July Savings Round Up

30/06/2019

Smart Save Bank return with best 1 Year Fixed Rate

Chetwood Financial, which launched Smart Save Bank earlier in the year with a market leading 1 Year Fixed Rate Bond, which then payed 2%, have returned to market with another competitive offering.

Their latest 1 Year Bond pays a slightly improved 2.01%, which is only bettered by Sharia banks Bank of London & Middle East (2.20%) and Al-Rayan (2.17%).

The account can only be applied for and managed online but allows a reasonable 14 days to pay in as many deposits as savers wish (within the maximum deposit balance of £85,000). It has a very quick application process, which takes around 5 to complete.

The application process is relatively simple, although the need to provide a national insurance number should be superfluous for non-ISA accounts. The request for the exact day, month and year the applicant moved in to their current address adds unnecessary friction too. However, these aside, the process is easy and finishes with details of the account number and reference to send your initial deposits to.

Other than Metro Bank (2%), there are no other non-sharia banks paying 2% or more and many of the following pack are priced around 1.80% - 1.85%.

Smart Save Bank’s last 1 Year lasted only just over a week so savers wanting this highly competitive rate should move quickly if they wish to secure it.

https://www.thesavings.guru/fixed-rate-bonds/1-year-fixed

Best business savings rate for a year!

Locally based Saffron Building Society, which has 11 branches across Essex, Suffolk and Hertfordshire, has launched an internet based business e-saver account paying 1.02%, pipping Virgin’s Business Access Savings which pays 1.01%. This is the best business rate since Virgin were offering 1.21% on their account back in July 2018.

The account can be opened with a minimum deposit of £10,000 and is available to Limited companies, Limited partnerships, Limited Liability Partnerships or charities registered in the UK. There’s a maximum balance of £500,000.

Saffron has been in business for 170 years and looks after £850m of savings for its members. Given its relatively small size, we expect that the account won’t be available for too long at such a competitive rate, so business savers should move quickly to take advantage.

It remains to be seen whether Virgin Money, who are now part of Clydesdale and Yorkshire Banking Group and who have led our best buy tables for so long, respond. TSB, who pay 1% and Kent Reliance, who offer 0.90% are closely behind so this may prompt Virgin to respond to Saffron’s move.

https://www.thesavings.guru/business-deposits/easy-access

HSBC offers £175 cash bonus to switchers

I always keep an eye out for good switching offers and HSBC have an excellent one at present. Current account holders of another bank who apply and start a full switch of their bank account to HSBC, including at least two direct debits or standing orders, can earn £175.

You must pay in £1,750 a month (e.g. have a salary of £26,000 paid monthly) and anyone who's not had an HSBC current account since 1 January 2016 can apply. The bonus is paid within 30 days of switching so no waiting around for your cash.

The current account switching service is excellent and takes 7 days, you can choose which day your switch happens on and all your standing orders and direct debits are transferred over and your payments are set up automatically with your new bank so it is painless.

These switching bonuses are a great way to get an initial savings pots for those who don’t have any savings.

https://www.hsbc.co.uk/current-accounts/switching-to-hsbc/

Billericay Summerfest and the World’s Fastest Tuk Tuk

Savings Guru will be at the 2019 Billericay Summerfest which takes place on Sunday 7th July at Sun Corner in Billericay. We will be in Zone G on stand 108 and will have the Fastest Tuk Tuk in the world on our stall for the day! We will be raising money for Fraser and Friends Fighting Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy and there’s a chance to win a ride round Billericay in the Guinness World Record holding Tuk Tuk in our raffle plus lots of other fantastic prizes.

We will be giving away free piggy banks to children and I will be on hand to answer any savings questions you may have so please do come and say hi! More information on the event can be found at www.billericaysummerfest.com

What are the best rates currently?

The savings market can change very quickly, so we always recommend that you check our website for the latest rates. At time of print, our best personal savings rates are:

That’s all for this month. If you don’t want to wait for next month’s update, then you can subscribe to our newsletter by submitting your email address on our website!