The best savings accounts (February 2024)

(This article is updated regularly but check the published date to see when this last happened. New videos are usually at the start of the month.)

Best easy access savings accounts – up to 5.2%

These are the most flexible accounts, though as a result you’ll get lower rates. You can add and take your money out at any time.

Top loyalty easy access

• Skipton Building Society Member Bonus Saver (5.5% AER variable includes 1.7% bonus for 12 months): min £1 / max £3,000
  • Only for Skipton members who joined before 11 January 2024
• Ulster Bank (5.2% AER variable): min £5,000 / max £1m (part of Natwest/RBS)
  • Requires Ulster Bank current account

Top Building Society

Top Sharia bank

• Al Rayan (4% expected profit rate variable): min £5,000 / max £1m

For large deposits with full protection

Best limited access saving accounts – up to 5.15%

These accounts will let you get instant access, but there are often limits on how many withdrawals you can make in a year without a penalty (such as a reduced interest rate).

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Best notice accounts – up to 5.4%

A notice account means you have to request to get your money and interest, which will be released after a set time. They often have a variable rate but if there’s a cut you’ll normally be given notice.

Six-month notice – up to 5.3%

Four-month notice – up to 5.25%

• Cynergy Bank (5.25% AER variable): 120-day notice: min £500 / max £1m
• Vanquis Bank (5.25% AER variable): 120-day notice: min £1,000 / max £250,000

Three-month notice – up to 5.4%

• Vanquis Bank (5.4% AER variable): 90-day notice: min £1,000 / max £250,000
• QIB via Raisin (5.4% expected profit fixed) 95-day notice: min £1,000 / max £85,000
• BLME (5.35% Expected profit rate variable) 90-day notice: min £10,000 / max £1m
• Investec Bank (5.25% AER variable) 90-day notice: min £5,000 / max £250,000

Two-month notice – up to 5.35%

Sharia notice accounts

• BLME (5.35% Expected profit rate variable) 90-day notice: min £10,000 / max £1m

Best current account linked easy access savings – up to 7%

Some of the best rates are in or linked to current accounts – or you might just want the convenience of having everything at the same bank (though that’s not always a good idea).

All of these accounts can be opened by anyone, though you will be credit checked for opening the current account itself. They’ll often have additional requirements or fees to take in to account. You may already have seen some of these listed in the easy and limited access lists above.

Interest earned in separate savings account – up to 7%

• Santander Edge Saver (7% AER variable, includes 2.5% bonus for 12 months): min £0 / max £4,000
  • Requires Santander Edge current account (£3 monthly fee)
• Ulster Bank (5.2% AER variable): min £5,000 / max £1m (part of Natwest/RBS)
  • Requires Ulster Bank current account
• Barclays Blue Rewards Rainy Day Saver (5.12% AER variable): min £0 / max £5,000
  • Requires current account with added Blue Rewards (£5 monthly fee but can be avoided by meeting requirements)
• Halifax Reward Bonus Saver (4.2% AER variable): min £1 / max £9m
  • rate reduced to 1.05% if you make four or more withdrawals
  • requires a Reward or Ultimate Reward current account – review here
• Chase Bank (4.1% AER variable): min £1 / max £500,000
  • Must set up a separate savings account to get the interest – review here
• Monzo (4.1% AER variable): min £0 / max £100,000
  • Must set up an Instant Access savings pot to get the interest
• First Direct Bonus Saver (4% AER variable): min £1 / max £50,000
  • rate reduces to 1.75% in months you make a withdrawal
  • requires a current account with First Direct
• HSBC Online bonus (4% AER variable): min £1 / max £50,000
  • reduces to 1.75% in months where a withdrawal is made
  • requires HSBC current or savings account
• Lloyds Club Lloyds Advantage Saver (4% AER variable): min £1 / max £9m
  • rate reduced to 1% if you make four or more withdrawals
  • requires a Club Lloyds current account – review here

Interest earned in current account – up to 5%

• Nationwide FlexDirect (5% AER variable): min £0 / max £1,500
• Kroo: (4.35% AER variable): min £0 / max £85,000
  • Interest is earned in the main current account
  • The rate tracks the base rate minus 0.9%

Best Regular Savings accounts – up to 7%

These accounts are all “Regular” or monthly savers which work differently to normal saving accounts. Here’s my full guide to how they work.

