For the best savings rates you can find now, forget the high street banks

If you're looking for any sort of return from a savings account, forget the high-street, says Ruth Jackson-Kirby. Here's where you'll get the best rates right now.

With interest rates close to zero, finding a decent return on your savings is nearly impossible.“A decade ago... the average instant-access savings account paid 0.79%,” says Laura Shannon in The Mail on Sunday. “Today, high-street banks are disgracefully paying just 0.01% on such accounts – equivalent to a tenth of the Bank of England’s base rate of 0.1%.”

However, there are better rates available. “Don’t deposit your money with high-street banks – there are better rate elsewhere. Although you might need to choose a brand name you’ve not heard of before, you can do so safely,” says Anna Bowes, co-founder of Savings Champion.

For example, the best one-year bonds pay 1% or more and are offered by Tandem, Zopa Bank, OakNorth Bank and United Trust Bank. You can earn 1% on a 35-day notice account from Pakistani bank UBL. The account can be opened in person or by post with as little as £1. Al Rayan Bank and BLME are Shariah-compliant banks offering the best long-term fixed rate bonds: 1.42% and 1.5% on three and five-year terms respectively.

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For the best instant-access savings look at app-based Atom Bank, which is paying 075%. Deposits in all of these accounts are protected by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme up to £85,000 per person.

Ruth Jackson-Kirby

Ruth Jackson-Kirby is a freelance personal finance journalist with 17 years’ experience, writing about everything from savings accounts and credit cards to pensions, property and pet insurance.

Ruth started her career at MoneyWeek after graduating with an MA from the University of St Andrews, and she continues to contribute regular articles to our personal finance section. After leaving MoneyWeek she went on to become deputy editor of Moneywise before becoming a freelance journalist.

Ruth writes regularly for national publications including The Sunday Times, The Times, The Mail on Sunday and Good Housekeeping, among many other titles both online and offline.