November 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.

November’s savings update video

November’s savings news

ISA battle pushes up easy access rates

In the last week or so, both MoneyBox and Trading 212 have increased the rates on their easy access ISAs three times – each responding to the other when one hikes their offering.

At the time of writing this you could get 5.17%, a movement from 5.1% that’s also taken in 5.13% to 5.15%.

Trading 212 uninvested cash rate also rises

As well as increase their ISA rate, Trading 212 has also boosted the rate on uninvested cash held in it’s General Investment Account to the same 5.17%.

Remember that doesn’t have any FSCS protection, but it is held in low risk funds. Here’s more on how savings work with Trading 212.

Further base rate cuts are still on the horizon

Though there was no change by the Bank of England in September, it’s very likely we’ll see a cut on 7 November to 4.75%. We’ll update you in our guide to the base rate decision.

However, the Autumn Budget suggested some of the measures announced might be slightly inflationary to prices. Though not by much, it could mean the next cut takes longer to happen – and not as thought a few weeks ago as likely in late December.

Now, fixed rate accounts largely price in future changes, so it could be that we see less movement this week if the base rate is cut. Though lots of easy access accounts are now trackers – so the rate will drop straight away.

Zopa trials current account with 7.5% regular saver

Savings provider Zopa is currently allowing some customers to access a Beta test version of a current account. I’ve covered this in my monthly banking update, but there are two savings features exclusive to those who sign up.

First is a regular saver paying 7.5%, with a maximum monthly deposit of £300. This means if you add in the top amount each month for a year you’ll get £145 interest. I think it’s worth a look to take advantage of this.

The other is 2% back on in account balances. Though that’s better than you get in most other places (other than Kroo and Starling), you’ll get more if you move that cash to a better paying easy access account.

Principality launches 7% Christmas 2025 regular saver

Another decent rate is available from Principality Building Society. Designed to help you put money away for Christmas next year, you can of course use your savings and the interest however you want.

It’s limited to £125 a month, so total interest on the full monthly deposit will be £56. You can beat this deposit limit elsewhere, but those accounts require you to have a current account, making this a simple one to nab if you don’t want to go down that route. No withdrawals are allowed during thee year.

Hidden Budget savings news

Chancellor Rachel Reeves didn’t mention savings during her speech to Parliament, but there were a few announcements hidden in the accompanying documents. We’ve covered them more in our 2024 Autumn Budget analysis, but the key things to know are:

• ISA allowances will remain the same until 2030
• Help to Save will be extended to 2027
• The British ISA will not be launched
• No changes to Lifetimes ISA limits or penalties

Chip app passcode warning

I recently changed my phone, and setting up the new apps for most banks was really simple. However, with all of them the Face ID needing reactivating, meaning I needed to use passwords and PINs to open up each one.

For most that was pretty smooth and easy, until it came to Chip. I couldn’t remember the passcode at all. I tried multiple iterations but no joy.

Which shouldn’t be a problem as you can reset it. Except each time I tried to do this I got an error message. I deleted the app and reinstalled it, turned my phone off and on, updated the app and left it a few days in case it was a temporary error. But no joy.

And since it’s app only, you need to be able to get into the app to speak to customer service! I found an email address and sent them a message on 28 October. With no response by 1 November I tried again, and then finally someone responded on 3 November. That was almost a full week without access – which could have been an issue if I urgently needed money from there.

So some lessons from this. Make a secure note of all PINs and passwords as failsafes don’t always work. Two, don’t keep all your money in once place, and three, don’t leave it to the last minute to withdraw savings when you need to use them.

Chase tracker rate changed

Chase users hopefully already spotted it, but last month the tracker rate fell from 1.15% below the base rate to 1.25% below. That means you’re getting 3.75% not 3.85% at the moment – and it’s like to fall to 3.5% after Thursday’s base rate decision. Of course some will be getting a higher rate thanks to the bonus offers earlier this year.

November’s savings offers

No decent new offers so far this month. We’ll share them in our savings deals page if any come along.

Top savings accounts for November 2024

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 6/11/24

• Santander Edge Saver (6% AER variable, includes 1.5% bonus for 12 months): min £0 / max £4,000

Easy & limited access picks as of 6/11/24

• Trading212 Easy access ISA (5.17% AER variable): min £1 / max £20,000
• Chip powered by ClearBank (5% AER variable): min £0 / max £1m
  • 3 withdrawals a year
• Cahoot Sunny Day Saver (5% AER variable for 12 months): min £1 / max £3,000 (part of Santander)
• Monument Bank via Raisin (4.87% AER variable): min £1,000 / max £85,000

Easy access from investment accounts pick as of 6/11/24

• Trading 212 (5.17% APY): min £0 / max N/A – see full analysis here.

Notice accounts picks as of 6/11/24

• 2 month notice Charter Savings Bank (5.06% AER variable): 60-day notice: min £5,000 / max £1m
• 3 months notice BLME (5.15% expected profit rate variable): 90-days notice: min £20,000 / max £1m
• 4 months notice Charter Savings Bank (4.96% AER variable): 120-day notice: min £5,000 / max £1m
• 6 months notice Ecology Building Society (5% AER variable): 180 days notice: min £1,000 / max £500,000

Fixed savings accounts picks as of 6/11/24

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

• 3 months Oxbury Bank (4.87% AER fixed): min £1,000 / max £500,000
• 6 months Atom (5% AER fixed): min £50 / max £100,000
• 9 months Atom (4.8% AER fixed): min £50 / max £100,000

• 12 months ISBank via Raisin (4.85% AER fixed): min £1,000 / max £85,000
• 18 months Gatehouse (4.55% expected profit rate fixed): min £1,000 / max £1m

• 2-year Market Harborough Building Society (4.65% AER fixed): min £10,000 / max £500,000
• 3 year fix Atom (4.5% AER fixed): min £50 / max £100,000
• 4 year fix SmartSave (4.38% AER fixed): min £10,000 / max £85,000
• 5 year fix Atom (4.5% AER fixed): min £50 / max £100,000

Regular Saver accounts picks as of 6/11/24

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 (8% 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
• Principality Building Society Christmas regular saver (7% AER fixed): min £0 / max £125 a month
• 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
• Club Lloyds Monthly Saver (6.25% AER fixed): min £25 / max £400 a month
  • Requires Club Lloyds current account

ISA picks as of 6/11/24

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

• Easy access Trading212 (5.17% AER variable)
• 1 year Virgin Money (4.51% AER fixed) – requires current account
• 1 year Shawbrook (4.47% AER fixed)
• 2 years Castle Trust Bank (4.31% AER fixed)
• 3 years UBL (4.31% AER fixed)
• 4 years UBL (4.05% AER fixed)
• 5 years Shawbrook (4.12% AER fixed)
• Lifetime Dodl by AJ Bell (5.09% AER as uninvested cash in Stocks & Shares LISA)