Premium Bonds holders could be waiting years before ever winning a prize, meaning cash could be missing out on years of savings interest.

In 2025, first-time Premium Bonds winners waited an average of 3.1 years before they won a prize, a freedom of information request sent to NS&I by Quilter revealed.

Around one in three (29%) Premium Bonds holders who won their first prize in 2025 had been waiting for more than two years.

There is no guarantee of winning a prize in the Premium Bonds draw, meaning your cash could lose purchasing power as inflation rises.

Money held in the product does not earn an interest rate like with traditional savings accounts. Instead, you could potentially see growth if you win in the monthly prize draws.

The odds of winning in the Premium Bonds prize fund draw will stand at 23,000 to 1 per £1 Bond number from April.

The more money you hold in Premium Bonds, the greater chance you have of winning – those who do not have a lot saved in the product are much less likely to win.

The average holding for savers who won at least one prize in any of 2025’s 12 Premium Bonds prize draws was £39,500, figures obtained by Quilter found.

Ian Futcher, financial adviser at Quilter, said: “Premium Bonds are held very close to the nation’s heart but help to underscore the scale of the cash savings problem the UK has.

“The allure of high value prizes, alongside tax free winnings, means people are putting an inordinate amount of money into Premium Bonds when they would perhaps be better off parking their cash elsewhere.”

Are Premium Bonds worth it?

With savers waiting for more than three years on average before they get any return whatsoever on the money, you might wonder whether Premium Bonds are worth it.

The answer to this question is not definitive. For some people Premium Bonds are a good option, while others may be better served by a more traditional savings account.

Premium Bonds have three key positives. Firstly, any money you win from Premium Bonds prizes are entirely tax-free, meaning what you win is what you get.

For this reason it may make sense to put money in Premium Bonds once you have used up your annual ISA allowance, such as via a cash ISA, as putting it in a taxable savings account means you risk having to pay tax on the interest earned.

This is particularly useful if you are a higher-earner who wants to put significantly more than £20,000 (the current annual ISA allowance) in cash savings each year.

Secondly, keeping your savings with NS&I is effectively risk-free.

When you keep cash with traditional banks, you run the risk of losing money if the bank goes under, if the money is not FSCS-protected. However, as NS&I is an arm of the government, any money you hold with them is effectively guaranteed to be safe as there is very little risk of total government collapse.

That means that every penny you hold in Premium Bonds is effectively 100% safe.

Finally, Premium Bonds can simply be fun. There is a certain allure to the process, with savers checking if they won a prize each month – including two £1 million jackpot payouts.

However, there are many negatives to keeping money in only Premium Bonds.

As shown above, you are much less likely to win in the monthly prize draw if you do not hold much money in Premium Bonds.

NS&I says someone with “average luck” should see their money grow by just 3.3% each year. Not only is that lower than some of the top savings accounts on the market, it is also not guaranteed as you may not win.

Ultimately, whether or not Premium Bonds are worth it depends on your particular financial circumstances.

If you have a lot of money you want to save in cash left over after using your £20,000 annual ISA allowance, Premium Bonds may be a good place to grow your cash tax-free.

But if you have just £25 to put in the savings vehicle each month, you may find you’ll grow your money faster and more reliably via a traditional savings account or cash ISA.

Premium Bonds are set to provide lower average returns as National Savings and Investment (NS&I) will cut the prize fund rate and reduce the chances of winning in the monthly prize draw.

From the April Premium Bonds prize draw onwards, the prize fund rate, which represents the rate of return for a bondholder with average luck, will be slashed from 3.6% to 3.3%.

This will mean the total amount of money distributed among Premium Bonds winners in the April draw will fall to around £375 million, down from around £408 million in the February draw.

NS&I estimates that the lower prize fund rate will mean there will be fewer Premium Bonds prizes overall, falling from February’s total of 6,183,066 to an estimated total of 5,943,029 in April.

The number of prizes available is set to fall in almost every denomination. However, the number of £25 prizes up for grabs will increase from 2,643,007 to an estimated 2,806,003 in April, while the number of £1 million prizes will remain at two a month.

It will mark the sixth time the prize fund rate has been cut since September 2023, when it stood at a recent high of 4.65%. The most recent rate cut was in August 2025.

At the same time, the chances of winning a prize will be cut to 23,000 to 1 from April onwards. The current odds are 22,000 to 1, and have been the same since December 2024.

These changes together mean that the average Premium Bonds holder with normal luck will both win less often and see smaller average returns on their money.

Remember, Premium Bonds prizes are allocated entirely at random, meaning some luckier savers will get more than the prize fund rate implies, and some will achieve less.

Andrew Westhead, retail director at NS&I, said: “This change to the Premium Bonds prize fund rate and odds reflects changes in the wider savings market, and ensures we continue to balance the interests of savers, taxpayers and the wider financial services sector.

A table showing the Premium Bonds prizes distributed in the most recent prize draw compared to the estimated distribution in April’s draw can be found below.

Source: NS&I, 24 February

What is the Premium Bonds prize fund rate?

The Premium Bonds prize fund rate is an unusual measurement for the returns you may get on your savings.

Unlike a traditional interest rate which tells you how much guaranteed growth your savings will achieve in a year, the prize fund rate only tells you how much growth the savings of someone with average luck can expect from Premium Bonds prizes in a year.

As prizes are distributed entirely at random, savers will achieve higher and lower average returns than the prize fund rate.

NS&I uses the prize fund rate as a benchmark to determine how many prizes should be given away each month, and what size they should be. When it goes down, they will reduce the total amount of money paid out in a draw.

Are Premium Bonds still worth it?

With the chances of winning going down and the prize fund rate being slashed, the question of whether Premium Bonds are still worth it is raised.

Mark Hicks, director of active savings at Hargreaves Lansdown, said the prize fund rate cut “serves as a timely reminder as to whether you can get more for your money elsewhere.

“Premium Bonds don’t pay out interest – their prize rate is more of a benchmark of average return for your money. However, the reality is that, if you don’t win anything, you don’t get anything at all. It’s well worth looking at the wider savings market to see what deals are available.”

Most savers with average luck who have not used up their entire ISA allowance could get higher, and much more predictable, returns by putting their cash into one of the top cash ISAs on the market, paying up to 4.32%.

Money that grows within an ISA is also protected from tax, just like winnings from Premium Bonds, meaning you are not exposed to any extra tax liability.

If you have used up your full ISA allowance, then putting money in Premium Bonds may make more sense, but research shows that winnings are heavily skewed in favour of wealthier people as the more money you hold in the savings vehicle, the more likely you are to win.

A Freedom of Information request sent to NS&I by AJ Bell in April 2025 found that around 63% of Premium Bonds holders have never won a single penny from the monthly prize draws.

It also found that while the average holding for those who have never won a prize was just £106.79, the average holding for a winner was £23,397.

With the chances of winning reducing, and the total prize pot being slashed, Premium Bonds are set to become a much less competitive product in the savings market.

This being said, there are still some situations where putting your money in Premium Bonds could be worth it.

As mentioned above, if you have used up your entire ISA allowance and still have a lot of cash left over, putting it in Premium Bonds could be a good way to let it grow without having to pay any tax.

The caveat here is that this is probably only worth it if you have a truly significant amount of money sitting around.

There may still be a couple of weeks until Valentine’s Day but two Premium Bonds holders are already feeling the love after each winning a £1 million jackpot prize.

The lucky bond holders, from central Bedfordshire and Liverpool, will have been contacted by NS&I's Agent Million to tell them they have banked the top prize this month.

The first jackpot winner, from central Bedfordshire, won with the bond number 489TB013219. They purchased the winning Bond in February 2022 and hold £50,000 in Premium Bonds. They are the second jackpot winner from central Bedfordshire.

The second Premium Bonds £1 million jackpot Bond number is 040QJ919368. It is held by someone in Liverpool.

They also hold £50,000 in Premium Bonds and purchased their winning Bond in October 2004. They are the fourth to win the £1 million jackpot in Liverpool.

Andrew Westhead, NS&I Retail Director, said: "Congratulations to our two jackpot winners from central Bedfordshire and Liverpool, who each start February £1 million richer. ERNIE has spread the love ahead of Valentine's Day and we hope this brings both winners and their loved ones plenty to celebrate.”

Test your NS&I knowledge with MoneyWeek's Premium Bonds quiz.

How many people won in the February 2026 Premium Bonds prize draw?

In February 2026, there were more than 6.1 million tax-free Premium Bonds prizes worth over £408 million up for grabs.

This brings the total won by Premium Bonds holders since the first draw in 1957 to £40 billion.

Premium Bonds prizes range from £25 up to the jackpot £1 million.

Some 78 people won £100,000 each this month, while 154 received £50,000, 311 will get £25,000 and £777 are due £10,000.

How to check if you’re owed a prize

The Premium Bonds £1 million prize draw winners are announced on the first working day of each month. You will be contacted and told if you have won the top prize.

Bond holders can check if they have won anything between £25 and £100,000 by using the Premium Bonds prize checker app or visiting the NS&I website the day after the first working day of each month. For this month’s draw, this is Tuesday 3 February.

To check for Premium Bonds prizes on the NS&I website, Bond holders will need their Premium Bonds holder’s number. Those using the Premium Bonds app can use their holder’s number or their NS&I number.

It is worth checking as currently there are 2,713,707 unclaimed prizes worth £114,769,950 waiting to be claimed.

In central Bedfordshire, there are currently around 10,400 unclaimed prizes worth £433,225 dating back to February 1968. The largest unclaimed prize in central Bedfordshire is worth £10,000 and was won in the January 2024 draw by a Bond holder with a holding of £100.

In Liverpool, there is a £5,000 prize from May 2023 yet to be claimed; this is currently the highest unclaimed prize in the area.

There are also 13 unclaimed £1,000 prizes dating back to November 1987.

The prospect of winning a top cash prize each month is exciting but the prize rate has dropped in recent months and your money could perform better elsewhere.

We look at the alternatives to Premium Bonds in a separate piece.

Two lucky savers have become millionaires overnight after they won the Premium Bonds jackpot in September’s draw.

NS&I announced the two winners are based in County Durham and Cumbria.

The winner from Country Durham held £50,000 in Premium Bonds before winning with bond number 224BZ748917 in this month’s prize draw, the county’s fifth jackpot win. They bought their winning bond in June 2014.

Meanwhile, the second jackpot winner from Cumbria won their £1 million payout from bond number 243VC581367. They’re the 12th Premium Bonds millionaire from the county. The saver bought their winning bond in April 2015 and also had a total of £50,000 held in Premium Bonds before they won big this month.

Both of these savers will have been informed of their newfound fortune by Agent Million, an anonymous NS&I employee who travels up and down the country to inform jackpot winners of their luck.

But September’s prize draw did not just make two millionaires. Millions of other savers have won a combined total of over £397 million this month, including 2,797 who won high-value prizes between £5,000 and £1 million.

This includes a saver from Essex with just £350 in Premium Bonds, who won £100,000 from a bond they bought in December 2024.

Meanwhile, 12 more savers won £100,000 from bonds they purchased within the last 12 months, with one from Birmingham having bought their winning bond in July 2025, the most recent month eligible for the prize draw.

Andrew Westhead, NS&I’s retail director, said: "Congratulations to our two new jackpot winners from County Durham and Cumbria who've each won £1 million in September’s draw. Along with more than six million other prizes we're awarding this month, it's been another fantastic month for Premium Bonds holders.

“We'd also like to remind all Bond holders to keep their contact details up-to-date with us to ensure they don't miss out on being notified of prizes.”

There are currently 2,629,312 unclaimed Premium Bonds prizes worth £106,604,800 waiting to be claimed.

September 2025 Premium Bonds winners

The total number of winners in September’s Premium Bonds prize draw was 6,026,999, splitting the total prize pot of £397,781,850 between them.

There were a total of 132,593,956,732 eligible Bonds in this month’s draw, with winners being drawn at random.

Alongside the two jackpot winners, 76 savers won prizes of £100,000, 150 won £50,000, and 303 won £25,000.

Source: NS&I

The prize fund rate, the average rate of returns for someone with average luck, for the September draw was 3.6%.

Premium Bonds do not pay a set level of interest like other savings accounts. Instead, every £1 you save in them gives you a one in 22,000 chance to win one of the prizes each month.

You do not have to pay any tax on your Premium Bonds winnings either, making them a good way to protect your savings from the taxman.

How to check if you won in September’s Premium Bonds prize draw

Savers will be able to check if they won any money in September’s prize draw from tomorrow, 2 September.

You can check if you won a prize through NS&I’s website, app, or even using an Amazon Alexa.

For more information on how to check for Premium Bonds, read our separate article.

A saver with just £7,000 in Premium Bonds has become a millionaire overnight in the August 2025 prize draw.

The jackpot winner is from Central Bedfordshire, and won with the Bond number 148YD123622 – which they bought in December 2008.

The second Premium Bonds millionaire this month is based outside of the UK, NS&I said.

They have £50,000 in Premium Bonds and they bought the winning bond, 205XQ030808, in May 2013. Both jackpot will have had a visit from NS&I’s Agent Million.

Millions of savers will want to check if they’ve won a Premium Bonds prize as there were more than six million payouts up for grabs this month, worth more than £396 million.

This includes 75 prizes worth £100,000.

While savers with more Premium Bonds have a greater chance of winning, those with a small number can still win – as one high value prize winner proved this month. A saver who has just £750 in Premium Bonds, in West Scotland, has scooped £100,000.

NS&I’s retail director, Andrew Westhead, said: “Our Central Bedfordshire winner shows that you don’t need to have the full amount invested to win big, as every £1 Bond has an equal chance of winning the £1 million jackpot.

"And remember, if you’re moving abroad and want to keep your Premium Bonds, you still need to have a UK bank account.”

How many prizes were there in the August 2025 Premium Bonds prize draw?

A new, lower Premium Bonds prize fund rate took effect from this month's draw, reducing from 3.8% to 3.6%. It meant the total value of prizes was cut this month.

There is no guaranteed interest with Premium Bonds. The odds of winning a prize stand at 22,000 to one per £1 holding.

This month, there were a total of 6,005,404 prizes worth £396,356,500.

The total number of eligible Bond numbers in the draw was 132,118,833,579.

The prize checker will be updated on 2 August 2025.

NS&I will notify Premium Bonds savers when they win a prize, but they might not always get the message – such as if they’ve moved or changed contact details and not updated NS&I.

There are currently 2,615,187 unclaimed Premium Bonds prizes worth £105,022,575.

We look at how safe NS&I is, as well as alternatives to Premium Bonds, in separate articles.

Millions of Premium Bonds prizes are paid out each month, with payouts ranging from £25 to £1 million.

But with no guarantee of winning anything at all, savers could be waiting a long time to get a prize.

Premium Bonds holders typically wait three and a half years before they win any prizes, according to a freedom of information request by the wealth manager Octopus Money.

The long wait for a prize illustrates a disconnect between how long consumers anticipate waiting before they win a Premium Bonds prize, and how long they will likely need to wait in reality.

Almost a third of Premium Bonds holders expect to win a prize in the first six months after they bought their bonds, according to a survey of 2,000 UK adults commissioned by Octopus Money.

What are the chances of winning a Premium Bonds prize?

While NS&I’s prize fund rate, the average rate of return for a person with average luck, currently stands at 3.8%, there’s no guarantee of winning anything at all.

The odds of winning per £1 Bond number currently stand at 22,000 to one.

For every £1 you invest in Premium Bonds, you get one chance to win.

This means the distribution of prizes is heavily skewed towards people who have a significant amount of money saved in Premium Bonds as they have more individual chances of winning a prize.

In the past five years, 94% of Premium Bonds jackpot winners held more than £10,000, while 75% have over £25,000 invested in the vehicle, NS&I data shows.

Just under two thirds of all Premium Bonds holders have never won a penny from the savings vehicle, research by Dodl, AJ Bell’s investing app, found.

More than £4.25 billion has been held in Premium Bonds accounts that have had no activity in the entirety of the last decade, earning zero interest and letting the money erode to inflation.

If you do end up being one of the lucky few who end up winning, Octopus Money suggests the prize amount is often modest. In 2024, 88% of Premium Bonds prize winners took home less than £2,000 and just 0.32% of all winners won more than £10,000..

Ruth Handcock, CEO of Octopus Money said that while saving money in Premium Bonds may work well for some people, “others are missing out on strategies that could grow their wealth and deliver stronger returns over time”.

Handcock added that Premium Bonds are unlikely to outpace inflation, “so your money may seem ‘safe’ but it’s quietly shrinking in value over time".

How to check for Premium Bonds

With a 3.5 year average waiting period before you win a Premium Bonds prize, you may think it is not worth checking to see if you won anything every single month.

However, it is still a good idea to use the Premium Bonds prize checker and see if you had any luck – the process is quite simple once you have set your account up with NS&I.

NS&I updates the prize checker tool, available via app, website and Amazon Alexa, the day after the first working day of the month.

We explain how to check for Premium Bonds in a separate guide.

Savers should also check for unclaimed Premium Bonds prizes from years ago.

In June 2025, NS&I said there are 2,581,427 prizes worth £101,377,675 still to be claimed.

National Savings & Investments (NS&I) has drawn this month's Premium Bond winners, which means two lucky holders have become millionaires.

The winners were picked by NS&I’s prize generator, ERNIE. The million pound jackpot winners come from Kent and Cumbria.

The winner from Kent holds bond number 405PY086681 and has £50,000 in Premium Bonds. They purchased the winning Bond in July 2020. The second winner from Cumbria holds £33,275 in Premium Bonds and drew bond number 538KR930303. The winning bond was purchased in April 2023.

While the jackpot winners will have had a visit from Agent Million, other lucky winners can check from tomorrow for cash prizes that range between £25 and £100,000.

“What a wonderful early Christmas surprise as the festive season begins,” said NS&I retail director Andrew Westhead. “With millions of tax-free prizes won every month, Premium Bonds continue to be a popular way to save, offering the excitement of potential winnings.”

Here’s a full list of prizes up for grabs in December.

December 2024 Premium Bond winners

More than 5,806,049 prizes worth £441,743,525 will be paid out in the December 2024 draw, valued between £25 and £1,000,000.

Currently, the prize fund rate stands at 4.15%, down from 4.40% after dropping this month. It is set to fall again to 4% in January.

Despite the lower rate, the odds of winning will remain the same at 22,000 to one for each bond held. There will still be two £1 million prizes, however the number of prizes across most of the ‘runner up’ categories will fall, based on initial estimates from NS&I.

A nice perk for winners is that the cash prizes are tax-free. This means Premium Bonds can be a good option if you have maxed out your ISA allowance and are worried about paying tax on your savings interest.

How to check if you’re a December NS&I Premium Bond winner

If you hold Premium Bonds, you can check from tomorrow (3 December) to see if you have won any prizes this month.

Use the online NS&I prize checker tool or the NS&I app (downloadable on iOS and Android), and make sure you have your Premium Bond number to hand. The tool also allows you to check winnings from previous draws. An Amazon Alexa also allows you to check winnings going as far back as 1986.

