The Nationwide Building Society has introduced half a dozen new investment bonds, with interest rates ranging from 6.5 to 6.7 percent.
The bonds cover investment periods of between 6 months and three years, therefore providing real options to suit different investors. Two of the new Nationwide Building Society bonds are e-bonds and are applicable to new FlexAccount customers while another one is valid only for customers who have been with the Nationwide for at least 3 years.
A spokesman from the Nationwide Building Society felt that the six month bonds offered an excellent return over such a short period of time and that the longer period bonds would prove excellent investment options for those happy to put their money to work for up to three years.
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.
A Sainsburys Bank spokesman feels that there are more restrictions and conditions applied to savings accounts than ever before.
Having looked at the current state of the market the Sainsburys Bank spokesman has noticed how many savings accounts have restrictions on withdrawal amounts and periods, as well as how it impacts on interest rates, with some quite hefty penalties on some for making withdrawals during the year.
Another aspect that has been noted is the use of age limits on some savings accounts, targeting either the younger or older market. Ideally all categories of customer should be able to enjoy similar levels of interest and benefits believes the Sainsburys Bank spokesman.
