One UK personal and business bank account provider has recently announced it has added to its selection of internet savings accounts.
Brits looking for a competitive savings account option will be interested to hear that the Post Office has broadened its range with a new online banking option. The financial services provider announced a new issue of its online banking package that offers a 1.65 per cent interest rate.
However consumers that sign up for the new deal will garner a yearly bonus rate of 1.2 per cent. This means that for the first 12 months of the deal the rate on the package stands at 2.85 per cent.
Post Office savings director Richard Norman remarked that the bank’s Online Saver account offers flexibility to savers by allowing them to access their cash day or night and make an unlimited number number of withdrawals – all without penalty.
However in related news, recently published research findings have revealed that in the wake of the recession savings products offering a real return on savers’ investments are few and far between.
A recent Defaqto study discovered that only 0.3 per cent of savings products currently available on the market today from building societies and banks will properly give savers positive investment income. This is because inflation measure known as the Retail Prices Index stands currently at 5.2 per cent.
Of the nearly 1,900 savings accounts available for take up in the UK, only six actually pay a rate of return that will defeat inflation, according to the information gathered by the independent financial research firm. Defaqto’s banking insight analyst, David Black, remarked that combined with a prolonged low-base rate, high inflation has been crippling to savers attempting to make their savings pots grow.