Alternatively, you can write to NS&I at: NS&I, Sunderland SR43 2SB. It is important to include:

• Your name
• Current address
• Premium Bond number
• Any previous addresses where you might have registered bonds
• Your signature

You can also call NS&I for free on 08085 007 007. But you will only qualify for this method if you’re registered for phone or online banking with NS&I.

If you've been a long-term Premium Bond holder, it's worth checking for any unclaimed prizes. According to NS&I, 2,484,321 unclaimed prizes worth £90,963,050 are sitting idle.

How will my prize be paid?

Your prizes will be paid according to your preference. For example, those who have opted for automatic payments will get their cash prizes paid into their bank account. Alternatively, you might have set your winnings to be reinvested.

NS&I says more than nine in 10 prizes are paid directly into winners’ bank accounts or automatically reinvested into more Premium Bonds.

If you haven’t opted for either, you will receive a cheque – so it’s worth checking your address is updated. You can change your payment method on the NS&I website if you wish.

National Savings & Investments (NS&I) is making another cut to the Premium Bond prize fund rate, reducing it to 4%.

The Premium Bond rate is currently 4.4%. Last month, NS&I said it would cut the rate to 4.15% in the December draw. Now, the rate will fall again to 4% from January.

The announcement will come as a blow to millions of savers.

The odds of winning will remain the same at 22,000 to 1, and there will continue to be two £1 million jackpots. However, the number of other Premium Bond prizes will fall. For example, there are currently 89 £100,000 prizes up for grabs each month, but from January there will only be 82.

NS&I is also lowering the rates on its Direct Saver and Income Bonds from 20 December.

Andrew Westhead, NS&I retail director, comments: "We carefully review our savings rates in response to changes in the broader market. These adjustments help us meet our net financing target while balancing the interests of our savers, taxpayers and the wider financial services sector.”

Last year the government-backed savings organisation overshot its fundraising target, raising concerns that the Premium Bond prize fund rate would be cut again.

Savings rates have been drifting downwards over the past few months, after the Bank of England trimmed interest rates in August and November.

We look at NS&I’s changes in more detail, and ask: are Premium Bonds still worth it?

How will the Premium Bond prize draw change?

From the January 2025 draw, the prize fund rate for Premium Bonds will fall to 4%, down from 4.4% today and 4.15% in December.

The odds of winning will remain the same at 22,000 to 1. The January 2025 Premium Bond draw is expected to have more than £431 million in the prize fund with over 5.8 million prizes, ranging from two £1 million prizes to over 1.8 million £25 prizes.

The number of £25 prizes will actually increase, but the quantity of other prizes (bar the £1 million jackpot) will decrease.

For example, there will only be 166 £50,000 prizes (down from 177 currently), and 329 prizes worth £25,000 (down from 356).

What’s happening to NS&I’s Direct Saver and Income Bonds?

The interest rates on NS&I’s Direct Saver and Income Bonds will fall on 20 December.

The Direct Saver’s rate will be cut from 3.75% to 3.5%, while Income Bonds will have their rate chopped from 3.69% to 3.44%.

If you’re wondering how NS&I savings rates compare to the wider market, and the advantages of saving with NS&I, read How do NS&I savings account rates compare?

Are Premium Bonds still worth it?

A cut to the prize fund rate will make Premium Bonds less attractive. While you may be more likely to scoop a £25 prize, the odds of landing a bigger one ranging from £50 to £100,000 have shortened.

Whether you want to keep hold of your Premium Bonds depends on what sort of saver you are. If you have already used up your ISA allowance and face paying tax on the interest you earn, you may like Premium Bonds because the prizes are tax-free.

You may also enjoy the thrill of scooping cash prizes, and the possibility of a big win one day.

However, the reality is you may not win any prizes. The new 4% prize rate is not the same as a 4% interest rate. Some Premium Bond holders win nothing, while someone else could scoop a prize of, say, £25,000, which will give them an equivalent rate that’s far higher than 4%.

The investment platform AJ Bell recently revealed that 64% of Premium Bond holders have never won a prize.

“Savers with money in Premium Bonds should really think about whether the account is right for them,” comments Laura Suter, director of personal finance at AJ Bell.

“Considering many Premium Bond holders will never win a prize and the average expected return is lower than the top easy-access account, savers could well be better off with a guaranteed return elsewhere.”

The top-paying easy-access savings account currently pays 5%, while the top one-year savings bond pays 4.76%.

National Savings & Investments (NS&I) has drawn this month's Premium Bond winners, which means two lucky holders have become millionaires.

The winners were picked by NS&I’s prize generator, ERNIE. The million pound jackpot winners come from Warwickshire and Cornwall.

The winner from Warwickshire holds bond number 286CJ469715 and has £50,000 in Premium Bonds. They purchased the winning Bond in November 2016. The second winner from Cornwall holds £38,000 in Premium Bonds and drew bond number 567MN061686. The winning bond was purchased in January 2024.

While the winners will have had a visit from Agent Million, other lucky winners can check from tomorrow for cash prizes that range between £25 and £100,000.

Dax Harkins, NS&I chief executive said: “As we celebrate 68 years since Premium Bonds originally went on sale, it's great to see how the product has evolved into a beloved part of British culture, with over 22 million people saving with them."

Here’s a full list of prizes up for grabs in November.

November 2024 Premium Bond winners

More than six million prizes worth £463,982,050 will be paid out in the November 2024 draw, valued between £25 and £1,000,000.

Currently, the prize fund rate stands at 4.4%, but NS&I has revealed that it will cut the rate to 4.15% from the December 2024 draw. This means fewer prizes will be on offer. The chance of winning will also drop, from 21,000 to 1 for every bond to 22,000 to 1. So, it's worth checking if you've bagged anything in the November draw.

How to check if you’re a November NS&I Premium Bond winner

If you hold Premium Bonds, you can check from tomorrow (2 November) to see if you have won any prizes this month, as well as previous draws.

To check, use the NS&I prize checker tool on its website, or the NS&I app (downloadable on iOS and Android). You will need your Premium Bond number at hand.

You can also check using Amazon Alexa if you have one, which lets you check for winnings since 1986.

Alternatively, write to: NS&I, Sunderland SR43 2SB. It’s important to include:

• Your name
• Current address
• Premium Bond number 
• Any previous addresses where you might have registered bonds 
• Your signature 

You can also call NS&I for free on 08085 007 007. But you will only qualify for this method if you’re registered for phone or online banking with NS&I.

If you've been a long-term Premium Bond holder, it's worth checking for any unclaimed prizes. According to NS&I, 2,473,761 unclaimed prizes worth £89,696,075 are sitting idle.

How will my prize be paid?

Your prizes will be paid according to your preference. For example, those who have opted for automatic payments will get their cash prizes paid into their bank account. Or you might have set your winnings to be reinvested.

NS&I says more than nine in ten prizes are paid directly into winners’ bank accounts or automatically reinvested into more Premium Bonds.

If you haven’t opted in for either, you will receive a cheque – so it’s worth checking your address is updated. You can change your payment method on the NS&I website if you wish.

National Savings & Investments (NS&I) is cutting the Premium Bond prize fund rate from 4.4% to 4.15%, in a blow to millions of savers.

The change to Premium Bonds will come into effect in the December draw. It marks the second cut by the government-backed savings giant this year. In March, the prize rate was reduced from 4.65% - its highest rate since 1999 - to 4.4%.

NS&I is also lowering the rates on its Direct Saver and Income Bonds, while launching new issues of two-year British Savings Bonds.

A cut to the Premium Bond prize fund rate had been expected, given the decline in savings rates following the Bank of England’s base rate cut in the summer. NS&I, which boasts 25 million customers, also overshot its fundraising target last year, making a Premium Bond cut more likely as it tries to limit the amount of money it has on its books.

Sarah Coles, head of personal finance at Hargreaves Lansdown, comments: “Like any horrible news, it doesn’t make it any easier that we knew this was coming. The Premium Bond prize rate has finally been hit with the business end of the savings rate scythe, as NS&I has followed the rest of the easy-access savings market by cutting the chances of a win.”

How will the Premium Bond prize draw change?

From the December draw, the prize fund rate for Premium Bonds will fall from 4.4% to 4.15%. The odds of winning will reduce from the current odds of 21,000 to 1 to 22,000 to 1.

There will still be two £1 million jackpots in the monthly draw. However, the number of other prizes will all reduce, bar the £25 prizes.

For example, there will only be 83 £100,000 prizes from December (down from 88), and 167 prizes worth £50,000 (down from 177).

But, the number of £25 prizes will rise from 1,490,033 to 1,509,458.

What other changes has NS&I announced?

The savings giant is also cutting the interest rate for its Direct Saver from 4% to 3.75%, and lowering the rate on Income Bonds from 3.93% gross / 4.00% AER to 3.69% gross/3.75% AER. These changes will take effect on 20 November.

Andrew Westhead, NS&I retail director, comments: “As the savings market continues to change, we need to lower the rates on some of our products to help us meet our tet financing target, while also ensuring we continue to balance the interests of our savers, taxpayers and the broader financial services sector.”

According to Coles, it’s the first drop in interest rate for these products in four years, “but at 3.75% AER, they’re still well off the pace of the best on the market, where you can still make up to 5% - and a vast array of accounts still offer well over 4.5%”.

NS&I has also launched a new two-year issue of British Savings Bonds. These offer 4.10% for the Guaranteed Growth Bond option, and 4.02% gross / 4.09% AER for the Guaranteed Income option.

Should I stay with NS&I or move my money?

In terms of the savings accounts, you can get higher interest rates elsewhere. For example, the best two-year fixed-rate savings account pays 4.6%, according to the analyst Moneyfacts. You can get this rate from Atom Bank, JN Bank and Union Bank of India (UK).

This compares to the 4.1% on offer from NS&I’s British Savings Bond (or 4.02% / 4.09% if you choose the income option).

The same is true for NS&I’s other savings accounts; you can secure better returns with other banks and building societies.

Coles notes: “If you’re holding any of these accounts – or indeed any account where the bank has cut the rate - don’t assume it’s not worth switching because deals are falling everywhere. There are still some great rates available from online banks and cash savings platforms, so now is the time to move and make the most of them.”

When it comes to Premium Bonds, it depends what sort of saver you are. If you have already used up your ISA allowance and face paying tax on the interest you earn, you may like Premium Bonds because the prizes paid out are tax-free.

You may also enjoy the thrill of scooping cash sums, and the possibility of landing a big prize one day.

However, don’t forget that you may not win any prizes, and the cut to the prize fund rate will make it less likely from December. The new 4.15% prize rate is not the same as a 4.15% interest rate. Some Premium Bond holders win nothing, while someone else could scoop a prize of, say, £50,000, which will give them an equivalent rate that’s far higher than 4.15%.

Coles comments: “The prize rate doesn’t reflect what you’ll make with Premium Bonds, and because of the lumpy way that prizes are awarded, the average person with £1,000 in bonds will still win nothing in the average month. The lengthening of the odds of a win should be food for thought for anyone who is holding money in these accounts and losing money after inflation. This could be the straw that breaks the camel’s back, and could be enough to persuade you to consider savings accounts instead.”

Other banks offer prize draws - check out our round-up of Premium Bond alternatives.

National Savings & Investments (NS&I) has announce this month's Premium Bond winners, with two lucky savers becoming millionaires. 

The October Premium Bond jackpot winners were picked by NS&I's prize generator, ERNIE and come from Derbyshire and Gloucestershire.

The winner from Derbyshire holds bond number 535MK963637 and has £50,000 in Premium Bonds. They purchased the winning Bond in March 2023. The second winner from Gloucestershire holds £29,900 in Premium Bonds and drew bond number 203JB525288. The winning bond was purchased in February. 

While the winners will have had a visit from Agent Million - other lucky winners can check from tomorrow for cash prizes that range between £25 and £100,000. 

Andrew Westhead, NS&I retail director said: "It’s not just about our jackpot winners though – this month saw one £100,000 prize go to a holder with just £275 invested, and another to a winner who bought their winning bond 47 years ago back in July 1977."

Here’s a full list of prizes up for grabs in October. 

October 2024 Premium Bond winners 

A total of 5,991,306 prizes worth £461,330,525 will be paid out in the October 2024, valued between £25 and £100,000. The odds of winning  are 21,000 to 1 for every bond. 

How to check if you’re an October NS&I Premium Bond winner 

If you hold Premium Bonds, you can check from tomorrow (2 October) to see if you have won any prizes this month, as well as previous draws. 

To check, use the NS&I prize checker tool on its website, or the NS&I app (downloadable on iOS and Android). You will need your Premium Bond number at hand. 

You can also check using Amazon Alexa if you have one, which lets you check for winnings since 1986. 

Alternatively, write to: NS&I, Sunderland SR43 2SB. It’s important to include:  

• Your name
• Current address
• Premium Bond number 
• Any previous addresses where you might have registered bonds 
• Your signature 

If you rather pick up the phone, you can call NS&I for free on 08085 007 007. But you will only qualify for this method if you’re registered for phone or online banking with NS&I. 

If you’ve held Premium Bonds for some years, it’s worth checking for any unclaimed Bonds too. You might have missed out on winnings as a result of moving house or not keeping your contact details up to date with NS&I. 

According to NS&I, there are a total of 2,459,320 unclaimed prizes worth £88,403,850 waiting to be claimed. More than 24,000 unclaimed prizes worth £861,35 sit idle in Derbyshire and 22,595 prizes with a total value of £768,875 are unclaimed in Gloucestershire. 

How will my prize be paid? 

Your prizes will be paid according to your preference. For example, those who have opted for automatic payments will get their cash prizes paid into their bank account. Or you might have set your winnings to be reinvested. 

NS&I says more than nine in ten prizes are paid directly into winners’ bank accounts or automatically reinvested into more Premium Bonds.

If you haven’t opted in for either, you will receive a cheque – so it’s worth checking your address is updated. You can change your payment method on the NS&I website if you wish. 

Is the nation’s favourite savings product a dud? More than 20 million of us have money invested in Premium Bonds but two-thirds of us have never won a prize.

Many of us are attracted to Premium Bonds by the monthly draw and the chance to win £1m. You could win anything from £25 to £1m but most of us have our eyes (and our dreams) fixed on the big prize.

The other appeal of Premium Bonds is that your money is completely safe. National Savings & Investments (NS&I), which operates Premium Bonds, is backed by the Treasury.

Also, if you do win, your prize is tax-free. It all adds up to a very attractive package. After all, it’s got all the fun of playing the lottery except you don’t have to part with any money.

The problem is if you don’t win a prize, you don’t get any return on your savings. There is no interest paid on Premium Bonds – you only make money if you win a prize. So, thanks to inflation, you are giving away your money as it slowly loses purchasing power.

Now it has been revealed that most of us will never win anything from our Premium Bonds. The investment platform AJ Bell has revealed that 64% of Premium Bond holders have never won a prize. That's 14.4m people holding bonds that haven’t made any return at all.

“According to the latest figures from NS&I, £126 billion is held in Premium Bonds, meaning there is a huge amount of money making no return whatsoever when savers could otherwise be raking in interest [of around] 5% if they were to shop around for other cash products on the market,” says Laura Suter, director of personal finance at AJ Bell.

It is disappointing news for the 22.5 million people in the UK who have money in Premium Bonds. But NS&I doesn’t guarantee anyone will make any money. There is an annual prize rate, currently 4.4%, rather than an interest rate. This represents the average payout – measured by mean – so for every £100 held in Premium Bonds £4.40 is paid out.

Note that the 4.4% prize rate will drop to 4.15% in next month's (December) draw.

If you take the median average the figures are quite different. As the lowest prize is £25 it is impossible for the £4.40 figure to ever be paid out. So, for someone to win £25, they must have grabbed four other people’s ‘average’ winnings.

If someone wins £1m then more than 227,000 other people win nothing. Hence the news from AJ Bell that 64% of Premium Bond winners have never won a thing. To be in with a chance of winning you need to have a larger than average amount invested.

The average account overall holds £5,185. But when you split it into customers who have won a prize and those who haven't, you see a different story:

• Winners' average balance is £23,047
  (Premium Bond customers who have won a prize)
• Losers' average balance is just £175
  (Premium Bond customers who have never won)

“Savers might be better off considering other options with their cash savings,” says Suter. AJ Bell gives the example that the average Premium Bond holding of £5,185 would be worth £16,689 today if it had been invested in the Fidelity Index World global tracker fund 10 years ago.

“Of course, the lure of Premium Bonds is that you might win the big £1 million prize, but these figures show that it’s very unlikely if you have a small amount saved in the bonds.”

In fact, your odds of winning the £1m prize draw is one in 2,489,469,818. To put that in context it is longer odds than winning the National Lottery (one in 45,057,474), you even have more chance of winning the EuroMillions (one in 139,838,160).

“The bottom line is that for some people it’s the thrill of what could happen that keeps them invested,” says Anna Bowes, founder of Savings Champion. “What you need to consider is how important it is if you were to miss out on the interest you could earn elsewhere – if you win no prizes.

“With interest rates as they currently stand, someone with a holding of £1,000 could be missing out on earning £50 a year gross, in one of the top easy-access accounts available.”

So, where should you put your money instead? If you want to keep your money completely safe and your returns tax-free then opt for a cash ISA. You can invest up to £20,000 a year and could get a guaranteed return of up to 5.17%.

The best rate available, at the time of writing, is Trading 212’s 5.17% Cash ISA. It is instant access but can only be opened and operated online or via an app. Your returns will be tax-free, and the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) protects deposits up to £85,000. Put the average Premium Bond balance of £5,185 in there and you would make almost £270 interest in 12 months.

Alternatively, you could get a 4.51% return with Virgin Money’s 1 Year Fixed Rate Cash ISA Exclusive. The rate is fixed for a year, but you can’t access your money during that time.

Related articles

• How are Premium Bonds prize winners notified – and who is Agent Million?
• How do Premium Bonds work?
• Millions of unclaimed Premium Bond prizes. Could some be yours?
• Premium Bond alternatives that turn savings into winnings

The government-backed savings organisation NS&I overshot its fundraising target last year, raising concerns that the Premium Bond prize fund rate could be cut again.

Premium Bonds are one of the most popular products with savers, giving them a chance to win a cash prize each month. NS&I also helps the government raise money. A prize fund rate cut could mean fewer prizes up for grabs in the future. 

NS&I had a financing target of £7.5 billion (in a range of £4.5 billion to £10.5 billion) in the financial year ending in March. 

Its annual report released today (30 July) showed that a much larger amount of £11.3 billion was raised.

NS&I’s market-leading one-year savings bonds, paying 6.2%, were partly responsible for the mega amount raised. The enduring popularity of Premium Bonds also played an important role.

About 22.5 million people hold Premium Bonds, with £126 billion sitting in these accounts.

Premium Bonds currently have a prize fund rate of 4.4%, after being reduced from 4.65% in March. This followed a fall in savings rates across the wider market after the Bank of England chose to pause its series of interest rate cuts last year.

“In the first three months of 2024, NS&I was actively trying to send savers packing. It cut the Premium Bond prize rate in the hope it would inspire an exodus, but it didn’t persuade enough people to leave, so it overshot its fundraising target. This doesn’t bode well for savers with Premium Bonds,” comments Sarah Coles, head of personal finance at the investment platform Hargreaves Lansdown.

