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.
A new capital account has been launched by Zurich Insurance, called the Green Guaranteed Account. It offers returns based on stock market investments into green businesses.
The RBS Green Index lists only those organisations operating in the environmentally friendly categories, such as biotechnology, solar power, wind and water power etc. Investors in the Zurich Insurance account will have their capital protected whilst being in line for 100 percent of growth enjoyed within the sector.
A spokesman from Zurich Insurance felt this Green Guaranteed Account was ideal for investors who wanted to support the environment whilst earning a return on their investment.
The Alliance and Leicester has just made available two new savings options for those aged 50 and over.
The first one is the Premier 50 fixed Rate Bond and gives a return of 7.5 percent per annum. Suitable for investments between GBP1,000 and GBP10,000 this particular Alliance and Leicester bond matures at the end of September next year so interested parties are advised to act promptly.
The second option is a longer term one, being a 5 year Growth and Income Account which offers an interest rate of 7 percent on half the amount invested with the other half receiving 50 percent of the growth achieved on the FTSE 100 over the term. This Alliance and Leicester account needs a minimum investment of GBP3,600 and as such can also be used as a cash ISA.