Growth Street boss says rising deposits show savers are losing out
GROWTH Street’s chief executive has called for banks to inform savers of higher-yielding investment opportunities, after new figures showed a rise in deposits held in instant-access accounts.
Data from trade body UK Finance showed that personal deposits in total grew by 0.9 per cent in the year to April 2019, while deposits held in instant access accounts were 2.4 per cent higher than last April.
“The growth in personal deposits is of course a good sign; after all it is evidence that the Great British public have extra money to set aside for a rainy day,” said Greg Carter, chief executive of peer-to-peer business lender Growth Street.
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“What I find worrying though is that savers might not be aware there are investment opportunities if they were willing to put their capital at risk.
“The growth in instant access bank accounts means that savers might be unaware that their hard-earned money is sitting stagnant in low-interest, instant access bank accounts which could lose value to inflation. Something we already saw in April – a 2019 high. I suspect this is due to the public not being made aware that there are alternatives to these instant access accounts via fixed term savings like ISAs.
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“I would like to see regulators mandate banks to inform savers in low-interest, instant access account that there is a market of investment opportunities to suit different investment risk appetites if they put their capital at risk.”
The UK Finance data also showed that UK mortgage approvals had hit their highest level since early 2017, suggesting a possible recovery in the housing sector despite ongoing Brexit uncertainty.
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