We look at what this could mean for Premium Bond customers.

Why did NS&I exceed its fundraising target? 

NS&I’s last financial year was a tale of two halves. At the start, the savings firm frantically boosted savings rates, taking the Premium Bond prize rate to a 24-year high of 4.65% in September, as it initially undershot its target.

Its market-leading one-year savings bonds, launched last summer, were a roaring success, attracting an unprecedented amount of savers’ cash before being quickly pulled.

According to Coles, NS&I thought that “as products matured in early 2024, people would naturally withdraw their cash”, which meant that the year would finish on target. 

“However, they didn’t. In January, it announced a cut in the Premium Bond prize rate, effective from March, but it said this didn’t have as much impact as it expected,” adds Coles.

Could we see another cut to the Premium Bond prize fund rate? 

NS&I’s target for next year is £9 billion (plus or minus £4 billion). Given that it exceeded its target last year, the savings organisation may be looking for more ways to try to discourage customers.

Roughly half the money held with NS&I is in Premium Bonds (£125.9 billion of a £230.5 billion total).

Coles comments: “Given that Premium Bonds make up well over half of all the money held in NS&I, they’re highly unlikely to be spared. And given that a modest cut earlier this year didn’t have anything like the impact it expected, we can expect NS&I to be more heavy-handed next time. 

“It means savers may be facing a more significant cut.”

This is all the more likely given that the Bank of England may cut the base rate from its 16-year high of 5.25% either this Thursday (1 August) and/or when it next meets on 19 September.

Savings rates will almost certainly fall, and typically NS&I will follow suit with cuts to its savings accounts and Premium Bonds.

However, Myron Jobson, senior personal finance analyst at Interactive Investor, is more optimistic about Premium Bonds, and believes that the government might want NS&I to raise more money.

This is due to the £22 billion black hole in public finances announced by Chancellor Rachel Reeves yesterday - who claimed that Labour had inherited a giant overspend from the previous government.

Jobson explains: “This could translate to NS&I savings rates remaining competitive during the interest rate cut cycle, or the Premium Bond prize rate being held steady - or even increasing.”

Should I hold onto my Premium Bonds? 

Millions of savers love lottery-style Premium Bonds, as they have the chance of winning one of two £1 million jackpots, as well as scooping one of many smaller prizes. The prizes are also tax-free, which is useful if you’ve used up your ISA allowance and are worried about paying tax on savings interest.

So, some bond-holders will choose to hold onto them regardless of whether we see another cut to the prize rate this year.

For others, it could make sense to look for Premium Bond alternatives. This could include cash ISAs, savings accounts (especially one-year fixed savings accounts, where you can lock in a rate before the predicted rate cuts), and investments.

Jobson notes: “Those who can afford to put money away for at least five years or more should consider investing for the potential of long-term, inflation-beating returns that far outstrip savings rates.

“While past performance is not indicative of future results, savers can take courage in the fact that history shows even a ‘middle-of-the-pack’ fund is likely to outperform returns from cash savings interest over the long term.”

How do I track down an old NS&I account? 

NS&I’s annual report reveals that an eye-watering £4.1 billion is sitting in closed products or has been hanging about in other accounts for at least 15 years without any activity. 

“If you think some of this vast pile of cash could be yours, it’s worth taking steps to track it down,” says Coles.

“The My Lost Account service can help you trace cash sitting with a huge number of providers – including NS&I. Last year it helped reunite over 22,000 savers with £109 million.”

Meanwhile, more than two million Premium Bond prizes worth over £84 million are sitting unclaimed. The biggest unclaimed prize is £100,000.

To track down old prizes, find out three easy ways to claim in Millions of unclaimed Premium Bond prizes. Could some be yours?.

National Savings and Investments’ (NS&I’s) much-loved Premium Bonds have made 532 millionaires since it drew its first £1 million jackpot winner in April 1994. Do you live in a lucky area? 

With recent changes to the fund rate, the odds of winning and the number of monthly jackpot winners, it begs the question: are Premium Bonds still worth the investment?

Premium Bonds are a government-backed savings product where you participate in a monthly prize draw, and can now bag between £25 and £1 million tax-free. But NS&I hasn’t always made millionaires. 

The provider ran its first Premium Bonds prize draw back in 1957 when the size of the jackpot was £1,000. 37 years later, in April 1994, the prize pot increased to £1 million. So it’s fair to say they’ve aged well, with more than £30 billion awarded to Premium Bond winners. 

The 532 Premium Bond millionaires all received a visit from Agent Million, who delivers the life-changing news. According to NS&I, their Agents Million has travelled around 222,000 miles over 30 years, with its youngest winner aged just three, and its oldest being 98. 

Find out how many Premium Bond holders have been lucky in your area and whether the savings product is still worth it. 

How many Premium Bond winners are there where you live? 

Since the first draw in June 1957, ERNIE (Electronic Random Number Indicator Equipment) has drawn more than 684 million prizes worth £30.5 billion. 

Here’s a breakdown of where all of the millionaire winners over the past 30 years lived when they won. Do you live in a lucky city? 

Surrey takes the number one spot, with 29 Premium Bond holders winning the £1 million jackpot in the county. The latest Premium Bond draw in June made another bondholder in Surrey a millionaire. 

Essex and Kent come joint second, with 23 millionaires in each area.

How have Premium Bonds changed over 30 years? 

While Premium Bonds have already had a lifespan of 67 years (and counting), they only just reached their peak last September when the prize fund rate hit an all-time high, and the odds of winning became the highest yet. 

But how did Premium Bonds evolve before they hit their peak? 

Number of millionaires 

When NS&I introduced Premium Bonds to the world, believe it or not, the jackpot was only worth £1,000. It was in April 1994 that the provider upped its prize pot to £1 milllion – but even then, there was only one Premium Bond millionaire each month. 

In August 2005, NS&I decided to make two millionaires each month. This lasted for four years until it was dropped back down to one millionaire winner a month in April 2009. 

Then, from August 2014, the number went back up to two millionaires a month, and it has stayed put ever since.

So, currently, NS&I makes two Premium Bond holders millionaires each month. Other prizes on offer start from £25 and go up to £100,000.

Prize fund rate 

Premium Bonds have a prize fund rate that NS&I uses as a benchmark to determine how many prizes of each value should be given away each month. For example, if the fund rate increases, so does the amount awarded that month, and if the fund rate lowers, the value of prizes follow suit. 

The prize fund rate is an interest rate (currently 4.4%), but it's important to note that any money you invest in Premium Bonds does not earn interest.

The current 4.4% fund rate came into effect in March and the total value of prizes dished out in the June Premium Bond prize draw was £455 million.

Before this, the prize fund rate hit its peak in September, when it rose from 4% to 4.65% – the highest it's ever been. The lift in rate came as interest rates hit an all-time high, at 5.25% in August, and the best savings accounts also became a lot more attractive, with rates shooting above 6%. 

The new prize fund rate meant a record value in prizes was awarded in September of just over £470 million. The 4.65% rate was frozen until March, when it dropped to 4.4%. But, until then, Premium Bond holders raked in the biggest prize pot NS&I had ever seen. 

To put things into perspective, 10 years ago in April 2014, the prize fund rate stood at just 1.3%. Five years on, the rate hadn’t seen much movement, with it only increasing to 1.4% in April 2019. In 2020, the year the pandemic started in the UK, the fund rate dipped by 1% – to its lowest level since April 2009. 

It was only in June 2022 when the fund rate finally went up after two years to 2.2%, and slowly reached its peak in September 2023. 

Odds of winning 

The odds of winning right now is the best it's been in more than 15 years, having improved in September from 22,000 to 1 for every £1 Bond to 21,000 to 1.

If we look back 10 years ago, the chances of winning on Premium Bonds was 26,000 to 1, and in December 2008, it was a whopping 36,000 to 1. This stayed put until October 2009, when the odds improved to 24,000 to 1. 

Even though we saw the prize fund rate fall in March, the odds of winning remained the same, at 21,000 to 1. 

Are Premium Bonds still worth it? 

With the introduction of the £1 million prize pot, an increase in the number of millionaires after 37 years and a record-high prize fund rate, it sounds like investing in Premium Bonds is a no-brainer. 

But, at a time when the base rate is still flying high at 5.25% and the wider savings market is offering inflation-busting rates, Premium Bonds look less attractive. Sarah Coles, head of personal finance at Hargreaves Lansdown, says: “In an average year, the average saver with £1,000 of bonds will win absolutely nothing.”

Remember, no return is guaranteed when you put money in Premium Bonds, and while your money is sitting there, it’s not earning any interest either, which means your cash is losing value. 

Currently, you can earn up to 5.2% on an easy-access saver and 5.22% on a one-year fix. If you’re on the hunt for tax-free savings, then an ISA will be a better option as your return on £20,000 will be protected from the taxman. The best cash ISA is returning 5.17% by Plum. 

If you’re looking for something similar to Premium Bonds, there are alternatives that offer savings and a prize pot. NatWest, Halifax and Chip are among some of the providers who offer prize incentives. 

Or, if you’re still keen to invest with NS&I, you can always opt for its other savings products. In April it launched its three-year fixed British Savings Bond, offering 4.15% AER. At the end of May, NS&I launched one-year fixed savers under its British Bonds, returning 4.5% AER. The provider also increased the rate on its Direct Saver from 3.65% to 4%. 

That said, Premium Bonds are down to luck – if you enjoy that ‘luck’ element, there’s nothing to say you can’t give it a go. Plus, you can’t dismiss that it’s the most popular savings product in the UK, with more than 24 million people saving in Premium Bonds. 

“You can’t underestimate the attraction of the chance to win big,” says Coles.

You can check from today (3 April) to see if you have scooped any winnings in the latest National Savings & Investment (NS&I) Premium Bonds prize draw. 

This month’s draw saw more than 5.8 million prizes dished out worth just over £452 million. Since the first Premium Bonds draw in June 1957, ERNIE has drawn over 684 million prizes worth £30.5 billion.

Compared to the March prize pot, the number of prizes awarded is similar in April as the fund rate stuck at 4.4% for the second month – down from a historic high of 4.65%. But the odds of winning remain the same, at 21,000 to 1 for every £1 Bond. 

While only two Premium Bond holders become millionaires, you could still be one of the million winners holding a prize worth between £25 and £100,000. 

The jackpot winners will receive a visit from Agent Million, but if you have won any other prizes, you can check for any winnings yourself.  

How to check what you’ve won in the April prize draw

The simplest way to check for winnings from the most recent Premium Bonds prize draw is to check via the NS&I website, using its prize checker tool. Or, you can download the NS&I app on Android or iOS. 

You will need your NS&I number and Premium Bond number nearby if you use either of these methods. 

If you’re not a techy person and prefer to pick up the phone, you can call NS&I on 08085 007 007 for free. However, for your account to be recognised over the phone, you need to be registered for online or phone banking with NS&I. 

If you’re searching for unclaimed Bonds from previous draws, there are different ways to check for old winnings that you might have missed. 

How to check for any unclaimed Premium Bonds 

If you moved house recently or if your contact details have changed and you haven’t let NS&I know, you could be sitting on unclaimed Premium Bonds. 

NS&I told MoneyWeek there are currently 2,383,932 Premium Bonds sitting idle worth a whopping £82,521,050 as of 2 April 2024. 

In one of the winning regions, outer London, there are a total of 223,156 unclaimed Bonds worth £7,779,725, where the average unclaimed prize sits at £35. 

Plus, in the Highlands and Islands, the second winning region in April's draw, there are 12,025 unclaimed prizes worth £377,150. 

If you are on the hunt for unclaimed prizes, again you can call NS&I if you’re registered for phone banking, or you can write them a letter. 

If you write a letter, it’s important to include the following information to speed up the process: 

• Your Premium Bond holder number
• Your current name
• Any previous names
• Your current address
• Any previous addresses 
• Your signature

The letter can be sent to: NS&I, Sunderland SR43 2SB.

If you have an Alexa device, you can also ask it for unclaimed Bonds, and it will inform you of any prizes you haven’t claimed since July 1968. For this, you will need to download the Alexa app and activate the NS&I Premium Bonds prize checker skill. 

April 2024 Premium Bond winners revealed 

Here’s a full list of April’s winnings. 

As Premium Bonds turn 30 years old this April, two bond holders from London and the Highlands and Islands are entering spring as millionaires, the latest National Savings & Investments (NS&I) draw reveals. 

The first winner from London drew bond number 256VF976821 and holds £45,000 in Premium Bonds. The winning bond was purchased in September 2015. 

Winner number two resides in the Highlands and Islands and drew bond number 553BS622775. They have £32,675 in Premium Bonds and their winning bond was purchased in September 2023. 

Whilst April doesn't bring many changes for Premium Bond holders as the fund rate remains at 4.4% for the second month, NS&I could shake things up as it enters the new tax year with a new net financing target - and it will need to raise £1.5 billion more than last year.

Plus, savers will see NS&I's new British Bond come into play this month. 

Those who won the £1 million jackpot will have had a visit from Agent Million. If you didn't become a millionaire this month, there's still hope as you might have bagged a prize worth between £25 and £100,000. 

April 2024 NS&I Premium Bond winners 

There are 5,878,285 prizes worth £452,627,925 in the April prize pot. Here's a low down on the winnings. 

How to check if you're an April NS&I Premium Bond winner

There are a few ways to check if you've bagged any prizes in the April draw. 

Firstly, you can check on the nsandi.com website by using its prize checker. Or you can download the NS&I prize checker app on your iPhone or Android. 

For both, you will need your NS&I number and Premium Bond holder number close by. 

Those on the hunt for any unclaimed Bonds from previous draws can ask their Alexa device about any prizes sitting idle since July 1968. To do this, you will need to download the Alexa app and activate the NS&I Premium Bonds prize checker skill.  

How are NS&I prizes paid? 

Most Premium Bond prizes are automatically paid into your bank account, but you will need to check that your automatic payments are set up on the NS&I website. Otherwise, your prizes will be reinvested into Premium Bonds. 

You can now check to see if you’ve bagged any prizes in the National Savings & Investment’s (NS&I) March draw. 

This is the first time in six months that the Premium Bond prize fund rate has fallen from a historic high of 4.65% to 4.4%. It means the value of the prize pot has dropped by more than £23million compared to the February draw. 

Despite a reduction in the prize pot, the odds of winning remain at 21,000 to 1 for every £1 Bond. 

Two lucky Premium Bond holders who have won the £1million jackpot will have had a visit from Agent Million.

If you didn’t become a millionaire in the March draw, you can still bag a prize between £25 and £100,000- but you need to check for your winnings yourself. 

How to check what you’ve won in the March prize draw

The quickest and easiest way to check for your Premium Bond winnings is to check online on the NS&I website using its prize checker tool. 

Similarly, you can download the NS&I app on Android or iOS. 

For both methods, you will need your NS&I number and Premium Bond number to hand. 

You can also call NS&I for free on 08085 007 007. But, you will need to be registered for phone or online banking with NS&I for your account to be recognised. 

But, if you have any unclaimed Premium Bonds, there is a better way to check for historic winnings. 

How to check for unclaimed Premium Bonds

You might have unclaimed Premium Bonds if your contact details or home address has changed recently. 

The latest data from NS&I shows thousands of unclaimed Premium Bonds in the two regions where the £1million jackpot was won this month. 

In West Sussex, 34,312 prizes worth £1,131,800 are yet to be claimed, with the oldest prize dating back to the April 1962 draw, worth £25. 

The largest unclaimed prize is from the March 2007 draw, worth £5,000.

In Hampshire, the number of unclaimed prizes nearly doubles to 64,797 worth £2,132,025. 

The oldest prize is worth £25, which dates back to the August 1963 draw, and similar to West Sussex, £5,000 is the largest value left yet to be claimed from the January 2019 draw. 

NS&I told MoneyWeek there are a total of 2,375,726 unclaimed Premium Bonds worth 82,288,675 as of 27 February. 

If you have an Alexa, this is the best way to check for unclaimed Premium Bonds as it will inform you of any unclaimed prizes dating back from July 1968. 

You will need to download the Alexa app and activate the NS&I Premium Bonds prize checker skill.

March 2024 Premium Bond winners 

Here is a full low down on the winnings from NS&I’s March 2024 draw. 

Almost 2.8 million Premium Bonds prizes, worth over £121 million, are waiting to be claimed by their rightful winners.

The unclaimed prizes range from £25, the smallest Premium Bonds prize available, to as much as £100,000, the second-largest prize.

Millions win in the Premium Bonds prize draw each month, with the two luckiest bondholders getting £1 million each.

In June’s draw alone, there were almost six million tax-free Premium Bonds prizes distributed, worth over £376 million.

Jackpot winners are unlikely to miss the fact they have become millionaires since they are told in person by Agent Million, an anonymous NS&I employee that travels the country to inform jackpot winners of their newfound wealth.

However, it can be easy to miss if you win one of the smaller prizes, especially if you have not kept your personal information up to date with NS&I.

The good news is that unclaimed prizes do not expire, so even if you won a prize as far back as the 1950s, when Premium Bonds were launched, you can still contact NS&I and redeem the cash.

Your prizes do not expire even if you move abroad either, so it could be worth checking for unclaimed prizes or lost Premium Bonds.

How many unclaimed Premium Bonds prizes are there?

As of June 2026, there are 2,796,246 unclaimed Premium Bonds prizes worth a combined total of £121,903,050, according to NS&I.

Over half of these unclaimed prizes (1.8 million) are worth £25 each, but a significant number of higher-value prizes are also unclaimed.

There are 3,405 Premium Bonds prizes of £1,000 or more that have not been claimed, including 2,980 worth £1,000, 102 worth £10,000, and 12 worth £100,000.

NS&I shared a list of unclaimed Premium Bonds prizes up to 1 June 2026, organised by their value, which can be found below.

Source: NS&I, 1 June 2026. Data is only available from 1957 onwards, when Premium Bonds were first introduced.

Which part of the UK is home to the most unclaimed Premium Bonds prizes?

Some parts of the UK have more prizes left unclaimed than others.

London is the UK area with the most unclaimed Premium Bonds prizes. In the capital, there are 477,451 individual prizes worth a collective £20,520,050.

Coming in at a close second is the South East, where there are 419,986 individual unclaimed Premium Bonds prizes, worth £18,036,450 in total.

These two regions are far ahead of the rest of the country in terms of the amount in unclaimed Premium Bonds. The East of England has the third-highest number of unclaimed prizes – 249,888 prizes worth £10,722,750.

A hoard of unclaimed Premium Bonds prizes also exists where the winners are either from overseas or unknown areas – there are 383,252 unclaimed prizes in this category, worth a collective £18,534,325.

Source: NS&I, 1 June 2026

A spokesperson for NS&I told MoneyWeek: “Premium Bonds prize winners receive notifications of their winnings if they have registered their contact details.

“However, sometimes customers relocate or forget to update their details with NS&I. This can lead to unclaimed prizes, especially for those who opt to receive their prizes via cheque rather than bank transfer.”

