A new savings account has been introduced by Saga Insurance that tracks five of the main savings accounts available online to ensure it is always competitive.
Called the Online Top 5 Tracker this new savings account follows the movements of the five top paying savings accounts based on the internet. The new Saga Insurance savings account offers instant access to money and no limit on the number of times customers access the account it is sure to be popular.
The way the tracker account works is by taking the average interest rate offered by the top 5 and then paying a level of interest that is within a quarter of a percent of that average. This ensures Saga Insurance savings account customers are always receiving a rate of interest that is competitive, no matter how the top 5 may change.
According to a study carried out by the Abbey National recently a number of UK people are dipping into their savings in order to pay their ongoing bills.
The Abbey National was looking specifically at money held in ISAs and, having seen around GBP6 billion taken out of them asked customers what the money had been used for. Just over 30 percent of people said it was to cover day to day expenses, the most popular answer provided.
Although it can seem easy to use savings to cover costs the issue comes a little later said an Abbey National spokesman. If a cash ISA had the maximum put into it then any withdrawals cannot be made up later, leaving the account holder with a reduced return through interest.
The Alliance and Leicester is passing on the Bank of England base rate cut to its customers by reducing the interest rate on most of the savings accounts it offers by the full 0.25 percent.
The changes by the Alliance and Leicester will come into effect on 2 May, with only a small number of accounts not having their interest rates cut. These will include the Premium Regular Saver, eSaver and their ISA products Premier ISA and Premier ISA 2.
One other Alliance and Leicester savings account, the Direct Saver, will have an interest rate cut of 0.23 percent rather than the full 0.25. Other financial institutions are expected to follow suit, looking at ways to improve their profitability and cash flow in these difficult times.
