The start of a new decade will inevitably see many of us committing to New Year’s resolutions as we enter 2020. Unsurprisingly, the vast majority of surveys on people’s resolutions have very similar feels to them in terms of our favourite ones.
Having witnessed a few months of falling interest rates on savings, we’ve seen a little stabilisation in the past month thankfully.
Marcus by Goldman Sachs, the UK savings provider, has cut the bonus rate paid on its market leading easy access savings account, losing its place at the top of our best buy tables.
CROWDSTACKER has appointed James Blower, founder of The Savings Guru, as an advisor to its board to assist with product development.
Blower will help the peer-to-peer business lender develop and launch a suite of new services, including what he called a “potentially game changing savings-related product”.
“What Crowdstacker has planned over the next few months and years is hugely exciting. After speaking to Karteek and hearing his vision to help savers it wasn’t a difficult decision to agree to get involved.” Blower said.
Blower previously ran National Australia Bank’s offshore savings bank Clydesdale Bank International in Guernsey and was the first savings director of challenger bank Shawbrook before launching consultancy and consumer savings information and comparison site, The Savings Guru.
He has since worked with a range of firms building savings business or applying for deposit taking banking licences, including Harrods Bank, Cambridge Building Society, specialist mortgage lender Pepper Money, Zopa and Arbuthnot Direct.
Karteek Patel, chief executive of Crowdstacker, said the platform will reveal details of its new product later this year and is delighted to have Blower on board. “James has the specific experience and knowledge of the market plus the specialist skills in product development and marketing to help us get this right to create a savings revolution.”
Marcus, the savings division of banking giant Goldman Sachs, has pulled the bonus rate on its popular easy access account, losing its position at the top of the Savings Guru best buy tables.
An innocuous looking email dropped in to Savings Guru HQ a few days ago from Marcus, changing the terms and conditions on their Online Savings Account. However, the contents are potentially very significant.
I wrote in last month’s column about falling interest rates and August was another month where we witnessed a number of providers cutting their interest rates on savings.
Revverbank has become the first new bank to be authorised by the Bank of England and Prudential Regulation Authority in 2019, having been granted ‘authorisation with restrictions’ late in June.
November was another volatile month for savings rates with a number of changes in our best buy tables.
At the start of September, the best 1 Year Fixed rate from a non-Sharia provider, who typically dominate the best buy tables, was the 1.95% payed by SmartSave. This month, the best rate is 1.80% from Zenith Bank or 1.76% from Ikano Bank.
Each month, James writes a column for Around Town and BeauLieu Magazines, which go out to around 60,000 homes and businesses in Essex. This is his August column.
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We help savers get the best deal for their money by providing unique insight in to the savings market. We help prospective banks apply for a banking licence and we help build customer services, products and marketing for them. We also work with existing banks and building societies to improve their savings propositions. This insider view of savings means we are uniquely placed to help savers.