Savings accounts marketed towards the over-50s have been underperforming in comparison with more general savings products, leading many personal and business bank account experts to call the situation outrageously unfair.
A recent research study examined all available cash savings products currently on the market save cash ISAs, discovering that the average interest rates offered by high street providers is only 2.23 per cent for over-50s. However, savings products not limited by age requirements carry an average interest rate of 3.17 per cent, leaving many to question why banks and building societies are short-changing older savers.
Governor Money, the organisation carrying out the research, said that most consumers would believe that labelling a product as exclusively for those over the age of 50 means that there are either implicit or explicit added value or benefits unavailable to younger savers. However, the organisation’s chief executive, Miles Bingham, said that this is obviously not the case, and that savers over 50 years of age should be highly cautious if considering taking up one of these specialised accounts with so-called ‘benefits.’
Life is difficult enough without banks and building societies taking you to the cleaners, a representative from Save our Savers commented, with the campaign group adding that it’s become a sad fact that if a financial service company uses the word ‘gold’ in their advert campaigns for a certain account, it’s almost certainly going to be an appalling one. Other experts also spoke out, blaming the decision of the Bank of England to keep the base rate so low for such an extended period of time for the abysmally low interest rates in the UK.