The spokesperson explained unclaimed prizes gradually accumulate every month and usually belong to Bond holders who "have not registered their details or have moved without telling us and their cheques are being returned".

They added: “We want to reunite people with their prizes, so this is a timely reminder that even for small holdings that may have been held for many years, it is worth registering your details with NS&I.”

How to check for unclaimed Premium Bonds

1. NS&I’s prize checker website and app
The quickest, easiest option for tracking down potential Premium Bonds winnings is to use the prize checker on the NS&I website or download the official prize checker app (available for Android and iOS).

If checking via the website, you will need your Premium Bonds holder number. If using the app, you will need your NS&I number, which is 11 digits.

Using either of these methods will show you your winnings from the last six draws and highlight any unclaimed prizes if you have them.

2. Call NS&I
If you prefer to pick up the phone, you can call NS&I for free on 08085 007 007. But, they will only have you on record if you are registered for phone or online banking.

3. Write to NS&I
You can also write to NS&I to check for any unclaimed Premium Bonds prizes. If you choose this method, you should include the following details in your letter:

• Current name
• Current address
• Premium Bonds holder number
• All previous addresses where you might have registered bonds
• Your signature

You can send your letter to: NS&I, Sunderland SR43 2SB. Any prizes you claim will be sent to your home address.

When asked what the best way to find unclaimed Premium Bonds is, a spokesperson for NS&I told MoneyWeek: “The quickest way is to download our prize checker app or use the Premium Bonds prize checker at nsandi.com prize checker.”

They added: “If you think you have some Premium Bonds but you're not totally sure, our Tracing Service can help you check for any lost accounts with NS&I.”

Holders of NS&I Premium Bonds can check now to see whether they have won a prize in the November prize draw.

The government-backed savings provider has repeatedly increased the number of prizes on offer in recent months, so even if you don’t manage to land the £1m top prize, there are still lots of smaller prizes available for savers in every draw.

In August NS&I increased the Premium Bonds prize rate to 4.65% to 4%. The prize rate is essentially a steer on what sort of return you would get from Premium Bonds if you have average luck, rather than any guarantee, but with the higher sums now in the overall prize fund the odds of winning money have improved from 22,000 to 21,000 to one.

Two bondholders will get a visit from Agent Million on account of landing the top prize, but there are millions of prizes of other sizes that could be heading your way. In the November NS&I Premium Bond prize draw there were more than 900 prizes of £10,000, over 56,000 £500 prizes and around 2.3 million £100 and £50 prizes.

Here’s how to check your Premium Bonds for the November draw.

HOW TO CHECK FOR NOVEMBER’S NS&I PREMIUM BONDS DRAW?

You can check from now to see if you have won a prize in the November Premium Bonds prize draw.

There are a couple of different ways of checking, from using the prize checker page online to logging into the NS&I prize checker app. 

Checking is easy to do, you’ll just need the bond number to hand. These checks allow you to go back to draws which have occurred over the last six months.

Another option is to set up your Amazon Alexa smart speaker with the prize checker skill, which you can do through the Alexa app, and enter your NS&I number. From that point onwards your Alexa will keep you updated on any winnings.

A total of 5,795,962 prizes will be paid out in Premium Bond prizes in November, worth a total of £471,646,425. There were 121,715,206,105 Bond numbers eligible for the draw.

Here are the details of the NS&I Premium Bond prize draw for November:

HOW WILL MY PREMIUM BOND PRIZE BE PAID TO ME?

Winners will see their prize paid into their designated bank account, though you can choose to have the money reinvested into more Premium Bonds. You can set up automatic payments on the NS&I website.

Opting for the reinvestment route boosts your chances of winning in future draws, since you have more eligible bonds. It also means you do not risk having unclaimed prizes sitting around.

HOW TO CHECK FOR UNCLAIMED PREMIUM BOND PRIZES? 

Every year, millions of Premium Bond prizes go unclaimed. If you have not checked whether you’ve won money for some time, then there are a few different ways of finding out whether you have any cash waiting to be claimed.

If you’re registered for online or phone services, you can call NS&I for free on 08085 007 007.

If you aren’t registered, you can write to NS&I and ask if you have any unclaimed prizes.

To help the process, it’s a good idea to include the following information:

• Premium Bonds holder's number
• Your current name
• Any previous names
• Your current address
• Any previous addresses where Bonds may have been registered
• Your signature

You can then send your letter to: NS&I, Sunderland, SR43 2SB.

If you have any outstanding prizes, then they will not be sent directly to your bank account. Instead they will be posted to you at your home address. 

The latest prize draw for National Savings and Investments (NS&I) Premium Bond winners was announced at the start of October - and with more prizes now up for grabs, there is a higher chance bond holders may have won a prize. If you hold Premium Bonds, could you be missing out on a prize? 

While the million pound jackpot winners get notified in person via Agent Million, other winners who could have won anything between £25 and £100,000, get a notification in the post or via email.  

But problems arise if NS&I does not have your up-to-date contact information, meaning you may not know if you have won a prize.

We look at how to check and claim your winnings for October and previous months.

How many Premium Bonds prizes are unclaimed?

According to NS&I, over two million premium bond prizes remain unclaimed. The unclaimed  2,307,167 prizes are worth £80,552,900. Around 268,104 prizes of which belong to winners in outer and inner London, worth more than £8 million. 

In the October draw, two lucky premium bond holders won the October NS&I million-pound jackpot, from Greater Manchester and West Scotland. 

But in these winning areas, thousands of prizes are still waiting to be claimed. In Greater Manchester alone there are 48,413 unclaimed prizes worth £1,629,450 - including a £100,000 prize from September 2010. 

In West Scotland, one premium bond holder has won £25,000 in the February 2018 prize draw,  but is still waiting to be claimed. This forms part of the 14,190 unclaimed prizes in West Scotland, worth a total of £432,325. 

The oldest unclaimed prize goes all the way back to June 1961, worth £50. 

How to check if you have unclaimed premium bond prizes 

There are multiple ways to check if you have any unclaimed premium bond prizes waiting for you. 

The easiest option is to go to nsandi.com and use its prize checker, or you can download the official prize checker app (available on Android or iOS). This will show you any winnings you may have over the past six draws and any unclaimed prizes. 

If you use the website, you will need your Premium Bonds holder’s number to hand. If you don’t have this, you can use the app which requires your NS&I number which is 11 digits long. 

You can also call NS&I for free on 08085 007 007 to check for any unclaimed prizes, but you must be registered for online or phone banking with NS&I. 

If you’re not registered, you can write to NS&I to check if you have any unclaimed prizes. You can send your letter to: NS&I, Sunderland SR43 2SB.

You should include the following information in your letter so there are better chances of tracking down your prizes: 

• Premium Bonds holder's number
• Your current name
• Your current address
• Any previous addresses where Bonds may have been registered
• Your signature

Any prizes you claim will be sent to your home address and not to your bank account. 

October 2023 Premium Bond winners 

The latest prize draw (October 2023) saw two lucky jackpot winners taking home £1million. A total of 5,786,217 prizes were won worth £470,853,175. Here are the details of the prize draw.  

The rates mentioned in this article are no longer available. See our top savings accounts article for the latest offers.

For those looking to make the most of their cash savings, saving into NS&I’s one-year Guaranteed Growth Bonds and Income Bonds made perfect sense with its market-leading 6.2% interest.

Almost a quarter of a million savers bagged the top rate since they launched on 30 August 2023.

NS&I is also popular for products like Premium Bonds, where two people get the chance to win a million pound jackpot each month alongside other prizes.

The 6.2% rate on was the highest rate the bond products have offered since they hit the market in 2008.

But, NS&I’s goal is to essentially help raise money for the government and in the current financial year, its target is £7.5bn. It does this by drawing in savers with attractive offers in return. 

In withdrawing them from general sale, NS&I said it remains on track to meet its net financing target for 2023/22.

NS&I chief executive, Dax Harkins, said: “This summer’s new one-year fixed-rate Bonds have been a great success. I am pleased we were able to keep them on sale for over five weeks, enabling more than 225,000 savers to benefit from the highest interest rates we have ever offered on these products.”

With the bonds no longer on sale, savers will have to look elsewhere to get the best rates on fixed savings accounts.

If you missed out on NS&I 6.2% rate, then here’s where to find the alternatives to make the most of your cash holdings.

 Alternatives to NS&I's 6.2% rate 

If you are happy to lock your cash away for at least a year, then you can still earn more than 6% interest on fixed savings - but you may have to look outside of the high street to get the best rate. 

While it does not beat the 6.2% that was available with NS&I, you can earn 6.12% with Al Rayan Bank, which is available by marketplace savings provider Raisin. You need a minimum of £5,000 to open this account.

The next best is via Beehive Money, providing 6.10% interest. The minimum deposit is £500.

If you do not want to stash your cash away for a year, some easy access accounts now also pay more than 5%. See our article on the best easy access accounts for the latest deals.

If you hold NS&I Premium Bonds, then you can check from now to see if you bagged a prize in the October prize draw.

While you may not have hit the million pound jackpot, with more prizes now up for grabs from the treasury-backed bank, you may well have scooped something in this draw.

NS&I increased the Premium Bonds prize fund rate from 4% to 4.65% in August -  the highest level since March 1999, meaning the odds of winning a Premium Bond prize draw are now higher with an additional £66 million added to the prize pot. The odds of winning have improved from 22,000 to 21,000 to 1.

While two lucky bondholders may get a visit from Agent Million if they hit the jackpot there are thousands of other prizes. Prizes start from £25 - with over a million of these drawn in the October NS&I Premium Bond Prize draw. NS&I is also dishing out over 2.3 million £100 and £50 prizes.

Here’s how to check your Premium Bonds for the October draw.

Did you win in October’s NS&I Premium Bonds draw?

You can check from today (3 october) to see if you won a prize in the October prize draw.

You can check your Premium Bonds using the NS&I prize checker app or the prize checker page online.

You’ll need your bond number at hand. You can check if you have won anything going back as far as 6 months.

You can also set up your Amazon Alexa smart speaker to let you know. Just activate the prize checker skill on the Alexa app and enter your NS&I number. After that, Alexa will keep you up to date. 

A  total of 5,786,217 prizes worth £470,853,175 will be paid out in premium bond prizes this October. There were 121,510,495,306 Bond numbers eligible for the draw.

Here are the details of the prize draw for NS&I Premium Bond prize draw for October:

How will my Premium Bond prize be paid to me?

If you have won, then your prize is usually paid into your bank account, or you can choose to reinvest it into Premium Bonds. You can set up automatic payments on the NS&I website.

Reinvesting means not only do you have a higher chance of winning in the next draw, but it also means you do not risk having an unclaimed prizes sitting around.

How to check for unclaimed Premium Bond prizes?

Every year, millions of Premium Bond prizes go unclaimed. If you have not checked for some time, then there are few ways of finding out whether you have any cash waiting to be claimed.

If you’re registered for online or phone services, you can call NS&I for free on 08085 007 007.

If you aren’t registered, you can write to NS&I and ask if you have any unclaimed prizes.

To help the process, include the following information:

• Premium Bonds holder's number
• Your current name
• Any previous names
• Your current address
• Any previous addresses where Bonds may have been registered
• Your signature

Send your letter to: NS&I, Sunderland, SR43 2SB.

Any prizes will then be sent to your home address - they cannot be sent directly to your bank account.

With the Bank of England set to continue cutting interest rates, it appears time is now short if you want to secure an inflation-busting savings account. So, how do National Savings & Investments (NS&I) savings rates compare to the rest of the market?

NS&I is a government-backed savings bank. It primarily exists to raise money for the Treasury, but also to provide value for money to taxpayers and savers.

It’s best known best for its Premium Bonds, which offer cash prizes in a monthly draw. While the returns offered by this savings product aren’t guaranteed, NS&I has several accounts and bonds that do provide certainty for your money. For example, British Savings Bonds.

So, with interest rates potentially going down even further in the near-future, how do NS&I’s savings accounts compare to the best savings rates on the market? We’ve crunched the numbers.

NS&I savings: how do its interest rates compare?

To map out how NS&I stacks up compared to the rest of the savings market, MoneyWeek has mapped out the easy-access, ISA and bond products they offer. We’ve also included the current best rates across each category.

Easy-access accounts

NS&I rates:

• Direct saver - 3.75% (variable)
• Income Bonds - 3.75% (variable)

Market-leading rates:

• Cahoot Sunny Day Saver - 5% (variable)
• Atom Bank Instant Saver Reward - 4.85% (variable)
• Principality BS Online Bonus Triple Access - 4.85% (variable)

ISAs

NS&I rates:

• Direct ISA - 3% (variable, also easy-access)
• Junior ISA - 4% (variable)

Market-leading rates for adult cash ISAs:

• Trading 212 Cash ISA - 5.17% (variable)
• Moneybox Cash ISA - 5.17.% (variable)
• Plum Cash ISA - 4.68% (variable, interest drops based on amount saved and number of withdrawals in a year)

Market-leading JISA rates:

• The Stafford Building Society - 4.75% (variable)
• Coventry Building Society - 4.7% (variable)
• The Family Building Society - 4.6% (variable)

Bonds

NS&I rates:

• Two-year British Bonds - 4.1% (fixed)
• Three-year British Bonds - 4% (fixed)
• Five-year British Bonds - 3.9% (fixed)
• Three-year Green Savings Bonds - 2.95% (fixed)

Market-leading two-year rates:

• SmartSave 2 Year Fixed Rate Saver - 4.61%
• Hodge Bank 2 Year Fixed Rate Bond - 4.6%
• Hampshire Trust Bank 2 Year Online Fixed Saver - 4.51%

Market-leading three-year rates:

• JN Bank - 4.6%
• SmartSave - 4.55%
• Oxbury Bank - 4.54

As you can see, NS&I is not offering market-leading rates on any of its savings products. Here’s a rundown of the advantages and disadvantages of saving with the bank.

What are the advantages of NS&I?

There are three big benefits of saving with NS&I. First, its savings accounts often have higher maximum balances than other banks and building societies.

For example, savers can hold up to £2 million in NS&I’s easy-access Direct Saver account. At the moment, this variable rate account offers 3.75% interest on the full amount sitting in this account.

Although this is hardly a market-leading rate, the maximum balance outshines most competitors.

So, if you have a big pot of cash that you want to grow (and, in this instance, don’t mind paying tax on), an NS&I account could be ideal.

The second advantage is that NS&I is backed by the government. This means NS&I cannot go bust and you can guarantee that 100% of your money is safe. Much of the rest of the market is covered by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS), which only guarantees compensation of up to £85,000 per person if a bank goes bust. You should always check if a bank is covered by the FSCS before saving your money with them.

Third, if you've maxed out your ISA allowance and are worried about paying tax on your savings interest, NS&I has a unique tax-free savings product - Premium Bonds. If you win, the cash you receive is completely tax-free.

Of course, you need to win to get any sort of return on your money. But whatever you stow away in Premium Bonds is completely shielded from HMRC.

Every other non-ISA savings account in the UK is subject to tax if you exceed your annual allowance LINK. Allowances are particularly small for higher and additional-rate taxpayers, so it’s worth finding out how to avoid the savings tax trap.

 What are the disadvantages of NS&I?

One of the drawbacks with NS&I is that it rarely offers the highest saving rates. The reason for this is that it has to balance the interests of savers, taxpayers and the government. So, you cannot rely on NS&I to be market-leading.

Sarah Coles, head of personal finance at the investment platform Hargreaves Lansdown, says: “For the vast majority of the time, NS&I applies the time-honoured rule that it wants to offer something in the middle of the pack, so it attracts enough cash, but without paying over-the-odds for it.”

Someone choosing NS&I’s Direct ISA, which currently has a rate of 3%, would be sacrificing an extra 2.17% of interest by not picking the top cash ISA on the market (Trading 212, 5.17%).

Very occasionally, NS&I does offer a big-hitting rate. Its 6.2% one-year fixed bond was chart-topping until its withdrawal after just five weeks in late-2023. So, MoneyWeek would advise acting quickly to snap up any market-leading products from NS&I, as they’re unlikely to hang around for long.

Another disadvantage of NS&I for some savers is that it does not have a physical presence on the high street. Additionally, some NS&I accounts are online-only. While bank and building society branches are closing at a rapid rate, most major brands are likely to have at least some sort of presence in your area. And if they don’t, you can often bank with them over the phone or through the post.

NS&I will reveal this month's Premium Bond winners this morning (1 November). With prizes ranging from £25 to £1m – we explain when you can check to see what you may have won?

National Savings and Investments (NS&I) has handed out 643 million prizes worth £27bn since the first draw in 1957. In September alone, ERNIE handed out  5,782,602 prizes worth £470,559,225. 

Two lucky bondholders become millionaires every month, but thousands of other customers receive prizes from £25. 

We explain how to check if you’ve won this month and whether now is a good time to buy Premium Bonds. 

Did you win in November’s NS&I Premium Bonds draw?

You can check if you won – as well as any prizes on offer on any given month, any winnings you may have had over the past six months, and any unclaimed prizes you might have – on the NS&I app, available on Android or iOS, and the official prize checker page on the NS&I website. 

For the November draw, you can check from 2 November.

You can also set up your Amazon Alexa smart speaker to let you know. Just activate the prize checker skill on the Alexa app and enter your NS&I number. After that, Alexa will keep you up to date. 

How will NS&I prizes be paid to me? 

Prizes will be paid into bank accounts or reinvested into premium bonds, as this is far quicker and safer than waiting for a cheque in the post. 

You can set up automatic payments on the NS&I website. 

Should you buy Premium Bonds?

NS&I has been hiking the rates on its products lately as it tries to keep up with the rates on the best savings accounts.

The savings provider hiked its Premium Bond prize fund rate to a 24-year high in August, meaning the odds of winning will improve from 22,000 to 1 to 21,000 to 1. 

Additionally the minimum investment of £25 makes Premium Bonds an easy way to start saving. 

But it’s worth remembering that you won’t earn any money on your investment. If you’d like to earn a return, NS&I has boosted the rate on its one-year fixed bonds to 6.20%.

It also boosted the rate on its Green Savings Bonds to 5.7%. 

The best savings accounts are offering rates of up to 7% too, so it’s always worth shopping around to make sure you’ve found the best home for your money. 

The NS&I rate mentioned in this article is no longer available. Please see our article on the best fixed savings accounts for similar deals for one year fixed savings. 

National Savings & Investments (NS&I) has boosted the rate on its one-year fixed bonds, making them one of the best savings accounts currently on the market. 

The Premium Bonds provider has released new issues of its one-year fixed rate Guaranteed Growth Bonds and Guaranteed income Bonds – offering savers 6.2% AER, the highest ever rate since these products went on sale in 2008. 

Previously they paid 5%. The boost makes them the most competitive one-year fixed rate savings account on the market. The products are available from today, 30 August. But note, they may not hang around for long - we explain why you need to act fast to bag NS&I's 6.2% rate. 

Savings providers have been boosting their rates as they aim to pass interest rate hikes by the Bank of England (BoE) on to savers. Most have been slow to do so, drawing criticism from the FCA. 

