Which? Recommended Savings Provider. No notice period. Deposit from £100. Interest paid monthly or annually. Apply in minutes. Your eligible deposits with RCI Bank UK Limited are protected up to a total of £85,000 by the FSCS
Instant access to your savings. Unlimited deposits and withdrawals. Interest paid monthly, either to a linked current account, or adding it to your Online Flexi Saver account. Easy application process, you just need a UK mobile phone and UK driving licence or passport. Manage account online. Maximum balance £250,000. Must be aged 18 or older and have a UK address. Must have a linked UK current account. Your eligible deposits with Investec Bank are protected up to a total of £85,000 by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS)
Winner of Platinum Feefo Trusted Service Award in 2024
Why we like it
Unlimited payments and withdrawals. Interest paid annually. Open in a single or a joint name. Maximum deposit £250,000. FSCS Protected. Winner of Platinum Feefo Trusted Service Award in 2024. Must be UK resident and be aged 18 or older
*Headline rate includes a guaranteed fixed bonus rate of 3.00% for the first 12 months (on balances up to £1 million), plus the standard variable rate which is currently 1.15%. After 12 months, you’ll continue to receive the standard variable rate (all rates are Gross/ AER. Annual interest payments. Unlimited deposits and withdrawals (daily limits apply). 24/7 access to your savings through the mobile app. Your eligible deposits held by a UK establishment of Barclays Bank UK PLC are protected up to a total of £85,000 by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme, the UK's deposit guarantee scheme. This limit is applied to the total of any deposits you have with the following: Barclays, Barclays Business Banking, Barclays Premier Banking, Barclays Wealth Management and Tesco Bank. Any total deposits you hold above the limit between these brands are unlikely to be covered
Save from £1. Unlimited payments and withdrawals. Interest paid annually. Open in a single or a joint name. Maximum deposit £500,000. Open and manage account online. FSCS Protected. Must be UK resident. Must be aged 16 or older
Choose monthly or annual interest payments. Unlimited deposits and withdrawals. 24/7 access to your savings. Open and manage online. After 12 months the rate will revert to the underlying rate, currently 1.25% gross/AER variable. Post Office Online Saver is provided by Bank of Ireland UK. Must be UK resident. Must be aged 18 or older. FSCS protected
New customers can earn 4.33% AER (variable tracker) boosted rate for 12 months (1.29% AER/1.25% gross boosted rate), then the standard rate of 3.04% AER (variable tracker)
Why we like it
A new savings account from Chip built to move with the Bank of England and reward you faster than the banks. Interest paid monthly. Deposit and withdraw almost instantly. No fees or charges for holding account. FSCS eligible on your deposits
£500 bonus to boost your savings if you receive a residential purchase mortgage offer from Leeds Building Society
Why we like it
The Home Deposit Saver lets you earn a competitive rate of interest whilst building up the deposit needed for your first or next home. Open and manage online. FSCS Protected. You can only pay in up to £500 in a single month. Withdrawals are limited to 1 each year. You can deposit up to £30,000 in total. Bonus eligibility criteria apply
The interest rate tracks the Bank of England (BoE) Base Rate. Interest is calculated on the minimum daily balance and applied to the account on the first day of every subsequent month. Open and manage account online. Your eligible deposits are protected up to £85,000 by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme. The maximum deposit you may pay into any one OakNorth Account is £500,000. The maximum amount (excluding the interest) that you will be allowed to hold on deposit with OakNorth Bank across multiple accounts is also £500,000. Unlimited withdrawals, subject to 95 days notice. Available to individuals, aged 18 or over, who are UK residents
Unlimited deposits and withdrawals. Interest paid monthly: can be added to your Notice Saver or paid to your linked account. Easy application process, you just need a UK mobile phone and UK driving licence or passport. Manage account online. Maximum balance £250,000. Withdrawals subject to 90 days notice. Must be aged 18 or older and have a UK address. Must have a linked UK current account
A great way to focus on your savings is opening the RCI Bank's high interest account, the Freedom Savings Account.
With one of the UK's top rates, unlimited access and a 7 days per week UK support service, the RCI Freedom Savings account is a great option to kick-start a new savings habit.
Unlike other savings accounts, you can enjoy free, unlimited payments and withdrawals. You can open the Freedom Savings account with a relatively low £100 deposit which also compares favourably to the £1,000 required by some other savings accounts.
RCI provides, as standard:
Competitive easy access savings rate
No penalties, tiers, fees or notice periods
Pay in from £100 up to £1m
Interest paid monthly or annually
Easy saver rates
Deposits are protected up to €100,000 by their deposit guarantee scheme
Unlike many accounts which are internet-only, you can operate the Freedom account both online and on the phone
However, if you are planning on investing a large sum of money (around the £70,000 mark) it's important to understand that RCI bank does NOT fall under the UK Financial Services Compensation. Instead you money is protected by the French Deposit Guarantee Scheme (Fonds de Garantie des Dépôts et de Résolution or FGDR). This scheme protects up to the sterling equivalent of EUR 100,000 of your cash. This covers the first £85,000 of savings per person, per banking institution, if your bank or building society goes bust. This figure is variable depending on the exchange rate.
Useful information to know:
The Freedom Savings Account is available to UK residents aged 18 or older.
No upper age limit, suitable as a savings account for over 60s
You need to pay in and out through a linked UK current account.
Your first payment must be at least £100.
Keep your Freedom Savings Account open by maintaining an account balance of at least £1.
Existing customers can check their current rate here
What makes it special?
As well as being one of the most competitively priced, RCI's Freedom account is entirely 'clean'. With no temporary eye-catching bonus, the rate you see is (albeit variable) the rate you get. In cases where a temporary bonus puts the rate much higher than its nearest competitors, opting for a bonus account can make sense, so long as you are proactive about switching again when it expires. For those people who do not want to switch accounts regularly however, this is a great way to avoid hassle. Some banks and building societies write to some savers to let them know when their bonus is about to expire. When they do, they will give at least 14 days' warning. But others don't. These include Lloyds Easy Saver and e-Savings, AA Savings Account, part of Halifax, Santander Instant Saver 3 and their e-Savings.
Finally, being able to access your account with no restriction and the low first payment minimum are definite plus points, and they make this account a very attractive way to start saving.
