Having looked at the savings habits of the nation the Halifax can now highlight which parts of the country save the most, and the least.
Top of the Halifax savings league is London, with an average savings balance of over GBP14,200. In second place was South Buckinghamshire, followed by Shrewsbury to make up the top 3 saving locations. The top performing savers outside the south of England can be found in Derbyshire, having an average savings pot of just over GBP11,600.
A spokesman from the Halifax was pleased to see how good the average figures were but did hope that those without such levels of savings would aim to increase the amount they save.
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.
According to the Legal and General MoneyMood survey, the people of the UK are changing their habits regarding saving.
Compared with this time last year there are around 6 percent more people saving money now. It appears that consumers are, generally, not spending as much of their money as they once were, preferring instead to build up a buffer should they need the cash for more important things in the future. People are still going out and spending their money, just not quite as much as they used to be.
As a Legal and General savings spokeswoman said, it is good that consumers are managing to change their habits, ensuring they have some money put to one side whilst still being able to enjoy themselves.