But NS&I’s latest boost is  “brilliant news for savers, who have the chance to snag a top rate with a 100% Treasury guarantee, at around the peak for rates on one-year savings accounts”, says Sarah Coles, head of personal finance at Hargreaves Lansdown. 

The BoE base rate currently sits at 5.25%, its highest level since 2008. Meanwhile the rate of inflation fell to 6.8% in July. While NS&I’s rates are still not inflation beating, they are starting to inch closer. 

NS&I has boosted the rates on a number of its products over the past couple of months as it tries to draw in more cash from savers. It hiked the rate on its Premium Bond prize fund rate to a 24-year high early August, and it boosted the rate on its Green Savings Bonds to 5.7% – but they do have to be willing to lock their money up for three years. 

How to get an NS&I one-year fixed bond

To invest in this product you’ll have to be willing to lock your money up for a year. Savers need a minimum investment of £500, and a maximum of £1,000,000. 

Interest is paid on maturity. Once your bond matures, you’ll have the option to withdraw or reinvest your cash. 

The savings provider is also boosting the rates on its fixed-term savings products, available only to savers with maturing products. You can see the rate increases on this table, supplied by NS&I. 

How do other products compare and can you beat NS&I's top rate? 

NS&I’s latest products offer the best rates available to savers looking for one-year fixed products. 

The savings provider is 100% backed by the Treasury, which is part of its appeal. The FSCS compensation scheme, which most banks are protected by, covers only £85,000 of your money.

But you may be able to beat this rate with this one deal via Raisin which pays 6.1% plus a £25 cash bonus*. We explain how you can beat NS&I's 6.2% rate, details of the cashback deal and who can get the offer. 

Other accounts you may be interested in are:

Investec’s 1 Year Fixed Rate Saver offers a rate of 6%, and you can open the account with £5,000. 

Close Brothers Savings’ 1 Year Fixed Bond also offers 6%, and you need £10,000 to open the account. 

And Kent Reliance’s 1 Year Fixed Bond offers 5.98%. You can open it with £1,000.

 *When you sign up via this link, we may earn an affiliate commission from this deal.

Tickets are now on sale for our annual investment conference, the MoneyWeek Summit on 29.09.2023 in London. Book now at www.moneyweeksummit.com. 

Book before 10pm on 8th September 2023 to benefit from our End Of Summer Offer: MoneyWeek subscribers can book 2 tickets for £399 (normally £499). Not a subscriber? Get £80 off standard tickets using code: DISCOUNT80.

National Savings & Investments has hiked the prize fund rate on Premium Bonds again, as well as increasing the interest rate on five of its savings accounts.

The prize fund rate will rise from 4% to 4.65% in the September draw, reaching its highest level in 24 years. The government-backed savings organisation will add £66 million to the Premium Bond prize pot.

The odds of winning will improve from 22,000 to 21,000 to 1 - their best level since April 2008.

In comparison, the odds in May last year were only 34,500 to 1.

NS&I has repeatedly boosted the Premium Bond rate to keep up with competition in the savings market as Bank of England rate soars. Last week, the base rate hit 5.25%.

In this month’s Premium Bond draw (August), the prize fund rate rose from 3.7% to 4%. In July, the rate increased from 3.3% to 3.7%.

The upcoming change in the September draw marks the eighth time the Premium Bond prize fund rate has increased in just over a year.

How many premium bond prizes are there?

The change in prize fund rate means the total prize pot will grow by £66 million to reach more than £470 million.

NS&I estimates that there will be 5,785,904 prizes up for grabs from September – an increase of more than 269,000 when compared to August 2023.

While there will still only be two £1 million jackpot winners each month, the number of prizes of other amounts will all rise - bar the £25 smallest prize. The number of £25 prizes will fall from 1.7 million to just over £1 million. 

The number of £100,000 prizes - the second-biggest prize - will rise from 77 to 90 each month. At the other end of the scale, the amount of £50 prizes will increase from 1.9 million to 2.3 million.

Number and value of Premium Bond prizes

How has the premium bond prize fund changed?

NS&I has repeatedly hiked the prize fund rate to keep up with the rising base rate and to compete with savings accounts.

Laura Suter, head of personal finance at the investment platform AJ Bell, comments: “It was inevitable that NS&I would increase rates as rising competition in the savings market means it has fallen out of favour with savers who would prefer guaranteed rates elsewhere. In June, NS&I clocked up its third month of falling inflows and actually saw no net inflows, as any money savers put with the provider was wiped out by withdrawals. 

She adds: “Taking a punt on Premium Bonds was a more attractive gamble when interest rates were rock-bottom. But now savers are giving up returns of 5% on easy-access accounts for the chance they might win big on Ernie, which is a tougher call to make.” 

Source: NS&I

Which NS&I savings accounts are changing?

NS&I is lifting the interest rate on its Income Bond, Direct Saver, Direct ISA, Junior ISA and Investment Account on 18 August.

The interest rate paid to Direct Saver customers will increase from 3.4% to 3.65%, while the interest rate paid to Income Bonds will increase from 3.4% gross (3.45% AER) to 3.59% gross (3.65% AER).

The rate paid on NS&I’s Direct ISA will increase from 2.4% to 3%. Young savers will also benefit, with the Junior ISA rate rising from 3.65% to 4%.

Meanwhile, the rate on the Investment Account will edge up slightly, from 0.85% to 1%.

Suter observes that despite the increases none of the rates are market-beating. She comments: “That means to be using NS&I you’d need to have another motivation other than getting the highest possible return. For some, this will be the higher protection than the Financial Services Compensation Scheme offers or the ability to shelter their savings from tax.”

The rate changes announced today follow rate rises on a number of NS&I’s fixed-rate savings products last month. 

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Premium Bonds are one of the nation’s most popular savings products, with Brits holding billions of pounds in them.

They differ from usual savings products, like easy-access accounts or fixed rate accounts, because they don’t pay a guaranteed interest rate.

Instead, every pound you have saved in Premium Bonds is worth one entry into a monthly prize draw where millions of prizes worth between £25 and £1 million are distributed – although there is no guarantee that you will win anything.

The June 2026 prize draw distributed almost six million prizes to savers, worth a collective £376.6 million.

If you are lucky enough to win one of the two £1 million jackpots, you can expect a visit from Agent Million, an anonymous NS&I employee who travels up and down the country informing people of their newfound wealth.

You can find out if you won a lower-value prize the day after the first working day of the month by using the Premium Bonds prize checker.

How to check for Premium Bonds

NS&I website or app

The easiest way to see if you have won any Premium Bonds prizes is by checking online through NS&I’s prize checker tool, accessible on nsandi.com.

If you use a mobile phone, you can also download NS&I’s official prize checker app, which is available on either Android or iOS.

Both of these methods will show you the prizes on offer that month and any winnings you may have had over the past six draws, as well as any unclaimed prizes.

To find prizes, you will need your Premium Bonds holder’s number to use the website and your NS&I number or holder’s number to check via the prize checker app – it will either have nine or 10 digits, or eight digits followed by a letter.

If you don’t have your Premium Bonds number to hand, don’t worry. You can use your NS&I number on the app to check for prizes – it is 11 digits long and starts with an 11, 21, 31 or 41.

Use your Amazon Alexa

You can also use an Alexa-enabled device to check if you’ve won, as long as you have successfully set it up.

Once given the command, Alexa can tell you whether you have won a prize and how much it's worth, as well as details for any upcoming draws.

To get it set up, you’ll need to activate the NS&I Premium Bonds prize checker skill on your Alexa app and enter your NS&I number. After that, you can use your smart speaker to stay updated on prize winners.

How to check for unclaimed Premium Bonds prizes from years ago

Premium Bonds prizes do not expire, meaning that if you held money in Premium Bonds for a while, you may find that you have won some prizes without realising.

You can find out if you have unclaimed Premium Bonds prizes from years ago waiting for you by using the methods listed above to check for prizes.

But there are some other ways of finding out whether you have any cash waiting to be claimed.

If you’re registered for online or phone services, you can call NS&I for free on 08085 007 007.

If you aren’t registered, you can write to NS&I and ask if you have any unclaimed prizes. To help them track any potential prizes down for you, your letter must include:

• Premium Bonds holder's number
• Your current name
• Any previous names
• Your current address
• Any previous addresses where Bonds may have been registered
• Your signature

Send your letter to: NS&I, Sunderland SR43 2SB.

Any prizes will then be sent to your home address. They cannot be sent directly to your bank account.

How are Premium Bonds prizes paid out?

Your prizes will be paid according to the preference you opted for when you created your account.

For example, those who have opted for automatic payments will get their cash prizes paid into their nominated bank account. Alternatively, you might have set your winnings to be reinvested into Premium Bonds.

NS&I says more than nine in 10 prizes are paid directly into winners’ bank accounts or automatically reinvested into more Premium Bonds.

If you haven’t opted for either, you will receive a cheque – so it’s worth checking your address is updated. You can change your payment method on the NS&I website if you wish.

How many lost Premium Bonds prizes are there?

While NS&I has successfully paid out over 99% of all Premium Bonds prizes to winners since 1957, there are still millions of bonds that remain unclaimed.

As of June 2026, there are 2,796,246 unclaimed Premium Bonds prizes worth £121,903,050.

Unclaimed Premium Bonds will never expire so if you think you might have some, they are well worth tracking down.

It is also worth doing this sooner rather than later as your winnings do not earn an interest rate while left unclaimed, meaning their value will be slowly eroded by inflation.

How to find lost Premium Bonds

You can check for lost Premium Bonds by going to NS&I’s website and finding the ‘Form to track down lost savings’. It will be included on this page: nsandi.com/forms.

Customers can complete the form online or they can download it and print out a physical copy to complete by hand.

If doing the latter, send your completed form to: Tracing service, NS&I, Sunderland SR43 2SB

Once completed, NS&I will be in contact and tell you whether you have any lost Premium Bonds.

Alternatively, you can use mylostaccount.org.uk. This is a free service from UK Finance and the Building Societies Association that helps you track down lost accounts or savings. The service is not only for NS&I products, so it may be worth a visit if you have other lost accounts.

If you’re trying to track down Premium Bonds on behalf of someone else, then make sure you are legally entitled to act on their behalf, for example under a Power of Attorney or as an Executor. NS&I suggests calling them for advice on how to trace someone else’s accounts or investments.

Premium Bonds can be owned by people who live abroad so it is still worth checking whether you have any unclaimed prizes or lost Premium Bonds even if you have left the UK.

If you need more help or guidance, NS&I has a helpful list of contacts who may be able to steer you in the right direction.

You can rest assured that your Premium Bonds are safe with NS&I as the money is 100% backed by the Treasury.

How to avoid losing your Premium Bonds prizes

NS&I notifies Premium Bonds prize winners via their chosen communication method, such as email or text, if they have registered their contact details.

However, prizes can end up unclaimed if someone relocates or changes contact or bank details and forgets to update NS&I with the new details.

NS&I says the best way to avoid prizes going unclaimed is to choose for them to be paid directly into your bank account or automatically reinvested into Premium Bonds.

You can reinvest Premium Bonds up to the £50,000 holding limit, and automatically reinvested prizes are immediately eligible for the next draw.

You can find out if you are a National Savings and Investmentwinner in the August Premium Bonds draw. With prizes ranging from £25 to a £1m jackpot, how much did you win?

The monthly draw from the Treasury-backed NS&I is one of the most popular ways of saving and has handed out a whopping £26.8bn in prizes since the first draw in 1957.

August’s prize draw saw over £404m in prizes handed out through 5,516,739 individual winning numbers, with lucky bondholders finding out this morning whether they’ve won - and just how much they are set to receive.

But the two lucky people who have each won £1 million will likely already know who they are, having received a knock at the door from the elusive Agent Million. 

Have you won in August’s NS&I Premium Bonds draw?

Both the NS&I app and the official prize checker app, available on either Android or iOS, will show you the prizes on offer that month, any winnings you may have had over the past six draws as well as any unclaimed prizes. Just remember to have your Premium Bonds holder’s number to hand.

You can also have your Alexa smart speaker do the hard work for you

To get it set up, you’ll need to activate the NS&I Premium Bonds prize checker skill on your Alexa app and enter your NS&I number. After that, Alexa will be able to keep you up-to-date on all things Premium Bonds and prizes.

How will NS&I prizes be paid to me?

More than nine in ten prizes are now paid automatically into bank accounts or reinvested into premium bonds, according to NS&I. They say it is far quicker and more secure than waiting for a cheque. If you want to set automatic payments up, you can do it on the NS&I website.

Is now a good time to buy Premium Bonds?

If you’re not already a Premium Bondholder, there’s a good reason why now may be a great time to ensure your name is in the hat for next month’s draw.

The August draw saw the prize fund rate increase to 4%, and the odds improve from 24,000 to 1 to 22,000 to 1, meaning that each £1 Bond now has its best chance of winning a prize in almost 15 years. 

The latest draw also saw an extra £30 million added to the prize fund, with 455,390 extra prizes available for Bondholders to win. 

With the minimum investment starting at £25, Premium Bonds can be the first step to starting your own successful savings habit, but they’re also a popular way to start saving on behalf of a child. 

Premium Bonds are one of the nation’s much-loved savings products, but they are becoming less attractive as the odds of winning are set to lengthen and the number of prizes on offer are beginning to dwindle.

Offered by National Savings and Investments (NS&I), the products give savers the hope of winning cash prizes every month, ranging from £25 to a top £1 million prize for two jackpot winners who will receive a visit from ‘Agent Million’.

Premium Bonds prizes are tax-efficient, as any winnings you receive are not taxed by HMRC.

However, the monthly prize draws have become less attractive recently. In August 2025, the prize fund rate fell to just 3.6%, down from 3.8% in July and 4.65% in September 2023. It will drop again in April 2026 to 3.3%.

This reduces the level of prizes available and will mean the total amount of money distributed among Premium Bonds winners in the April draw will fall to around £375 million, down from around £408 million in the February draw.

NS&I will also lengthen the odds of winning from 22,000 to one to 23,000 to one, per £1 Bond number.

The changes are due to recent Bank of England interest rate cuts and rules that mean the Treasury-backed lender can’t overly compete with the wider savings market.

Recent data obtained by AJ Bell found that around 63% of people who have Premium Bonds have never won a single prize from the monthly prize draws, another reason to consider if the product is right for you.

There are also rivals to Premium Bonds that could be more lucrative.

A number of savings providers have launched prize draw products, with one prize draw offering the chance to win up to £250,000. So, how do they work?

How savings prize draws work 

Savings prize draws are easy-access or notice savings accounts, where the money you pay in allows you entry into a prize draw.

Each provider has slightly different eligibility rules, frequency and payout rates for their prize draws. Here are the top Premium Bonds alternatives on offer right now.

Alternatives to Premium Bonds

1. Chip Prize Savings Account – win up to £10,000

The prize pot: Chip is offering an attractive jackpot, with a total of £75,000 up for grabs. The top prize is usually £10,000, but 2,500 additional prizes of £10 are available, and 8,000 prizes of £5 can also be won. Now may be a good time to open an account as the jackpot grand prize for March 2026 has been increased to £250,000. There are also 100 prizes of £1,000, 5,000 £10 prizes and 20,000 £5 prizes available. Chip claims the odds of winning a prize on its account are 3.5 times better than Premium Bonds.

How it works: With Chip’s Prize Savings Account you don’t earn any interest on your deposits, instead the money you deposit counts towards entries in a monthly prize draw. Any prize you win is added to your account.

The number of entries savers get is decided by their average balance over the calendar month. The average balance is calculated by dividing the daily balance by the number of days in the month.

You do not have to pay tax on any prizes you may win.

Eligibility: All savers with the Prize Savings Account are automatically given a number of entries into the prize draw.

2. Family Building Society - win up to £50,000

The prize pot: Family Building Society has a Windfall Bond product that operates a monthly prize draw. New and existing customers can win a jackpot of £50,000 and there are also prizes of £100, £500, £1,000 and £10,000.

How it works: Newly opened Windfall Bonds qualify for the Monthly Free Prize Draw in the second calendar month after the bond has been opened. For example, a Windfall Bond opened in January would be entered into March’s Monthly Free Prize Draw.

The value of prizes to be paid each month is calculated by taking the total value of Windfall Bonds entered into the previous month’s free prize draw, multiplied by 1%/12 (one twelfth of one per cent).

Even if you don’t win a prize, the Windfall Bond pays a rate of 2.75%. Customers can access their money after 35 days’ notice, and you do not need to pay tax on your winnings.

Eligibility: You can open a Windfall Bond online, by post and by visiting Family Building Society’s Epsom branch. Each Windfall Bond requires a £10,000 deposit.

3. Credit Union PrizeSaver - win up to £5,000

The prize pot: The PrizeSaver draw is managed by the Association of British Credit Unions. It is a monthly prize draw with a top prize of £5,000, 10 prizes of £50 and 10 prizes of £20.

How it works: Eligible savers are automatically entered into a monthly draw. Every £1 held in a PrizeSaver account gets you one entry into the monthly prize draw, with up to 200 entries per month.

Eligibility: The draw is open to people saving in PrizeSaver accounts with their local credit union. You can only have one PrizeSaver account.

Note: Not all credit unions in the UK offer a PrizeSaver account. Find out which ones are participating on the PrizeSaver website.

4. TSB ‘Yes Days’ prize draw – win £35,000

The prize pot: TSB is offering two current account holders the chance to win £35,000.

How it works: To be entered into the prize draw, you need an open TSB personal current account and must deposit £2,500 by 2 March 2026 to automatically be entered into the prize draw.

Eligibility: Every £2,500 you deposit before 2 March counts as one entry in the draw and you can make up to 25 entries in total. The funds must originate from outside TSB and you need to be 18 or older to enter. The draw will be made on 3 March 2026.

Two lucky people from Hereford & Worcester and Essex have become millionaires after scooping the top prize in August’s National Savings and Investments (NS&I) Premium Bonds prize draw.

The monthly prize draw offers two top prizes of £1 million. 

The first Bond number drawn by ERNIE - NS&I’s random number generating machine - for August was 522MP682337 and is held by a winner based in Hereford & Worcester. The winner has the maximum holding of £50,000 in Premium Bonds, and purchased their winning Bond just last year in December 2022. They become the eleventh winner in Hereford & Worcester. 

The second Premium Bonds millionaire bought their Bonds just a few months ago and is based in Essex and holds Bond number 535RC655361. The winner has £23,700 in Premium Bonds and purchased their winning Bond in April 2023. This win makes them the 22nd millionaire from Essex.

Winners will get a visit from Agent Million.

But it is not only jackpot winners who have found their luck this month. The August draw saw the prize fund rate increase to 4%, and the odds improve from 24,000 to 1 to 22,000 to 1, meaning that each £1 Bond now has its best chance of winning a prize in almost 15 years.

This month also saw an extra £30 million added to the prize fund, with 455,390 extra prizes available for bondholders to win. 

August 2023 Premium Bond prize winners

A prize fund of more than £404 million will be paid out to winners across the country, with a total of 121,368,267,494 bond numbers eligible for the draw.

Since the first draw in June 1957, ERNIE has drawn 637 million prizes with a total value of £26.8 billion.