I’ve listed the top paying options below. Find more regular savings accounts in my separate best buy guide.

Current account linked regular savers – up to 7%

You can only get these accounts if you open up or already have a current account with the banks.

• First Direct Regular Saver (7% AER fixed) – min £25 / max £300 a month (requires a current account)
• Nationwide Flex Regular Saver (6.5% AER variable) – min £1 / max £200 per month (max 3 withdrawals per year, after which your rate drops to 2.15%. Requires Nationwide current account) – full review
• Club Lloyds Monthly Saver (6.25% AER fixed) – min £25 / max £400 a month (requires Club Lloyds current account) – full review
• Natwest Digital Regular Saver (6.17% AER variable) – min £1 / max £150 a month (requires current account) – full review
• RBS Digital Regular Saver (6.17% AER variable) – min £1 / max £150 a month (requires current account)
• TSB Monthly Saver (6% AER fixed) – min £50 / max £250 a month (requires TSB current account)

All customer regular savers – up to 7%

These are the next best regular savers. It’s also worth checking your local building society to see if they offer a better regular saver for those who live nearby and can go into a branch to open an account.

Sharia regular savers

• Gatehouse Bank Regular Saver (7% expected profit rate variable) – min £1 / max £300 per month

Existing customer regular savers – up to 7%

You’ll need to be an existing member of these building societies to get these accounts.

Best fixed savings accounts – up to 5.17%

You can fix your savings for a year or longer and get a slightly better rate in return. However, you need to be sure you won’t need access to that cash over that time. The longer you fix, the greater the risk you’ll lose out if rates were to rise. But at the same time, they’re protected if rates were to fall.

It’s worth noting too when longer fixes provide you with access to the interest. With most it’s at the end of the fix, meaning all that interest will count towards your personal savings allowance for the year you receive it.

Six-month fixes – up to 5.17%

Nine-month fixes – up to 5.1%

12-month fixes – up to 5.21%

• SmartSave (5.21% AER fixed): min £10,000 / max £85,000
• Allica Bank (5.2% AER fixed): min £10,000 / max £250,000
• Shawbrook Bank (5.16% AER fixed): min £1,000 / max £2m
• My Community Bank via My Community Finance (5.15% AER fixed): min £1,000 / max £85,000
• Investec (5.15% AER fixed): min £5,000 / max £250,000
• Hodge Bank (5.11% AER fixed): min £1,000 / max £1m
• Virgin Money (5.11% AER fixed): min £1 / max £1m
• Atom Bank (5.1% AER fixed): min £50 / max £100,000
• Close Brothers (5.1% AER fixed): min £10,000 / max £2m
• Hampshire Trust Bank (5.1% AER fixed): min £1 / max £250,000

15-month fixes – up to 4.95%

18-month fixes – up to 4.98%

• Charter Savings Bank via Hargreaves Lansdown (4.98% AER fixed): min £1 / max £1m
• Al Rayan Bank (4.8% expected profit rate fixed): min £5,000 / max £1m
• BLME (4.8% expected profit rate fixed): min £1,000 / max £1m
• Cynergy Bank (4.8% AER fixed): min £1,000 / max £1m

24-month fixes – up to 5.1%

• iFast Bank (5.1% AER fixed): min £0
• SmartSave (4.97% AER fixed): min £10,000 / max £85,000
• DF Capital (4.96% AER fixed): min £1,000 / max £250,000
• GB Bank via Hargreaves Lansdown (4.95% AER fixed): min £1,000 / max £2m
• Close Brothers (4.95% AER fixed): min £10,000 / max £2m
• SmartSave (4.91% AER fixed): min £10,000 / max £85,000

