The week in savings - w/e 10th September
13/09/2021
Monday 6th September
The week kicked off with DF Capital withdrawing their fixed rate bonds from sale but there was better news from Oxbury Bank who moved top of notice with a new 120 Day Notice Account paying 1.06% and launched the best non-platform 18 Month Fixed rate available in the market – 1.45%
Tuesday 7th September
A quite day in the market generally but significant moves from Al Rayan Bank, who went against the trend of fixed rate providers cutting rates in the past week with a range of new fixed rate savings which saw them take three best buy spots
1 Year - 1.45% (moving them up to 2nd)
18 Months - 1.55% (new best buy)
2 Year - 1.76% (new best buy)
3 Year - 1.81% (new best buy)
Wednesday 8th September
United Trust Bank reduced all their fixed rate ISAs by 0.10% and all fixed rate bonds by the same amount, bar their 1 Year which was cut from 1.30% - 1.25%
Tandem followed suit reducing their 1, 2 and 3 Year Fixed rate savings rates, dropping out of our top 10
Thursday 9th September
Thursday was a busy day which started with Leeds Building Society improving their ISA rates
* Easy access - 0.55% (joint 2nd)
* 1 Year - 0.75% (7th)
* 5 Year - 1.30% (joint 3rd)
Secure Trust Bank launched three new best buy ISAs:
1 Year - 0.95%
2 Year - 1.15%
3 Year - 1.25%
They also improve their notice savings rates:
120 Day - 0.95%
90 Day - 0.85%
60 Day - 0.90%
30 Day - 0.70%
However they only changed one fixed rate - their 5 Year Fixed was improved to 1.80%, to move it up to 2nd in the market behind mobile app only bank Atom.
After a sustained period fighting it out at the top of the market, Zopa reduced their fixed rates:
1 Year - 1.25% (joint 8th)
2 Year - 1.45% (joint 8th)
3 Year - 1.55% (joint 8th)
4 Year - 1.58% (joint 2nd)
5 Year - 1.72% (joint 3rd)
Charter Savings Bank reduced theirs too:
1 Year - 1.27% (7th)
18 Months - 1.35% (joint 4th)
Friday 10th September
Friday is often the most active day in the market and this week was no exception! Paragon kicked things off with improved fixed rates, moving them in to our best buy tables:
2 Year - 1.45% (joint 8th)
3 Year - 1.55% (joint 8th)
5 Year - 1.65% (9th)
RCI Bank also increased their fixed rates, although they are still some way outside our best buys, but their 95 Day Notice Account did enter our top 10 with a new rate of 0.82% taking them up to 10th.
Kent Reliance increased their fixed rate ISA pricing with 1 Year ISA up to 0.78% (8th) and 2 Year ISA - 1.00% (8th)
Coventry Building Society increased their ISA rates
Easy access limited access - 0.55% (2nd)
1 Year ISA - 0.85 (joint 3rd)
2 Year ISA - 1.05% (joint 4th)
3 Year ISA - 1.11% (joint 5th)
5 Year ISA - 1.30% (joint 3rd)
Aldermore also improved their ISA rates:
1 Year ISA - 0.85% (joint 3rd)
2 Year ISA - 1.04% (7th)
3 Year ISA - 1.09% (7th)
Alica cut their 1 and 2 Year Fixed rates to 1.31% and 1.55% to drop to 4th and joint 4th respectively
The last move of the day saw Caribbean provider JN Bank increase their 3, 4 and 5 Year Fixed rates to 1.74%, 1.74% and 1.75% respectively, to move up to 4th in 3 Year, top of 4 Year and 3rd in 5 Year
Elsewhere in the market, there was some good news for Cambridge & Counties Bank who hit the £1bn deposits milestone – congratulations to them.
Vanquis were also reporting financial results with their 2020 figures released, which showed deposits up to £1.683bn during the year, after the bank took on extra liquidity at the start of covid. Given that lending fell during the financial year, it looks unlikely that we will see them offering competitive rates this year, until lending has increased, savings balances have reduced or both.
Savings Guru verdict
This was a significant week in the savings market as we saw DF Capital withdraw from the fixed rate market and cuts from Allica, Charter, Tandem, United Trust and Zopa during the week. Although we saw Al Rayan and JN Bank buck the trend, we think that rates will fall back slightly now. I don’t foresee Atom’s rates lasting more than another week or two and that this will see consolidation of 1 Year Fixed rates back down to around 1.25 – 1.35% and 2 Year to 1.45% - 1.55%. There may be the odd outlier but that looks like the direction of travel.
ISAs are going the other way though with Secure Trust taking the leading positions on 1, 2 and 3 Year. We’ve seen Aldermore, Charter Savings, Close, Hodge, Paragon, UBL and United Trust all keenly pricing in recent weeks and expect there to be a reaction to Secure Trust’s moves this week. I don’t expect to see rates to move significantly higher than current positions but the odds are in favour of a move upwards in ISAs and I think there’s a little way to go north from current pricing points.