Jill Waters, NS&I Retail Director, said: “Congratulations to our two millionaires from Hereford & Worcester and Essex. Both of our winners waited under a year to win the jackpot, with one winning after eight months and the other after just four months. This shows that big prizes can be won at any time, regardless of how long you’ve had your Premium Bonds. We hope each of our millionaires enjoys their winnings.

“The Premium Bonds prize fund rate has now hit 4%, the highest it’s been since 2007, meaning we’ll be paying out over £404 million in prizes this month to lucky winners up and down the country.”

How to check for NS&I Premium Bond prizes

You can see if you won in the July prize draw using the nsandi.com prize checker or the official prize checker app, available on either Android or iOS, although you’ll have to wait until tomorrow for the latest results to come through.

You will need your Premium Bonds holder’s number to use the website and your NS&I number or holder’s number to check via the prize checker app.

You can also use your Alexa-enabled device so check if you’ve won. Alexa will be able to tell you whether you have won a prize and how much it's worth, as well as details for any upcoming draws.

It can also tell you if you have any prizes yet to be redeemed, such as a £25 prize from July 1968, which remains unclaimed.

To get it set up, you’ll need to activate the NS&I Premium Bonds prize checker skill on your Alexa app and enter your NS&I number. After that, you will be able to use your smart speaker to stay updated on all things Premium Bonds.

Doing this will also show you if you have any unclaimed prizes. In Hereford & Worcester, home of August’s winning bond holder there are 19,033 unclaimed prizes worth £668,775. 

The largest unclaimed prize is worth £100,000 and this was from the August 2014 prize draw. The oldest unclaimed prize in Hereford & Worcester is from the August 1965 prize draw, and is worth £25.

Likewise in Essex, there are 50,596 unclaimed prizes with a total value of £1,530,625. The largest unclaimed prize is £10,000. There are two of these in total and they were won in the December 2007 and March 2016 prize draws. The oldest unclaimed prize in Essex is from February 1964 and is worth £25.

For more information on how to track down any unclaimed prizes, visit the NS&I website. 

Premium Bonds are one of the country’s most popular savings products, with more than £135 billion saved in them.

Premium Bonds differ from traditional savings accounts as bondholders are not guaranteed interest payments. Instead, Premium Bonds are entered into a prize draw every month.

Savers can win between £25 and £1 million in this monthly prize draw.

In June’s prize draw, more than £376 million was distributed through almost six million Premium Bonds prizes.

Savers can use NS&I’s prize checker tool from the day after the first working day of the month to check if they have won anything in the prize draw.

How do Premium Bonds work?

NS&I’s Premium Bonds are a savings product backed by the UK government. Their unique appeal is that instead of paying a set interest rate you are rewarded for saving by being entered into a monthly prize draw.

With Premium Bonds you are not guaranteed returns, but any winnings you do get are tax-free.

The tax-free aspect is something that may appeal to savers who have used all their ISA allowance but are still looking for ways to shield their savings from the taxman.

For each £1 you invest in Premium Bonds, you receive a unique number which represents one chance to win a prize. Every single bond has a one in 23,000 chance of winning (this will change to one in 22,000 from July). This means the more bonds you hold, the more likely you are to win a prize.

One of the most appealing aspects of Premium Bonds is the security they offer. As the UK government backs them, the amount you have invested in NS&I is always safe.

How much can you hold in Premium Bonds?

The maximum you can hold in Premium Bonds is £50,000. The minimum is £25. You can buy Premium Bonds through the NS&I website, over the phone or by post.

To apply over the phone, call NS&I for free on 08085 007 007.

To apply by post, print and complete an application form and return it with a cheque payable to NS&I. Further instructions and the application form can be found on the NS&I website.

It is also possible to buy Premium Bonds as a gift for a child. The parent or guardian named on their application looks after the child’s bonds until their 16th birthday, regardless of who bought them.

How much can you get from Premium Bonds?

There is no guaranteed return or regular income with Premium Bonds. Instead, you are entered into a monthly prize draw where you could potentially win between £25 and £1 million.

You may have heard of the prize fund rate. This benchmark is used by NS&I to set how many prizes should be given away every month. The figure represents the rate of return for a bondholder with average luck.

Some people will get more, especially if they scoop a big prize, while others will win nothing. The prize fund rate shouldn’t be confused with a conventional interest rate that you would see on a typical savings account.

The prize fund rate is currently 3.3%, and will rise to 3.8% from the July draw.

As well as the prize fund rate, NS&I also publishes the odds of winning. The odds are currently 23,000 to 1 for every £1 bond. This will change to 22,000 to 1 from the July draw.

Are Premium Bonds right for you?

Swapping a guaranteed interest rate for the chance of winning a prize might not appeal to everyone, but Premium Bonds can act as a useful diversifier within a wider portfolio.

Every penny spent on Premium Bonds is backed by the government. For this reason, many investors put considerable amounts into NS&I products.

The tax-free status of the prizes is also appealing for any savers worried about busting their personal savings allowance and having to pay tax on their interest. This is particularly the case for higher-rate and additional-rate taxpayers with large amounts of cash savings.

However, recent data has shown that 62% of people who have Premium Bonds have never won a single prize in the monthly draw, raising questions about whether they are the best place for savers to put their cash.

The research from investment firm Vanguard found that of the 23 million people holding a total of £135.7 billion in Premium Bonds, around 14.3 million have never won a prize.

The asset manager attributed this to 15.1 million having between just £1 and £100 saved, where the probability of winning is extremely low.

To put it simply, if you like the idea of winning big but are also comfortable with winning nothing at all, then Premium Bonds could be right for you. Alternatively, if you want a guaranteed level of interest and the certainty that your savings will stay ahead of inflation, then it’s probably best to avoid them.

How are Premium Bonds prizes drawn?

NS&I has its own random number generator that draws prizes, named ERNIE.

This stands for Electronic Random Number Indicator Equipment and the machine has generated the numbers used in draws since 1957. ERNIE is currently on its fifth iteration.

ERNIE 5 is powered by quantum technology, which uses light to run the sums far quicker than a conventional computer. It takes 12 minutes for ERNIE to generate the random numbers for a prize draw.

The prize draw is entirely random with each £1 bond having an equal chance of winning a prize each month.

A spokesperson for NS&I told MoneyWeek that, in order to maintain a fair outcome, the Government Actuary's Department carries out an independent check each month to ensure that the Premium Bonds prize draw is fully random.

How to find if you have won a Premium Bonds prize

Once winners are chosen, the lucky bondholders are notified through a variety of channels.

Jackpot winners usually find out after being paid a visit by NS&I’s Agent Million, and winners of the smaller prizes can usually check the day after the first working day of the month.

Two of the easiest ways to check for Premium Bond prizes are the online NS&I prize checker and the official prize checker app, available on either Android or iOS.

Who is Agent Million?

If you are a £1 million winner, you will get a knock on the door from Agent Million. The elusive millionaire maker is actually one of a number of anonymous NS&I employees whose job is to track down the lucky winners who have scooped the top prize.

Winning that kind of money can be life-changing, and Agent Million is there to ensure the winner has all the information they need to manage their newfound wealth carefully in the days and weeks after the win.

A new top dog has emerged in the easy access savings space.

As savers look to stem the impact of inflation on cash holdings, Coventry Building Society has launched a new easy access account offering a market-beating rate of 4.50%.

The average easy-access rate is 2.58%, according to Moneyfacts.

The new offering from the lender tops our list of best easy access savings accounts. It’s even better than some of the one-year fixes on offer from high street lenders. 

Easy access savings

Coventry Building Society’s Four Access Saver is available to both new and existing savers and can be opened online with only £1. You can deposit up to £250,000 but it is worth remembering that only £85,000 is protected under the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) - perhaps take a look at National Savings and Investments (NS&I)’s Premium Bonds if you’ve got more to invest and are concerned about the safety of your money. 

But the account isn’t as easy to access as some other accounts. As the name suggests, you can only access the account four times within 12 months. Withdrawals beyond this limit are subject to a charge equal to 50 days' interest. 

Daniel McDonald, senior savings product manager at Coventry Building Society, said: “We're expecting our new Four Access Saver account to be popular with savers looking to take advantage of a market-leading rate while still having access to their money if they need to.”

“The account is ideal for those looking for a place to save their rainy-day fund or are saving up for something specific, but don't want to lock their money away and are able to withdraw their savings up to four times a year without charge.”

Can you beat inflation?

Savers have been up against it in trying to beat inflation. Despite rising rates and the new offering from Coventry Building Society, no provider currently offers an easy access account that beats inflation. 

But you can now earn 6.1% on one-year fixed savings accounts – the best rate seen in 14 years, while a two-year fixed savings account can net you 6.15%.

But could you be putting your cash to better use? Amid high inflation, investing your money could help you generate real returns. According to the Barclays Equity Gilt Study, UK shares have beaten cash in 90% of five-year periods since 1899.

So, if you’re happy to take some risk with your money you can invest it. But if you’re wanting to have some more control over your money while somewhat hedging against inflation, then a leading easy access account could fit the bill.

National Savings & Investments (NS&I) has boosted rates across a number of its fixed-term products.

The firm behind the ever-popular Premium Bonds is upping the rate it offers amid increasing competition within the savings space, with the best savings accounts now offering one-year fixed rate deals of more than 6%.

The interest rates paid on NS&I’s fixed-term Guaranteed Growth Bonds and Guaranteed Income Bonds are increasing to 5.00% for new customers, up from the existing 4.00% and 3.90% respectively.

The rate NS&I offers on its two-year and three-year Guaranteed Growth Bonds and Guaranteed Income Bonds, which are not currently on general sale but are available to existing customers when they reach the end of their current fixed term, will also be upped to 5.10%.

Customers who already have one of the two bonds will continue on their original fixed rate. However, at the end of the term, they will be able to roll their savings over into a new product at the rate on offer at that time.

The changes to NS&I’s fixed-term products come two weeks after it announced interest rate increases on a number of its variable products. These are also effective from today. NS&I customers holding Direct Saver and Income Bonds will see the return on their savings boosted to 3.40% from 2.85%.

NS&I chief executive Dax Harkins, says: “Guaranteed Growth Bonds and Guaranteed Income Bonds are popular with our customers and I’m pleased that we’re able to announce these changes today for new and existing customers to take advantage of.”

“Customers holding Direct Saver and Income Bonds will also see a boost from today, with their interest rates going up, and millions of Premium Bonds holders will also have a better chance of winning a prize from the next draw.”

“The changes announced today ensure that NS&I’s products remain attractive to customers and that it continues to balance the interests of savers, taxpayers and the broader financial services sector,” he adds.

Are Premium Bonds the way to go?

NS&I is perhaps best known for its Premium Bonds and the government-backed institution recently upped the number of prizes available, with an extra £39 million in prizes up for grabs.

The odds of each £1 Premium Bond winning a prize will remain at 24,000 to 1, with more chances each month for customers to win prizes worth between £50 and £100,000.

Myron Jobson, senior personal finance analyst at the investment platform Interactive Investor, notes: “Premium Bonds can be fun lottery-style alternatives to an easy-access savings account and might tempt some savers hoping for good luck to bolster their wealth amid the cost of living crisis.”

“But the fact remains that while some savers might be lucky enough to hit the jackpot or win big early on, others may save and wait for long periods for even a small return. It still pays to shop around for the best deal.”

Are savers getting a fair deal?

Broadly, savings rates have steadily trended upward this year, following repeated rate rises by the Bank of England (BoE).

And after years of rock-bottom interest rates, savers finally have access to more generous returns on their cash, although the best deals don’t hang around for long. 

There are also signs banks could be leaning towards passing more of the BoE’s rate increases on to savers. After the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) summoned some of the country’s biggest banks to ask why rate rises weren’t passed on to savers, lenders have been quick to respond with higher rates on savings accounts. 

The regulator said: “We have started to see some positive action by banks and building societies to improve their rates, and to ensure their customers are benefiting from better value products. We now want to see that progress accelerate.”

But while waiting on the big banks to play catch-up, you could be missing out on hundreds of pounds in interest. 

While National Savings & Investments (NS&I) does not pay an interest rate like savings accounts do, the rate determines the number of prizes that get dished out each month. 

And this month, National Savings & Investments (NS&I) is raising its Premium Bond prize fund rate from 3.7% to 4%, taking the chances of winning a prize to a 15-year high. The increase comes hot off the heels of a rate rise just last month  from 3.3% to 3.7%.

The rate rise means that from August, the odds are improving to 22,000 from 24,000 to one. Each £1 bond will have its highest chance of winning in nearly 15 years. 

This is the seventh time the Premium Bond prize fund rate has increased in over a year as the Treasury-backed savings vehicle competes with rising rates on savings accounts, which have been climbing as the Bank of England hikes interest rates.  

How many NS&I prizes are there?

NS&I said it estimates the changes will see an extra £30m added to the prize fund from August, and there will be 460,000 extra prizes. 

The estimated number of £1m prizes will remain at two, but there will be an estimated 77 £100,000 prizes in August, from 71 in July. 

The number of £50,000 prizes will also jump to 154 from 141 in July. 

Should you buy Premium Bonds?

Premium Bonds are popular savings products, but it’s worth noting the 4% rate does not mean that that’s the return you get on your investment. 

With a savings rate, you’re guaranteed that interest on your cash. The prize fund rate represents how likely someone with average luck is to win a prize. 

The rates on savings accounts are heating up again following the Bank of England’s latest base rate hike. 

The best easy access savings account, from RCI Bank, currently offers 4.2% – and that is a guaranteed return on your money. 

And if you’re ready to lock your money up for twelve months, the best one-year fixed savings account, from My Community Bank, offers 6.03%. 

National Savings & Investments (NS&I) is hiking the Premium Bond prize fund rate from 3.3% to 3.7% in the July draw, its highest rate in 15 years.

This means there will be an extra £39 million in prizes available for bondholders.

The odds of each £1 Premium Bond winning a prize will remain at 24,000 to 1, with more chances each month for customers to win prizes worth between £50 and £100,000. 

It marks the sixth prize fund rate increase for Premium Bonds in just over a year, as NS&I tries to lure savers and compete with rising interest rates on savings accounts. NS&I says the changes are part of its strategy to “balance the interests of savers, taxpayers and the broader financial services sector”.

The last increase to the prize fund rate was in the March draw, when it rose from 3.15% to 3.3%.

NS&I has also announced that it is increasing the interest rate for young savers holding its Junior ISA, with the rate increasing from 3.4% to 3.65% today.

“With the Premium Bond changes, we’re expecting to pay out more than £374 million to winners in July with more higher-value prizes, meaning that, each month, more lives will be changed by Premium Bonds,” says Dax Harkins, NS&I chief executive. 

“This is the second interest rate increase for Junior ISA this year, giving a boost to over 89,000 young savers as we continue to help inspire a stronger savings culture.”

How many prizes are in each draw?

While the number of prizes worth between £50 and £100,000 will go up in July, the number of £25 prizes in the draw will fall. And the pair of £1m jackpots up for grabs each month remains unchanged.

Overall, the total number of prizes will slightly fall, but the value of all the prizes will rise by more than £39 million.

This is the estimated number of prizes we can expect to see next month (compared to this month).

  Number and value of Premium Bond prizes 

 Are Premium Bonds worth it? 

Despite the increase to the prize fund rate, it’s worth noting that a 3.7% rate is not necessarily the best on the market when compared to the top savings rates.

Easy-access savings rates have hit 4% for the first time since 2009, and the best one, two, three and five-year fixed bonds all offer 5.3% or more. 

And with the Bank of England expected to increase interest rates again on Thursday (base rate is currently 4.5%), higher rates from banks and building societies may well be on the horizon.

It’s also important to note that a prize fund rate is not the same as a savings rate. With the latter, the saver is guaranteed to earn that interest rate on their cash. But a Premium Bond prize fund rate is an average rate for someone with average luck. 

In reality, some customers will earn less (some may not even win a single prize, especially if they only hold a small amount in bonds), while others will win more.

Myron Jobson, senior personal finance analyst at the investment platform Interactive Investor, notes: “Premium Bonds can be fun lottery-style alternatives to an easy-access savings account and might tempt some savers hoping for good luck to bolster their wealth amid the cost of living crisis. 

“But the fact remains that while some savers might be lucky enough to hit the jackpot or win big early on, others may save and wait for long periods for even a small return. It still pays to shop around for the best deal.”

Millions of savers win cash prizes in NS&I’s Premium Bonds prize draw each month, with more than £376 million up for grabs in the most recent draw alone.

Most winners will get the lowest and most common prize available of £25 – more than 2.8 million bond holders won this amount in June’s prize draw.

However, millions more higher-value prizes are available too. In June, there were around 3 million £50 and £100 prizes, over 45,000 £500 prizes, and 17,706 prizes of £1,000 and above.

Most winners can check if they won a prize in the most recent prize draw from 2 June, via the NS&I prize checker. But the two £1 million jackpot winners find out slightly earlier.

Jackpot winners should receive a visit from Agent Million, an anonymous NS&I employee who travels up and down the country to tell winners of their newfound wealth.

Their identity is hidden to protect the privacy of winners, as unexpectedly receiving £1 million is likely to change their lives.

While you may already know how Premium Bonds work, we lift the lid on some frequently asked questions about how Premium Bonds winners are notified of their prizes.

How are Premium Bonds prize winners notified?

MoneyWeek: Do all winners get an email saying 'you've just won!', regardless of whether it's £25 or £100,000?

NS&I: Customers who are signed up to be notified of any prize wins via email are notified in this way, regardless of the amount. Any email that Premium Bonds customers receive notifying them of a win does not include the value of the prize. The email notification encourages them to check how much they have won via the prize checker app, online prize checker or on an Alexa-enabled device.

MoneyWeek: What happens with customers who have won a high-value NS&I prize?

NS&I: Customers winning prizes worth between £10,000 and £100,000 are sent a prize claim form in the post. This asks them how they would like their prize paid. For example, they can choose to have their prize paid directly into their bank account or automatically reinvested into more Premium Bonds.

MoneyWeek: How do winners get told when they’ve won the £1 million jackpot?

NS&I: These customers receive a visit from “Agent Million”. This person is an NS&I employee who travels the country to give our lucky jackpot winners the good news. We actually have five Agent Millions. In total, since 1994, there have been around 20 Agent Millions.

MoneyWeek: Who is Agent Million?

NS&I: We keep their identities secret – this is important for the privacy of both our Agent Millions and our winners. Winning £1 million is life changing, so when Agent Million informs the winners, secrecy ensures that sharing this news is a choice for them.

Our Agent Millions are based in Lytham St Annes (in Lancashire), the home of Premium Bonds, so they do have to travel as well as spend the odd night away from home. Although they are sworn to secrecy about the role they perform, they may tell certain family members or loved ones about it for practical reasons. However, they must keep their role secret from friends and colleagues who do not need to know.

MoneyWeek: Do they always visit the winners in person?

NS&I: Our Agent Millions always visit £1 million Premium Bonds jackpot winners in person.

Throughout the pandemic, Agent Million was unable to visit jackpot winners in person for the safety of all involved but has been back on the road since the May 2022 prize draw.

