Good advice comes from Sainsburys Bank as they advise consumers to look at the different savings accounts available and choosing the one that best suits their needs.
Sainsburys Bank looked at the top 50 savings accounts currently on the market, specifically the instant and easy access ones to see how they worked out for customers. A dozen of them restricted the number of withdrawals available, 4 of them had penalties for withdrawals and 9 were for specific age groups.
Considering these factors and understanding how well they fit into your existing lifestyle is key to getting the most out of savings accounts said Sainsburys Bank and they are correct.
Interest rates on nearly all the Nationwide Building Society International Sterling savings accounts are being reduced by between 0.25 and 0.3 percent.
The international arm of the Nationwide Building Society is not cutting interest rates on their Euro or Dollar savings accounts though, these will retain their existing rates. In addition they are actually increasing the rate of interest paid on their Lifetime Guarantee Account, going up by 0.2 percent. This gives it a first year rate of 6.4 percent.
Currency based accounts can be subject to fluctuations as the exchange rates vary following economic changes, hence the cuts announced here by the Nationwide Building Society.
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.
