Better late than never: Yorkshire and Nationwide building societies FINALLY reward savers with some of the best interest rates on the market
Two of Britain’s biggest building societies upped interest rates on their savings accounts this month, rewarding customers with some of the best deals on the market.
Yorkshire Building Society, Britain’s third-biggest mutual with 2.8 million members, has raised the rates on its easy-access deal.
Its new Internet Saver Plus issue 11 offers tiered variable interest rates of up to 1.31 per cent on balances above £50,000 – a vast improvement on its last issue which paid up to 0.7 per cent.
Among the best: Yorkshire Building Society now offers one of the best easy-access savings deals on the market
Savers looking to deposit lower balances will also benefit from a competitive return.
The easy-access account pays 1.1 per cent on balances up to £10,000, 1.26 per cent up to £50,000 and 1.31 per cent thereafter.
The online account can be opened with a minimum of £1, up to a maximum of £500,000 and allows savers to access their savings whenever they need without penalty, or to close the account if required.
But it does not quite match the top easy-access deal on the market, which is available exclusively to Chase Banking customers and pays 1.5 per cent on balances up to £250,000.
Other top-ranking easy-access deals are offered by Al Rayan Bank and Gatehouse Bank, paying 1.31 and 1.3 per cent respectively.
Earlier this month, Britain’s biggest mutual, Nationwide, home to 9.4 million members, also issued a new online easy access account and cash Isa deal.
Both its online One Year Triple Access Isa and online Triple Access Saver pay 1 per cent. Previously both accounts had paid 0.8 per cent, whilst only as far back as February they were paying as little as 0.45 per cent.
Tax free savings: Nationwide offers one of the best deals for savers looking to shield the interest they earn from the taxman
Although the standard triple access deal is beaten by more than 20 other providers, its triple access cash Isa is only beaten by four other providers.
Its Isa deal accepts transfers in, so members can transfer balances from either another Nationwide Isa or from an Isa account with another provider to benefit from the increased rate.
Both its Triple Access accounts allow three withdrawals during the 12-month term.
However, subsequent withdrawals will revert the interest rate to 0.10 per cent for the remainder of the period.
It’s also worth noting that after the 12 month period, these accounts automatically switch to one of Nationwide’s instant access accounts, so savers wanting to maintain a higher rate will need to switch provider when this time comes.
James Blower, founder of the Savings Guru believes that mutuals are putting the big banks to shame.
HSBC, Lloyds Bank, Santander and NatWest pay easy-access rates of just 0.1 per cent. TSB and Halifax offer savers 0.15 per cent for using their easy-access savings accounts, whilst Barclays Bank’s Everyday Saver continues to pay 0.01 per cent.
‘It’s brilliant to see the building societies up there with the challenger banks offering better rates’, said Blower.
‘Both are putting the big banks to shame.
‘Nationwide is by far the biggest society and Yorkshire is the the third largest and there’s no barriers to joining either, so it’s good news for both their existing members and any savers who might want to join.
‘Yorkshire, in particular, have been good at raising the rate on this account in line with the market moving upwards.
‘Nationwide’s triple access Isa deal is only beaten by Saga and Marcus.
‘Furthermore, both Leeds and Coventry Building Societies have been very competitive on Isa rates for the past year particularly so building societies are definitely showing the big banks how to do it.’