As previous reported, Barclays is reducing the rate of it’s Rainy Day Saver on 5 May 2025. You’ll now get a lower 4.61% rather than the current 4.87%, itself a reduction just a few months ago from 5.12%. You can earn this on balances of up to £5,000.

When you factor in the £5 monthly fee as a Blue Rewards customer (it’s free for Premier account holders), the best you’re going to get with this account is a much lower 3.32%. One to ditch.

Do you need to check tax on interest earned?

Officially, HMRC will tell you if you’ve gone over your Personal Savings Allowance with interest earned, and therefore need to pay any tax on that interest. However a report in the Financial Times says the taxman has been struggling to connect one in five accounts to the account holder.

This could mean you do owe tax but HMRC can’t work that out right now. And though it’s no fault of your own, there’s a risk on fines further down the road. If you’re worried, you can always call HMRC and say you think you owe tax but haven’t been notified.

May’s savings offers

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

Top savings accounts for May 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 28/4/25

• Santander Edge Saver (6% AER variable, includes 2% bonus for 12 months): min £0 / max £4,000

Easy access ISA picks as of 28/4/25

• Trading 212 (5.07% AER variable including 0.72% bonus for 12 months) *new customers via our link
• Tembo Money (4.80% AER variable)

Easy & limited access picks as of 28/4/25

• Chip (4.76% AER variable): min £0 / £1m
  • Includes 1.15% bonus for 12 months
  • Rate drops by 2.2 percentage points if you make more than three withdrawals in a year
• Monument (4.75% AER variable): min £25,000 / max £2m
• Chase (4.75% AER variable): min £0 / £3m
  • includes 6 month bonus of 1.69%

Notice accounts picks as of 28/4/25

• 3 months notice Oak North via Prosper (5% AER variable): 95-days notice: min £20,000 / max £500,000

Fixed ISA accounts picks as of 28/4/25

• 12 months Punjab National Bank (4.35% AER fixed)
• 2 years Progressive Building Society (4.3% AER fixed)
• 3 years Chetwood Bank via Hargreaves Lansdowne (4.3% AER fixed)
• 4 years United Trust Bank (4% AER fixed)
• 5 years Close Brothers (4.3% AER fixed)

Fixed savings accounts picks as of 28/4/25

• 3 months Shoal (4.47 % AER fixed)
• 6 months Cynergy Bank (4.5% AER fixed)
• 9 months Al Rayan via Raisin (4.47% expected rate fixed)

• 12 months Castle Community Bank (4.65% AER fixed)
• 18 months Oxbury Bank (4.55% AER fixed)

• 2 year Close Brothers (4.58% AER fixed)
• 3 year Cynergy Bank (4.55% AER fixed)

• 4 year JN Bank (4.51% AER fixed)
• 5 year Secure Trust Bank (4.56% AER fixed)

Lifetime ISA pick as of 28/4/25

• Lifetime ISA Moneybox (4.7% AER variable)

Regular Saver accounts picks as of 28/4/25

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
• 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