October 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.

October’s savings update video

October’s savings news

5% rates almost all gone

There are now very few accounts paying more than 5%, with the exception of regular savers and some specialist accounts.

In fact, you’re mainly going to find these in notice accounts, while the top paying easy access for large sums is now an ISA!

Further base rate cuts are still on the horizon

Though there was no change by the Bank of England in September, it’s very possible we’ll see a cut in early November, and again in December. That could see the base rate drop to 4.75% and then 4.5% before the year is out.

Now, fixed rate accounts are largely pricing this in right now, so you could well be better off sticking with higher paying easy access accounts now since the top options beat most fixes. Then, if a base rate cut comes, you could look to fix then at hopefully similar rates to what is on offer now.

Of course, fixes could keep falling, so if you want to guarantee a certain rate, then picking one of them now is the only way to do that.

HSBC launches new regular saver

There’s another 7% regular saver available, but like the other top buys, it’s only for current account holders. This time that’s HSBC.

Personally, if you don’t already have a current account with them, and want to open one elsewhere, I’d go with First Direct as get the same rate of 7% but can add in £50 more each month (a cap of £300) – and there’s a £175 switching offer running.

Sidekick app launches savings

Another new option is an app offering a decent easy access rate for one year. Sidekick will give you 4.34%, plus another 0.45%, adding up to 4.89% – beating most other options so worth considering.

What isn’t worth it in our view is the chance to get another 0.55% boost on top. Though that’s a very nice 5.34% you need to also invest £1,000 in their stocks and shares product. This has a load of hefty fees which will greatly reduce your overall return.

Of course if you add a lot of cash at the higher savings rate and your investment remains small it could even out to something competitive, but it’s a big miss for most people.

Plum autosave warning

A heads up here. I love Plum’s autosaving feature. It’s a great way for those who struggle to save to get some help thanks to a smart algorithm. It’s also a quick and easy direct debit to set up for bank switch offers!

It’s the latter why I’ve previously used it, but once that deal was complete I turned off the feature, stopping it taking cash from my account each week. Until last month that is!

Out of nowhere I had an overdrawn notification from TSB (who I’d used the Plum direct debit for) saying £1 had been withdrawn. Somehow Plum had turned itself back on. Perhaps it was an app update that triggered it? Either way, if you’ve got a dormant Plum account connected to a current account you don’t actively use, check the same hasn’t happened to you!

Kroo tracker rate to change

For those who like to have most of their savings in their current account rather than elsewhere, Kroo is the best paying option on larger balances. Currently it tracks the base rate minus 0.9%. But from 26 November that’ll change to minus 1.1%. So if the base rate stays as it is, you’ll earn 3.9% on in account balances.

Snoop to launch new savings product

I don’t have any information on this, but I did get an email from Snoop saying it’ll be launching a savings account soon. Hopefully it’ll be competitive – we’ll update you on the site if it is!

Tesco Bank FSCS warning

The first of two big bank takeovers shouldn’t be a problem, but if you have more than £85,000 across both Tesco Bank and Barclays then you’ll want to move some cash.

Though this deal isn’t finalised, if it happens on 1 November as expected, it’ll mean any Tesco Bank and Barclays products will share Financial Services Compensation Scheme protection.

Nationwide buys Virgin Money

However, the takeover of Virgin Money by Nationwide won’t work in the same way as both will keep separate banking licences – for now at least. Eventually there will be changes, but you don’t need to worry for a good while yet.

October’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 October 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 3/10/24

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

Easy & limited access picks as of 3/10/24

• Trading212 Easy access ISA (5.1% AER variable): min £1 / max £20,000
• Chip powered by ClearBank (5% AER variable – includes 0.93% bonus for 12 months): min £0 / max £1m
  • 3 withdrawals a year, after which the rate reverts to 3.9% AER variable
• Cahoot Sunny Day Saver (5% AER variable for 12 months): min £1 / max £3,000 (part of Santander)
• Sidekick (4.89% AER variable including 0.45% bonus for 12 months): min £1,000 / max £85,000
• Monument Bank via Raisin (4.87% AER variable): min £1,000 / max £85,000
• Oxbury Bank (4.87% AER variable): min £25,000 / max £500,000
• Cahoot (4.85% variable): min £1 / max £2m

Easy access from investment accounts pick as of 3/10/24

• Trading 212 (5.1% APY): min £0 / max N/A – see full analysis here.

Notice accounts picks as of 3/10/24

• 2 month notice Vanquis Bank (5.05% AER variable): 120-day notice: min £1,000 / max £250,000
• 3 months notice BLME (5.15% expected profit rate variable): 90-days notice: min £20,000 / max £1m
• 4 months notice Charter Savings Bank (5% 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 3/10/24

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 (5% AER fixed): min £1,000 / max £500,000
• 6 months Gatehouse via Raisin (4.9% expected profit fixed): min £1,000 / max £85,000
• 9 months Monument Bank (4.85% AER fixed): min £25,000 / max £2m

• 12 months Al Rayan via Prosper (4.9% expected profit fixed – includes 0.1% bonus paid by Prosper on maturity): min £20,000 / max £1m
• 18 months Cynergy Bank (4.7% AER fixed): min £1,000 / max £1m

• 2-year UBL via Raisin (4.61% AER fixed): min £2,000 / max £85,000
• 3 year fix GB Bank via Raisin (4.55% AER fixed): min £1,000 / max £85,000
• 4 year fix Hampshire Trust Bank (4.27% AER variable): min £1 / max £250,000
• 5 year fix GB Bank via Raisin (4.4% AER fixed): min £1,000 / max £85,000

Regular Saver accounts picks as of 3/10/24

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
• HSBC Regular Saver (7% AER fixed): min £25 / max £250 a month
  • requires a HSBC 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
• Club Lloyds Monthly Saver (6.25% AER fixed): min £25 / max £400 a month
  • Requires Club Lloyds current account

ISA picks as of 3/10/24

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

• Easy access Trading212 (5.1% AER variable)
• 1 year Virgin Money (4.61% AER fixed) – requires current account
• 1 year Cynergy Bank 4.55% AER fixed)
• 2 years Cynergy Bank (4.4% AER fixed)
• 3 years Cynergy Bank (4.35% AER fixed)
• 4 years UBL (4.05% AER fixed)
• 5 years UBL (4.1% AER fixed)
• Lifetime Dodl by AJ Bell (5.09% AER as uninvested cash in Stocks & Shares LISA)