AJ Bell has added four market-leading fixed savings accounts to its Cash Savings Hub on the AJ Bell Youinvest platform, across a range of terms, from six months to three years. The Charter Bank rates pay 2.05% AER* for one year, 2.35% AER for two years and 2.5% for three years – all market leading. The 1.35% rate for a six-month fixed term account is joint market leading. All the accounts have a minimum deposit of £30,000.
Laura Suter, head of personal finance at AJ Bell, comments:
“Inflation is the big worry for any cash savers at the moment, with the latest data showing the cost of living increase has hit 7%. While no cash savings rates will match inflation, it’s important to make sure your cash is working as hard as possible and in the highest-rate account so that its spending power isn’t eroded so quickly. Too often savers leave their money in accounts earning little or no interest, which means that at the current rate it is losing 7% in spending power a year.
“Fixed rate accounts mean savers can access higher interest rates in return for locking up their money for longer. They’re a good option if you know you won’t need access to the money during that time. If you saved the minimum £30,000 in the Cash Savings Hub one-year account you’d make £615 in interest over that 12 months, which compares to the £3 in interest you’d generate on the same savings if they were sitting in an old savings account earning just 0.01%. With the two-year account you’d generate £1,427 in interest over the two years and with the three-year account you’d make £2,307 over that period.”
AJ Bell’s Cash savings hub makes it easy for people to manage their cash savings in one place. The key benefits to savers are:
● Ease of use – savers can browse a wide range of savings accounts in one place and open as many as they like from a range of UK authorised banks.
● Competitive interest rates – customers can choose between fixed term or notice accounts offering competitive savings rates over a variety of time periods, helping them improve returns from their cash savings.
● Free to customers – AJ Bell is paid by the banks, not customers.
● Peace of mind – savings via each bank are covered by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme up to £85,000.
An AJ Bell Cash savings hub can be set up online in only a few minutes and savings accounts applied for immediately, with no paperwork required. The hub contains a filtering tool and calculator so customers can evaluate the fixed-term and notice accounts available before investing.
Once opened, the savings accounts can be viewed alongside each other and alongside any investments held in other accounts with AJ Bell.
*Annual Equivalent Rate – helps to compare the interest or profit earnt in a year in different savings accounts.
