Savers offered biggest choice of cash deals since UK lockdowns started

Average one-year fixed cash Isa rates are lagging behind the rates offered for one-year savings bonds, according to Moneyfacts.co.uk.

Vicky Shaw
Monday 18 October 2021 06:23 EDT
The choice of cash savings deals has grown to the highest level since the UK coronavirus lockdowns started in March 2020, according to Moneyfacts.co.uk (Nick Ansell/PA)
The choice of cash savings deals has grown to the highest level since the UK coronavirus lockdowns started in March 2020, according to Moneyfacts.co.uk (Nick Ansell/PA) (PA Archive)

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The choice of cash savings deals has grown to the highest level since the UK coronavirus lockdowns started in March 2020, according to a financial information website.

Some 1,639 products including Isas are available, marking the highest total since 1,768 in March 2020, Moneyfacts co.uk said.

The number increased by 66 month-on-month in October, it added.

Within the total, the choice of cash Isas is also at its biggest since March 2020, with 380 deals, the highest number since March 2020 when there were 417 products available.

The average easy access savings rate edged up slightly in October to 0.18%, from 0.17% a month earlier.

Savers considering their options in light of the interest rate rises on fixed bonds may well be moving their cash around to take advantage

Rachel Springall, Moneyfacts.co.uk

The average “no notice” Isa rate also rose slightly to 0.25% but the typical Isa rate where savers have to give some notice to access their cash remained unchanged, at a record low of 0.31%.

For savers who are able to lock their money away for a year, Rachel Springall, a finance expert at Moneyfacts, said the average one-year fixed bond rate is at its highest level since June 2020, at 0.76%.

The average one-year fixed-rate Isa meanwhile pays significantly less, at 0.53%.

Ms Springall said: “We have recorded the biggest margin between the one-year fixed bond and Isa average since September 2012, so savers will receive 0.23 (percentage points) less from a one-year fixed Isa than a fixed bond equivalent on average…

“Savers considering their options in light of the interest rate rises on fixed bonds may well be moving their cash around to take advantage.”

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