MoneyWeek: What happens if I win £1 million but I'm away on holiday?

NS&I: If a £1 million winner was on holiday when Agent Million visited, they would make contact with the winner via an alternative method.

MoneyWeek: How do you work out which Agent Million contacts the winners each month?

NS&I: All of our Agent Millions perform other roles within NS&I, so which ones are visiting jackpot winners depends on availability. There are, of course, two £1 million winners each month, so two Agent Millions are always in action for each prize draw.

Having five Agent Millions ensures that each month an experienced colleague is on hand to guide our two jackpot winners through a life-changing time.

MoneyWeek: Does the jackpot winner have to prove their identity?

NS&I: For the security of both Agent Million and our jackpot winners, we cannot provide any further information on the process that Agent Million goes through with winners. However, we do ensure that we are paying the prize money to the correct person.

MoneyWeek: What options does the £1 million winner have in terms of how the money is paid to them?

NS&I: The £1 million Premium Bonds jackpot winners can choose to have their prize paid into an NS&I Direct Saver or an account of their choice.

All funds held with us are secure as we are backed by HM Treasury, so if customers choose our Direct Saver account while deciding what to do with their winnings, they have this added peace of mind.

MoneyWeek: Do you help winners who want financial advice?

NS&I: Since April 2022, we have offered £1 million Premium Bonds jackpot winners the option to seek financial advice from any certified financial planner or chartered financial planner in the UK. This means that more than 8,000 advisers have the chance to help winners of the Premium Bonds jackpot. Previously financial advisers came through one firm.

Aside from this, our prize draw team at NS&I keeps in touch with jackpot winners and always recommends they take up our offer to access professional financial advice.

MoneyWeek: What's the average Premium Bonds holding for a jackpot winner?

NS&I: The average holding for a £1 million jackpot winner is £24,649 (based on figures calculated in May 2025). Since the jackpot launched in 1994, there have been more than 500 Premium Bonds millionaires.

In terms of winners who had smaller Premium Bonds holdings, someone from the London borough of Newham won £1 million in July 2004 with a Premium Bonds holding worth £17. The winning bond was purchased in February 1959, so they did have to wait more than 45 years for the win.

To see if you’ve won a prize with your Premium Bonds, enter your details into NS&I's Premium Bonds Prize Checker.

The government-backed National Savings & Investments (NS&I) has bumped up the interest rates on its cash ISA following last week’s base rate increase to 4.5%.

NS&I Direct ISA customers can now earn 2.4% on its cash ISA account - up from 2.15%.

While the increase will be welcomed by customers, NS&I’s ISA rate is still lagging behind its rivals - see our article on the best cash ISA rates to see what other providers are giving.

NS&I says the change brings its Direct ISA in line with other easy-access ISAs available on the market, thought it's not necessarily the best.

“The change made to NS&I’s Direct ISA will ensure that the product is priced appropriately when compared to the rest of the ISA market. It will also help ensure that NS&I continues to balance the interests of savers, taxpayers and the broader financial services sector,” the savings outfit notes.

The NS&I ISA rate was last upped in February alongside a number of other NS&I products, including Income Bonds and the prize rate on its popular Premium Bonds.

Is the easy access NS&I direct ISA a good deal?

If you like the security that come with NS&I - which is that it guarantees to protect any money saved in its products as it is backed by the Treasury - then NS&I is certainly a good choice.

But, if you are simply looking to get the best return in your cash ISA, then you can do better than NS&I, depending on your requirements.

For example, you can currently earn 3.5% with Cynergy Bank’s easy access ISA, which like NS&I, can also be opened with just £1.

And Shawbrook Bank’s easy access lets you earn 3.45% - but you will need £1,000 minimum to open the account. You can find all the latest ISA rates in our article on the best cash ISAs.

And although other banks offer protection from the Financial Services Compensation Scheme for up to £85,000 of your savings, they do not come with the unlimited guarantees that NS&I does.

Sarah Coles, head of personal finance at Hargreaves Lansdown says the product is “trailing well behind the market,” although it is “well ahead of the high street giants”.

However, the headline rate of 2.4% is “nothing to get excited about,” she notes.

“It’s not only lagging the most competitive deals by a significant margin, it’s also well behind the 2.85% on offer on its other easy access products.”

Coles says the upped rates on the ISA may appeal to those with “significant savings” beyond the £85,000 guaranteed by the FSCS.

“However, for those holding less than £85,000 with any one savings institution, there’s the FSCS to protect them, so the gap between this rate and the rest of the market may be big enough to make them think twice,” she says.

Why do savers like NS&I?

NS&I is not renowned for its sky-high rates, rather it attracts customers with its promise to guarantee your money. Not only that, but its millionaire-making Premium Bonds are hugely popular, with savers drawn to the security offered in parallel to the chance to win a life-changing amount of money.

In February, £2bn was deposited with the government-owned savings bank after the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank rattled the nerves of investors across the globe.

Every month Premium Bond holders are entered into a draw where they can win prizes ranging from £25 to £1m. This month, two savers were made millionaires by the Premium Bond draw.

One lucky bond holder has won a grand total of 288 prizes, including the lucrative million-pound top prize. On top of the £1m reward, they have also won one £10,000 prize, one £1,000 prize, eight £100 prizes, 45 £50 prizes and 232 prizes worth £25.

Recently, NS&I has been upping rates across the board while introducing new products. In February it increased the Premium Bonds prize fund rate from 3.15% to 3.30% and brought its Guaranteed Growth Bonds (4%) and Guaranteed Income Bonds (3.9%) back on sale with higher rates.

The same month, NS&I launched a fourth Issue of its Green Savings Bonds account at a fixed rate of 4.20% gross/AER over a three-year term.

The luckiest Premium Bond holder has won over £1m across nearly 300 prizes, a Freedom of Information request has shown.

Every month Premium Bond holders are entered into a draw where they can win prizes ranging from £25 to £1m.

This lucky bond holder has won a total of £1,019,850 across 288 prizes and purchased their first bond in May 2002, the Daily Mail revealed.

The winner has taken home the top £1m prize, as well as one £10,000 prize, one £1,000 prize, eight £100 prizes, 45 £50 prizes and 232 prizes worth £25.

Another bondholder holds the record for more wins, scoring 408 prizes. But they have only taken home £14,325 as their prizes were mostly made up of £25 wiNS.

Indeed, they’ve taken home 315 prizes worth £25, 18 prizes worth £100, 75 prizes worth £50 and two £500 prizes.

Are Premium Bonds worth it?

Premium Bonds are an extremely popular savings product – but they don’t necessarily offer the best rates.

To attract more savers NS&I has hiked its Premium Bond prize fund rate five times in one year, taking it to 3.3%.

That means there’s an extra £15m in prizes to be won each month, increasing the number of prizes worth £50 to £100,000.

NS&I also recently brought back its one-year fixed bonds and boosted the rates on its products to their highest levels in a decade.

What’s more, the government-backed bank could boost its rates further in the coming months after Jeremy Hunt set a new, higher fundraising target for NS&I in his Spring Budget.

But currently, there are better rates on offer. The best savings accounts offer returns of up to 7%.

Meanwhile, the best one-year fixed bonds offer interest rates of over 4% and easy access accounts are paying over 5%.

Providers have gotten more competitive as the Bank of England hikes rates. But savers looking to secure the best deals will have to act fast, as the best deals don’t stick around for long.

Two Premium Bonds holders from Somerset and Croydon have bagged this month’s National Savings & Investments draw, each winning £1 million.

The first Bond number drawn was 236TZ340702 and is held by a winner based in Somerset.

The winner holds £50,000 in Premium Bonds and purchased their winning bond in December 2014.

April’s second Premium Bonds millionaire is based in Croydon and holds Bond number 503VL397852. The winner has £25,000 in Premium Bonds and purchased their winning bond in June 2022.

Earlier this year, NS&I increased its premium bond fund rate to 3.3%, meaning more prizes; this month a total of 5,018,744 prizes will be issued after April’s prize draw, worth a combined £331,237,050.

Here are the details of April’s winners and how to check if you won.

April Premium Bonds prize winners

There were 120,449,834,442 bond numbers eligible for the draw. Since the first draw in June 1957, 616 million prizes have been won with a total value of £25.3 billion.

How to see if you’re a Premium Bond prize winner

Premium Bonds holders can check to see if they have won a prize in April’s prize draw by using the nsandi.com prize checker, the official prize checker app or your Alexa-enabled device from Tuesday 4 April 2023.

You will need your Premium Bonds holder’s number to use the website and your NS&I number or holder’s number to check via the prize checker app.

At the same time, you can check for any unclaimed prizes owed to them. The oldest unclaimed prize is from July 1968, worth £25.

Where to save your money this April

Premium Bonds are one of the nation's most popular savings products. They are the perfect way to start a savings habit, with the minimum investment starting at £25.

And with prize rates rising, they are proving to be a popular product.

For the March draw, the rate rose from 3.15% to 3.3%, creating an extra £15 million in prizes to be won each month.

Premium Bonds customers can add to their Premium Bonds holding quickly and securely, both for themselves or their child, via bank transfer or online.

But those looking for a more reliable return may want to look at some of the rates being offered on savings accounts by banks such as First Direct and Market Harborough Building Society..

The best one-year fixed savings and easy-access savings accounts also have competitive rates. But keep an eye out for changing base interest rates. Recent turbulence within the banking sector has raised questions over whether the Bank of England will hike rates again - a factor central to the savings rates offered by banks.

National Savings & Investments (NS&I) is hiking its Premium Bond prize fund rate from 3.15% to 3.3% in the March draw, meaning there will be an extra £15 million in prizes up for grabs each month.

It marks the fifth rate increase for Premium Bonds in the last year, and the third increase in a row, as NS&I tries to lure savers and compete with rising interest rates on savings accounts.

As well as the Premium Bond change, NS&I announced interest rate rises for its Direct Saver account and Income Bonds. It called the trio of rate hikes a “Valentine’s Day boost to savers”. The changes include:

• Premium Bonds - prize fund rate of 3.15% will rise to 3.3% in March
• Direct Saver - interest rate rises from 2.6% to 2.85%, effective as of 14 February 2023
• Income Bonds - interest rate rises from 2.6% to 2.85%, effective as of 14 February 2023

The prize fund rate is currently at a 14-year high; last time the Premium Bond rate was more generous was back in May 2008 at 3.4%.

What does the change mean for Premium Bond customers?

Millions of Premium Bond customers will be excited to learn that the prize rate is increasing again. It was only last month that NS&I bumped up the rate, from 3% to 3.15%, and now it’s going up again.

The odds of each £1 bond winning a prize will remain at 24,000 to 1. The increase in the prize fund rate reflects the fact that the number of prizes worth £50 to £100,000 will increase from the March draw. There will still be two £1 million jackpots each month, and the number of £25 prizes up for grabs will fall. The number of other prizes will all increase. For example, the number of £100,000 prizes will rise from 59 this month to 62 in March.

“The Premium Bond prize fund getting a boost upwards now feels like a daily occurrence, rather than the once-in-a-blue-moon event it used to be,” commented Laura Suter, head of personal finance at the investment platform AJ Bell. “While the odds of winning will remain at 1 in 24,000, there’s another £15 million bunged into the total prize pot, meaning if you do win you’ll be more likely to net a bigger prize.”

NS&I, a government-backed savings provider, says the changes mean it continues to balance the interests of savers, taxpayers and the broader financial sector.

Are Premium Bonds worth it?

However, despite the increases, it’s worth noting that a 3.3% prize fund rate is not necessarily the best on the market when compared to the top savings rates. For example, you can currently earn as much as 5% from an easy-access savings account, and as much as 7% from a regular savings account.

And with the Bank of England expected to increase interest rates soon (base rate is currently 4%), better rates from banks and building societies may well be on the horizon.

It’s also important to note that a Premium Bond prize fund rate is not the same as a savings rate. With the latter, the saver is guaranteed to earn that interest rate on their cash. But a prize fund rate is an average rate for someone with average luck. In reality, some Premium Bond customers will earn less (some may not even win a single prize, especially if they only hold a small amount in bonds), while others will win more.

How many prizes are in each draw?

This is the estimated number of prizes we can expect to see next month (compared to this month).

Source: NS&I

National Savings & Investments (NS&I) has bumped up the interest rate on its Green Savings Bond - up from 3% to 4.2%. The bond is available on a three year fixed term.

The increase follows the government-backed bank’s relaunch of its one-year fixed bonds, as it attempts to bring in more savers and compete with the wider savings markets.

Recently, NS&I also bumped up the interest rate on its Premium Bonds, resulting in more premium bond prizes.

Savers have benefitted from better rates on savings accounts over the last few months as the Bank of England’s interest rate rises prompt providers to up their rates.

The green bonds were launched to help finance the green projects.“Customers can save while helping to make the world greener, cleaner and more sustainable,” Ian Ackerley, NS&I chief executive, said.

“The projects include making transport greener, using renewable energy over fossil fuels, preventing pollution, using energy more efficiently, protecting natural resources and adapting to a changing climate.”

Is NS&I’s Green Savings Bond right for me?

To benefit from the 4.2% rate, you will have to be willing to lock your money away for three years.

Fixed-term savings accounts tend to offer better rates than easy-access savings accounts or regular savings accounts, but they won’t be suitable if you need to access your money quickly.

However, if you have more than £85,000 in short-term savings, then NS&I certainly offers better protection as the money is safe with the Treasury backing. Regular banks only offer protection for up to £85,000 of your cash via the Financial Services Compensation Scheme, should a bank go bust.

The best one-year fixed savings accounts offer rates of up to 4.18%, so they might be a better option if you don’t want to part with your money long-term, especially given the rising cost of living.

The rate is competitive among other three year fixed-rate products on the market. The best three-year fixed rate cash Isa offers a rate of 4.11%, while Secure Trust Bank offers a rate of 4.4% on its three-year fixed rate bond.

NS&I first issued its Green Savings Bonds October 2021. As of March 2022, it had achieved sales of around £288m.

How much can you save in NS&I Green Savings Bonds?

The minimum investment is £100, with a maximum investment of £100,000.

There is a 30-day cooling off period if you change your mind, but after that you won’t be able to access your money until maturity.

Interest is calculated daily and added yearly on the investment’s anniversary date, but paid at the end of term.

You can purchase the bond online at nsandi.

National Savings & Investments has bumped up the interest rate on Premium Bonds again at the same time when rate increases on some of its other products also kicked in. If you’re on the lookout for the best savings accounts for your cash, then could NS&I be worth another look?

The Premium Bonds prize fund rate will jump from 3% to 3.15% (effective from the February 2023 prize draw), representing another increase after the rate went up from 2.2% to 3% on 1 January 2023.

Other product rate increases include:

• Direct Saver - up 2.3% to 2.6%
• Income Bonds - up 2.3% to 2.6%
• Direct ISA - up from 1.75% tax-free to 2.15% tax-free
• Junior ISAs - up from 2.70% tax-free to 3.40% tax-free

More than 870,000 customers holding NS&I’s Direct Saver, Income Bonds and Direct ISA will benefit from the increased rates, plus 80,000 junior ISA account holders.

The new rate on income bonds at 2.6% is the highest NS&I is paying since 2008, and 2.15% on the direct ISA product is the highest seen in a decade. And the latest rate rise on the direct saver product at 2.6% is not the highest since it launched in March 2010.

Premium bonds rate rise - now at highest level in 14 years

The rate rise on premium bonds is the fourth increase NS&I has made in the last 12 months in a bid to lure savers into the government backed bank.

If you have premium bonds the rate actually means the number of prizes, worth between £50,000 and £100,000, will increase - so there’s a higher chance of you bagging a larger amount of prize money from February 2023.

NS&I chief executive, Ian Ackerley, said: “Today’s changes will provide a welcome boost for savers of all ages across the country, with more Premium Bonds prizes and some of the highest interest rates we’ve seen in over a decade.

“In a fast changing savings market, we’re committed to making sure our products remain competitive and our customers get a good return on their savings. Today’s changes ensure that we continue to balance the needs of savers, taxpayers and the broader financial services sector.”

However, despite the increases it is worth noting that the rates are not necessarily market leading and it will pay to shop around, as banks and building society rates on savings products have been creeping up in recent weeks; and with the Bank of England expected to increase interest rates again next month, better rates may well be on the horizon.

It's also worth noting that none of these rates are market-leading. For non-ISA savings you can make 2.9% elsewhere from the first £1, without any restrictions, and even for ISA savings you can make 2.75% on the same basis. And you could get 3.8% on cash junior ISAs from Coventry Building Society.

“This is effectively NS&I playing catch up after the easy access market has crept up with successive interest rate rises,” Sarah Coles, head of personal finance at Hargreaves Lansdown commented.

What are the chances of winning per bond?

According to NS&I, this is the estimated number of prizes we can expect to see next month.

Number and value of Premium Bonds prizes

Source: NS&I

Millions of savers will see their savings boosted after NS&I interest rates jumped to their highest levels in years. The savings provider has lifted the rate paid on its Direct Saver and Income Bonds from 1.80% to 2.4%, the highest in over a decade, although these are still below the rates savers could get from banks.

The higher rate will kick in today (13 December 2022), benefiting more than 570,000 customers.

Meanwhile, NS&I has also increased the interest rate it pays on its Investment Account (a postal-only savings account) from 0.4% to 0.6%.

NS&I said the changes will ensure it continues to “balance the interests of savers, taxpayers and the broader financial services sector”.

Still, with the interest rate on one regular saver account now sitting at 7%, NS&I interest rates are hardly the best on the market.

NS&I interest rates rise on all of the provider’s products

This is the second time in as many months that the savings provider has increased the rates on its savings account.

NS&I interest rates were last raised in October. At the end of the month, it lifted the rate paid on its Direct Saver and Income Bonds from 1.20% to 1.80%, the highest in over a decade.

The group also increased the rates on its Junior Isa and its Investment Account to 2.70% and 0.40% respectively.

It also announced that the rate on its fixed-term savings products would rise.

From 1 December NS&I interest rates on the one-year fixed Guaranteed Growth Bonds rose from 1.85% to 3.6%. One-year fixed Guaranteed Income Bonds saw rates rise from 1.8% to 3.5%.

As well as these interest rate increases, NS&I has boosted its Premium Bonds prize fund rate yet again. It’s the third hike this year for Premium Bond owners and means an additional £80m in prizes is up for grabs in the January prize draw. The prize fund rate is now 3%, up from 2.2% and more than double the rate of 1.4% six months ago.

NS&I interest rates have been rising in line with the rest of the market as the Bank of England has increased its lending rate. The central bank is trying to calm inflation by raising rates, which should reduce spending and increase saving, and projections suggest interest rates could rise to a high of nearly 5% next year.

What is NS&I and what does it offer?

NS&I (National Savings and Investments) is a government-owned bank backed by the Treasury, which means any money you have stored with them is 100% secure. There’s no limit on the amount you’d get back if the NS&I collapsed, which is particularly appealing to those with more money to put away as not all savings institutions will protect and return 100% of your cash should things go wrong.

