Trying to get a decent return on your savings is a tough ask at the moment. According to financial information site Moneyfacts , the number of savings accounts paying more than 1% have HALVED over the past year.
But if you turn your back on the familiar banking names, you can bag yourself a much better rate.
New analysis from price comparison giant MoneySuperMarket has revealed that some ‘ challenger’ banks are offering DOUBLE the interest rates you can get from traditional high street banks.
It highlighted the top one-year fixed rate bonds are currently offered by two banks that are not exactly household names - Atom Bank and Ikano Bank, which each pay 1.40%.
In comparison, Santander pays just 0.7%. And that’s one of the better rates on offer from the big high street names!
But how safe is your cash with a lesser-known banking name? Are you gambling with your cash in order to secure a better return?
We’ve run the rule over some of the exotic names currently at the top of the best buy tables.
Atom Bank
Atom Bank is the UK’s first app-based bank - it doesn’t have any physical branches, and only officially opened its digital doors back in October.
It has already launched leading fixed-rate savings deals across both 12-month and two-year terms, and has plans to introduce a current account next year.
Atom Bank is a member of the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) , which offers full protection for the first £75,000 you save with each individual banking group. In other words, if Atom goes bust, savings of up to £75,000 will be returned to you.
Ikano Bank
Ikano Bank is owned by the same family as IKEA, but thankfully you don’t need to be a dab hand with an allen key in order to enjoy a cracking interest rate with its savings accounts.
It’s a member of the Swedish Deposit Insurance Scheme, which is managed by the Swedish National Debt Office. Like the FSCS, it protects the first £75,000 saved per person should the bank go bust.
,p>You wouldn’t need to brush up on your Swedish either - all communication about a bank collapse would be in English and come via the FSCS.Masthaven Bank
Masthaven Bank is another new digital bank, though it has been offering property loans for more than a decade. It currently offers one of the top five-year fixed rate savings accounts, paying 2.01%.
Masthaven is also a member of the FSCS, so again you enjoy £75,000 protection per saver.
RCI Bank
RCI Bank is owned by car giants Renault, and launched in the UK back in 2015.
<>Since then it has turned heads offering market-leading interest rates, and currently boasts the top-paying easy access account. That said, it still only pays 1% interest.RCI is authorised and regulated by the French financial regulators, the Autorité de Controle Prudentiel et de Résolution, and is a member of the European deposit guarantee scheme, which protects the first €100,000 of its customers’ savings.
That works out at about £84,000 on today’s exchange rate.
Fidor Bank
Another digital bank, Fidor Bank was launched in Germany in 2009 and moved into the UK last year.
Helpfully, it also has some cracking savings deals on offer, including a three-year bond paying 3.60% - just 0.05% less than the market leader, the rather less exotic sounding Hanley Economic Building Society.
It isn’t a member of the FSCS though. Instead, money saved with Fidor is protected by the German private commercial banks statutory compensation scheme, the EDB. It protects up to €100,000 of its customers’ savings, so again around £84,000 today.
OakNorth Bank
OakNorth Bank has been set up to provide finance to entrepreneurs and growth businesses. And the way it funds those loans is by offering some eye-catching savings rates to the likes of me and you, with top deals at the moment on one- and two-year bonds.
It’s a member of the FSCS, so the first £75,000 you save with OakNorth Bank are entirely protected.
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