Longer fixes – up to 4.6%

• 3 year fix SmartSave (4.61% AER fixed): min £10,000 / max £85,000
• 4 year fix ISBank via Raisin (4.5% AER fixed): min £5,000 / max £85,000
• 5 year fix Atom Bank (4.5% AER fixed): min £50 / max £100,000
• 7 year fix ISBank via Raisin (4.5% AER fixed): min £1,000 / max £85,000

Top Building Society fixes

Top Sharia Bank fixes

• 12 month fix BLME (5.05% expected profit rate fixed): min £1,000 / max £1m
• 2 year fix BLME (4.75% expected profit rate fixed): min £1,000 / max £1m
• 3 year fix Al Rayan (4.95% expected profit rate fixed): min £15000 / max £1m
• 4 year fix BLME (4.3% expected profit rate fixed): min £1,000 / max £1m
• 5 year fix BLME (4.3% expected profit rate fixed): min £1,000 / max £1m

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Best Cash ISAs

Though most of us don’t need the tax-free “wrapper” offered by an ISA, if you are wanting to use one then the same goes in terms of finding the best rate.

You can’t pay in more than £20,000 each financial year into any combination of ISAs, and you can only pay money into one Cash ISA. Look for ones that allow transfers in if you have money from previous tax years you want to move.

Easy-access ISAs work the same as easy-access savings accounts – you can access the money in the ISA whenever you need do. If the ISA is also flexible then you can withdraw money and pay it back in without impacting your annual allowance.

Fixed ISAs will actually allow you to make withdrawals, though you’ll pay a penalty to do so. For a one-year fix the penalty is normally 90 days interest.

Lifetime ISAs are available as cash savings or as investment products. You can open one up to the age of 40 and save up to £4,000 a year into one and get a 25% bonus.

Here are the top paying rates for each type, we’ve listed more options over on our dedicated Best Cash ISA page.

Best auto-savings rates – up to 5%

Apps like Chip and Plum and features like Monzo’s IFTTT are great tools to boost how much is in your savings. But the rates aren’t always the best. I’d personally look to transfer these savings over to a higher paying account, but in the short term it pays to use those with the best rates.

• Chase (5% AER variable) – rate on roundups only – read more about Chase
• Chip via Clearbank (4.84% AER variable) – Charges can apply, read more about Chip
• Monzo (4.1% AER variable) – read more about IFTTT
• Plum (3.51% AER variable for free users) – read more about Plum

Premium Bonds – 4.4% prize rate

The prize rate for Premium Bonds currently stands at 4.65%, but it’ll drop to 4.4% from the March 2024 draw onwards. This doesn’t mean you’ll get 4.65% back on your savings, though the closer you are to the £50,000 maximum deposit, the closer you’ll get to the rate (on average). Here’s more.

Best children’s savings account

We’ve written in more detail about the different savings accounts for kids, so do check that article out to understand the conditions such as access.

Best ethical savings account

The money you hold in your savings is used by the banks to invest and lend money. This could mean it’s used for things you might disagree with, such as fracking, tobacco or arms manufacturing.

There are banks with ethical policies such as Triodos, while building societies must lend 75% of their funds to home buyers, meaning they don’t have the cash to invest elsewhere.

Sharia accounts can’t be used for things against Islamic law, like tobacco or gambling and I’ve listed the top ones further down the article.

The “greenest” banks are Ecology Building Society and Triodos, though they won’t always make the tables above. The following banks and building societies are more likely to appear above.

There’s also the NS&I Green Bond, a 3-year fixed-rate account. It’s currently paying 2.95%. Here’s our analysis.

Top Sharia savings accounts

Paying interest isn’t allowed in Islam, so a Sharia-compliant savings account instead promises a return on the money saved – an expected profit rate. Though technically this means the rate isn’t guaranteed, it’s not happened yet. They’re open to everyone, not just Muslims. Money in these accounts won’t be invested in arms, tobacco, gambling or tobacco.

Look in the tables above for banks offering an expected profit rate rather than AER. The main banks are:

Finding the latest savings rates

I’ll update this page once or twice a day (check the published date to see when it last happened), but if you find a rate has been cut or isn’t available, you can check the MoneyFacts website.