The savings bank is well known for its Premium Bonds, which offer savers the chance to win between £25 and £1m tax-free every month. Investors get a unique bond number per pound they invest, meaning the higher your investment the better your odds of winning. You have to hold the bonds for a calendar month to be able to be entered into the prize draw and you don’t gain interest on your savings.

You can also purchase Green Savings Bonds, which have a 3% interest rate, fixed for three years. You cannot take your cash out until the bond reaches the end of its term and interest will be taxable once you do. You can invest as little as £100 and up to £100,000.

If you open a Direct Saver account you can take money out without notice or penalty, and you will pay tax on your gross interest. You can pay anywhere between £1 and £2m per person and manage the account online or by phone.

The maximum amount you can pay into NS&I’s Direct Isa is £20,000 a year, and you can start with as little as £1. The account is totally tax-free and you can take money out at any time without fees.

You can open a Junior Isa with £1 and save as much as £9,000 a year. You can’t take the money out, though – when the child turns 18, it is theirs to do with as they wish. The account is tax-free.

NS&I’s Income Bonds pay out interest every month and offer easy access to your money – you can take it out at any time with no fees. You will pay tax on your gross interest and need £500 to open one. The most you can invest is £1m.

With 25 million customers, NS&I is one of the largest savings organisations in the UK, however, this doesn’t mean it offers the best returns.

Right now you can earn as much as 5% on one-year fixed savings accounts, a far better deal than NS&I’s best offer. You can look at our guide to the best savings accounts to see how they compare.

By Nicole García Mérida with contributions from Rupert Hargreaves.

This article details 2022 winners - see our article on the December 2023 bond winners for the latest.

NS&I (National Savings & Investments) has announced the winners from the December prize draw, which includes two jackpot winners.

The NS&I Premium Bond jackpot winners come from Wandsworth and the Scottish Highlands – if you live there and hold Premium Bonds, you could be in for an early Christmas treat.

The first winning bond number is 414XW486235 and belongs to someone in the Scottish Highlands. The winner holds £45,000 in Premium Bonds and purchased the winning bond in September 2020.

The second winning bond number is 150FZ477948 and belongs to someone in Wandsworth. The winner holds £29,042 in Premium Bonds and purchased the winning bond in August 2009.

The two jackpot winners will have been visited by NS&I’s “Agent Million”, who gave the news about the win in person.

If you didn’t win the jackpot, then you could still be a winner of some sort with a total of 4.9 million prizes being released this month, ranging from as little as £25 to as much as £100,000. The total value of the December Premium Bond prizes was £219m. You can check if you are a winner from 2 December - we explain below how to check.

The number of prizes given out each month was raised in October, meaning that the odds of winning has improved to 24,000 to one. Earlier this year, NS&I also increased the interest rate on its savings products to entice more savers in.

December NS&I Premium Bond winners: the breakdown of the prizes

Here are the prizes picked by the NS&I’s Ernie – the machine that generates the winning numbers.

Around £80m in Premium Bond prizes are currently sitting unclaimed, so it is worth checking if you are a winner – not just for the December draw but also for any previous months or years. See our article on the November Premium Bond prize draw.

How to check if you are a Premium Bond winner

It’s easy to check if you are a NS&I Premium Bond winner. December winners can check on 2 December. Here are all the ways to check:

• Use the prize checker feature on the NS&I website
• Download NS&I’s prize checker app onto your smartphone
• Ask Alexa. You can even state your NS&I number to a device that has Amazon’s Alexa service enabled, and check if you’re a lucky winner.
• If you have registered online with NS&I then you will be sent an email – so check your inbox/spam folder. However, if you haven’t done so then you’ll instead be sent a letter.

Make sure NS&I has the correct contact details – not updating your details could result in you missing out on any notifications and unclaimed prizes.

Premium Bonds vs savings accounts

The return you get from Premium Bonds will come down to how lucky you are. The NS&I says there’s a one in 24,000 chance of one bond winning a prize a month. Essentially, the more you hold and the greater the value, the higher your chance of winning, but calculating the real probability of you winning a decent prize is complicated.

If you’re looking for a more reliable return on your money, you might want instead to use a traditional savings account, with some banks offering as much as 5% interest.

Two Premium Bond holders have become millionaires after landing the jackpot prize in November’s draw.

National Savings & Investments (NS&I), which runs the Premium Bond accounts, has revealed that one jackpot winner is from Essex and holds more than £25,000 in bonds. They purchased their winning bond, which has the number 245PK699534, in May 2015.

The second winner is based in Hertfordshire, and holds £15,000 in Premium Bonds. They bought their winning bond in June last year, which has the number 460WE462342.

Outside of the two jackpot winners, millions of Premium Bond holders will be receiving prizes ranging from £25 up to £100,000. What’s more, the number of prizes given out each month was raised in October, meaning that the odds of winning has improved to 24,000 to one. Last month, NS&I also increased the interest rate on its savings products to entice more savers in.

In total, just under five million prizes are being handed out by NS&I this month. Here, we explain how to check whether you’re in line for one, and whether Premium Bonds are really worth going for.

How to check if you’ve won a Premium Bonds prize

There are a few different methods for bondholders to check whether their number has been selected by ERNIE, the NS&I computer which selects the winners each month.

For example, you can head to the NS&I website, which has a prize checker feature, or download NS&I’s prize checker app onto your smartphone.

You can even state your NS&I number to a device that has Amazon’s Alexa service enabled, and check if your luck is in.

If you have registered online with NS&I then you will be sent an email, to notify you of your prize. However, if you haven’t done so then you’ll instead be sent a letter.

As a result, it’s a good idea to check that NS&I has the correct contact details for you, to ensure that you don’t miss out on a prize. Premium Bond prizes do go unclaimed, with some dating back decades, worth thousands of pounds.

Premium Bonds vs savings accounts

Back in October NS&I increased the prize rate on Premium Bonds from 1.4% to 2.2%. The prize rate effectively outlines what sort of return you are likely to get if you have average luck.

However, ultimately the return you get will come down to how lucky you are ‒ you could get a far better return, or you could hold the Premium Bonds forever without winning a prize.

Those looking for a more reliable return on their money might want instead to use a traditional savings account. If you want access to your money, then the top easy access account for those opening an account with £1,000 comes from HSBC, and pays 3%.

You can get a better return if you are willing to lock your money up for a longer period too. With Oxbury Bank savers can enjoy a rate of 4.65% for a one-year bond, while a two-year bond from the Bank of London and the Middle East has an anticipated profit rate of 5%.

It has an anticipated profit rate, rather than a normal interest rate, because it is a Sharia-compliant account. See our article on Sharia finance to get a better understanding of how these accounts work.

Two lucky Premium Bond holders from outer London and Suffolk have each won the £1m jackpot in the October prize draw.

The winner from outer London bought their winning bond no. 333XB827779 in June 2018 and holds the maximum £50,000 in Premium Bonds.

Meanwhile, the winner from Suffolk, who also has £50,000 in bonds, bought their winning bond no. 226HV323415 in July 2014.

There’s reason for other Premium Bond holders to be happy too: October’s prize draw saw an extra £79m added to the prize pot, with the prize fund rate increasing from 1.40% to 2.20% – meaning the odds of winning have improved from 24,500 to 1 to 24,000 to 1. Millions of Premium Bond holders around the UK will win a prize between £25 and £100,000.

Jill Waters, NS&I retail director, said: “Premium Bonds are not just about the £1 million jackpot prize – from this month, we’ve increased the prize fund rate and added a massive £79m to the prize pot, meaning people up and down the country will have more chances to win prizes ranging from £50 up to £100,000.”

In total there were 4,972,506 Premium Bond prizes worth £218,790,200 paid out in October’s draw. The majority of prizes – 4,954,344 – are worth £100 or less.

The winners are picked by NS&I’s “Electronic Random Number Indicator Equipment”, otherwise known as a computer called Ernie. The changes mean Ernie has picked 18 winners for the £100,000 prize, 36 winners for £50,000 prize, 71 winners for the £25,000 prize, 178 winners for the £10,000 prize, 357 winners for the £5,000 winners and 4,375 winners for £1,000 prize.

There are also 19 times as many £50 and £100 prizes being paid out from this month as well as 3,493,262 winners for the lowest £25 prize.

How to check if you’ve won a Premium Bond prize

There are several ways to find out if you’ve won a prize with Premium Bonds.

The easiest way to check is via the NS&I’s online prize checker or the prize checker app. The prize checker app lets you know how many days until the next draw too. Alternatively, you can even ask Amazon Alexa via your NS&I number.

If you’ve registered with NS&I online you will be informed via email if you’ve won a prize.

If you don’t have the app and haven’t registered online, you’ll receive a letter at your home address.

Premium bond wins do go unclaimed. In Suffolk, for example, there are 22,656 unclaimed prizes worth £725,300. The largest unclaimed prize is £1,000 and there are nine of them that were won between May 1986 and December 2020. The oldest unclaimed prize in Suffolk is from May 1967 and is worth £25.

If you’ve moved or changed contact details without letting NS&I know you too could have prizes languishing away quietly. It’s therefore important to make sure your address and email is up-to-date. You can do this by logging in to NS&I’s online service and checking your Premium Bonds account page, calling NS&I on 0800 092 1286 for a replacement Bond record that can be sent to you. And if you aren’t registered for the online and phone service, you can write to NS&I to ask for a replacement Bond record.

Premium Bonds vs savings accounts

This month the Premium Bond prize rate rose from 1.4% to 2.2% – the second boost to the prize fund this year and the biggest single increase in more than 40 years.

It means the odds of winning have improved from 24,500 to 1 to 24,000 to 1 and the 2.2% indicates the average payout for someone with average luck.

It may sound good but if you’re looking for a guaranteed return, Premium Bonds cannot offer you that: it’s possible to invest £1,000 in Premium Bonds and likely win nothing over a 12-month period.

Becky O’Connor, head of savings and investing at investment platform Interactive Investor, explains: “The ‘prize rate’ quoted is what people can typically expect in terms of a return. But with Premium Bonds, you don’t get interest, you get prizes. For many months, you might not get anything, then all of a sudden, a prize.

“If what you are after is a dependable interest rate on your savings, then you might be better off with an easy access savings account. These currently pay around 2.1%, a smidge less than the new prize rate with NS&I, but with more certainty.”

If you want a guaranteed return on £1,000, the best easy-access savings account on the market is currently with Yorkshire Building Society, earning 2.5%. If you are able to lock away the cash for a year you can get 4.11% with Atom Bank.

Cash is a crucial part of a portfolio. It provides you with reserves to draw on for large planned or unplanned expenses, and it allows you to take advantage of any major buying opportunities in the markets. How much cash you hold as part of your investments – as opposed to what’s in your current account to cover routine outgoings – will vary depending on the size of your portfolio, the level of your regular, reliable income and whether you are expecting any major outlays in the next couple of years, but many people keep between 5% and 10% of their assets in cash.

Unfortunately, cash also seems dull. The interest you can earn is usually modest compared to the potential returns on other assets. At present, with inflation likely to stay high and interest rates firmly on the floor, you are guaranteed to lose money in real terms: UK inflation was 2.4% in June, compared with a best rate of about 0.5% on an easy access account and 1% if you lock your money up for a year. So the temptation today to move your cash into higher-yielding investments is huge. The problem is that investments with a higher potential return carry more risk to your capital, and the point of cash is to have complete security and easy access.

Popular, but normally not attractive

However, there is one popular investment that probably looks better in today’s conditions than usual: the government-backed National Savings & Investments Premium Bonds. These don’t pay interest – instead they run a monthly prize draw, with an annual prize rate that varies over time to reflect what’s available on savings accounts. This rate is now 1%, down from 1.4% last year. The tax-free prizes range from £25 (where each £1 Premium Bond has a roughly one in 35,000 chance of winning) to £1m (about one in 55 billion). You can save up to £50,000 and there’s no notice period for withdrawals.

That 1% prize rate doesn’t represent the typical return, because it’s skewed by the handful of large prizes. Your expected return depends on how many bonds you hold. A saver who has £1,000 is unlikely to win anything in a year. One with £35,000 will average one £25 prize each month (an annual rate of 0.85%) – but around half of savers will do worse.

Lumpy returns like this make Premium Bonds fairly unattractive in normal conditions. But with interest rates so low relative to inflation, even the unlucky won’t end up much worse off than with a savings account. The capital is safe and there is a tiny probability of a bigger payoff. Very few investments that have that risk profile. So long as the prize rate stays competitive against savings, Premium Bonds can be a simple way to make cash a little more exciting without adding risk.

One thing you definitely want to avoid this Christmas is gift cards. When a company goes bust gift cards are rendered worthless and there is no way to get the money back. This year several high-street names have collapsed into administration, most recently Debenhams and the Arcadia group that includes Topshop, Dorothy Perkins and Wallis, among other brands. People with gift cards for the Arcadia group are rapidly discovering how little control they have over spending their vouchers. The group has put a limit on gift cards so you can only use them to pay for 50% of purchases. “If you’re thinking of giving gift vouchers this Christmas, let this be a warning to you,” says MoneySavingExpert’s Martin Lewis. With “so many retailers in trouble... give [people] money to spend... instead”.

Another option is Premium Bonds. You can now buy a bond for someone else for as little as £25. But the odds of winning have lengthened considerably from 24,500 to one to 34,500 to one. There have also been many administrative problems with National Savings & Investments (NS&I), the Treasury-backed bank that operates Premium Bonds, as we noted last week. After trying to buy Premium Bonds for his nephew, The Times’ James Coney was so bamboozled by administrative requests and an inability to get through on the phone that he gave up and said he was “not going to bother trying again”.

If you want to give cash, your safest choice may be to make a bank transfer to your recipient. For children, ask the parents if they have a junior individual savings account (Jisa) you could pay your Christmas present into. If they don’t yet have a Jisa, note that Coventry Building Society is currently offering the best rate on a cash Jisa: 2.95%. These accounts can’t be accessed until the child turns 18, however, so an investment Isa is likely to deliver better returns over the long term.

If you want to give something more exciting than cash, consider whisky, says Sam Brodbeck in The Daily Telegraph. Estate agent Knight Frank’s 2020 wealth report reveals which luxury investments have performed the best. “Over the past decade it is rare whisky that comes out on top – with prices up more than sixfold, some way ahead of the rest of the pack.” The report found that rare whisky prices have increased by 564% over the past ten years, compared with 141% for art or 77% for coloured diamonds. The most valuable whisky comes from the Macallan distillery: “its bottles keep breaking records”. One 28-year-old funded a deposit for a house after he “cashed in his collection of Macallan single malts for £44,000”. His father had spent £5,000 buying the bottles for birthdays.

Finally, don’t forget the oldest of all Christmas gifts: gold. Gold has appreciated by 34% over the past decade and by 400% in 20 years. The Royal Mint is selling gold bullion with prices starting at £75 for a one-gramme Christmas gold bar.

National Savings & Investments, or NS&I, is losing its reputation as the nation’s favourite savings institution. “I’ve long been a champion of NS&I... and I know many readers feel the same way,” says James Coney, Money editor of The Sunday Times. “Or at least, they did.”

So what’s gone wrong? It started in spring when Treasury-backed NS&I was given extra funding so it could offer better rates. “Customers flocked to it, but like many financial institutions it faced the challenge of keeping service levels up when lockdown came,” says Coney. “Phone waiting times rose from ten seconds to 12 minutes.”

After that there were changes to Premium Bonds that meant winners couldn’t be paid by cheque anymore. So millions of customers needed to sign up online, but long waiting times on the phone meant many struggled to get help registering for internet log-in details.

“The decision to stop sending Premium Bond prizes out by post was made to save paper,” says Fiona Parker in the Daily Mail. “However, the bank’s Direct Isa customers are now discovering they cannot move their money online – ironically forcing them to fill in a form and put it in the post in a process that can take weeks.”

The final insult came last month when NS&I slashed interest rates, in some cases from 1.15% down to just 0.01%, and lengthened the odds of winning on the Premium Bonds.

As a result, millions of customers are trying to take their money elsewhere. “But those trying to move their money are having to wait weeks as they struggle to navigate the... new website or to speak to anyone about it on the telephone,” says Parker.

“Enough is enough,” says Coney. “It is time for the Treasury select committee to haul in NS&I‘s boss Ian Ackerley to investigate this fiasco…this is one of Britain’s... most loved financial institutions being badly run, lumbering from one disaster” to the next.

There is rarely good news for savers these days, but one beacon of light in 2020 has been National Savings & Investments (NS&I). The Treasury-backed savings bank has offered market-beating interest rates for months. But no longer. NS&I is cutting its rates on several accounts as well as significantly lengthening the odds of winning the monthly prize draw with Premium Bonds. It claims it “had no choice but to act because savers had put away billions more during... lockdown, which left it in danger of breaching its government-mandated funding limit for the year”, says David Byers in The Times.

In July alone savers deposited £9bn, nine times the normal level. Because it is backed by the Treasury, NS&I is not allowed to get too competitive; the government sets a limit on how much money it can accept each year. That limit – known as its net financing target – is £35bn. It is believed to have brought in £23bn already this year.

So the axe has come out to make accounts less attractive. “The savageness of the cuts will be devastating,” says Anna Bowes, co-founder of Savings Champion. “The competition we have seen in the savings market could swiftly end, as providers could be swamped with new money.”

NS&I has slashed the rate on its Income Bonds from a market-leading 1.16% to just 0.01%. Its Direct Saver will drop from paying 1% to 0.15%. The Investment Account will pay 0.01%, down from 0.8%. Junior Isa (individual savings account) accounts will drop from 3.25% to just 1.5% and the Direct Isa interest rate falls from 0.9% to 0.1%. All these rate declines will occur on 23 November. To cap it all, Premium Bonds will become much less attractive. From the December draw the odds of a £1 Premium Bond number winning a prize will lengthen from 24,500-to-1 to 34,500-to-1. There will be a million fewer prizes handed out to holders.

So what should you do now? If you are going to move your money, act fast. Savers “may have only a few days left before smaller banks that generally offer the top rates trim them”, says Stefan Wagstyl in the Financial Times. Several of the best deals have already vanished. At the time of writing, the top easy-access accounts were Yorkshire Building Society’s Internet Saver Plus, which pays 0.95% on balances over £10,000, and Principality Building Society’s Web Saver, which pays 0.8% on all balances. However, if you are prepared to limit your access to your cash to only two withdrawals a year then Coventry Building Society’s Double Access Saver pays 1.10%, while Principality Building Society’s Online Limited Access pays 1.05% but allows three withdrawals.

Those who have unused individual savings account (Isa) allowances could look at Cynergy Bank’s Online Isa, which pays 1%. You can make as many withdrawals as you like, but it’s not a flexible Isa (ie, money paid in and withdrawn still counts against your Isa allowance). Coventry Building Society’s Triple Access Isa pays 0.96% and is flexible but only allows three withdrawals per year; Principality Building Society’s Web Isa pays 0.95%, is flexible and lets you withdraw as often as you like.

The best rate available is 1.6% with BLME’s Premier Deposit Account, but that is a five-year bond. You can get 1.36% for two years (and 1.26% for one year) on Gatehouse Bank’s Fixed Term Deposit.