One provider of personal and business bank accounts recently jumped to the head of the best buy tables with a new 3.05 per cent interest rate instant access savings account.
Leeds Building Society’s new instant access saver just eclipses Nationwide’s 3.01 per cent previous title holder. It also outstrips the three other banking providers who were paying 3 per cent on their instant access accounts.
The Leeds offering has a 12 month bonus rate of 1 percent factored into it. Additionally the building society allows savers to make as many withdrawals as they like without penalty.
The building society has limited the savings offering, however, in not allowing top-ups at any time other than whilst it is available for new savers. Once Leeds decides to either no longer make the deal available or it has filled its quota, existing customers will no longer be able to make any new deposits into the account; the financial services provider has already tagged the account as a ‘limited edition,’ giving it the perfect excuse for withdrawal without any kind of notice to existing customers.
The 3.05 per cent interest rate is of course before tax. After the basic tax rate, savers will generate 2.44 per cent interest on any deposited cash, and taxpayers on the higher rate will only net 1.83 per cent.
The account is only available online, and cannot be opened or managed any other way. Savers are also required to have at least £100 in the account at all times or risk its closure.
Nationwide, Leeds’ closest competitor, is even more limited. Their 3.01 per cent MySave account cannot be opened with anything less than a £1,000 deposit, and it allows only one withdrawal without incurring penalties.