Savers urged to seek alternatives as returns idle at 0.1pc
Savers have been urged to seek alternatives to low bank rates, after it was revealed that easy access savers are earning much less than they realise.
A new analysis from Hargreaves Lansdown found that almost one in five Natwest customers thought that they were earning more than one per cent from their easy access cash savings. In fact, the average rate is just 0.1 per cent.
The average Barclays saver said that they were earning 0.4 per cent from their cash savings, whereas the actual rate is just 0.01 per cent. 22 per cent of Lloyds customers believed that they were earning more than one per cent, when the average easy access rate was just 0.1 per cent.
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Halifax offered the highest rate being for a branch-based easy access savings account, at 0.15 per cent. However, 18 per cent of Halifax savers believed that they were earning more than one per cent.
Men were more likely to over-estimate how much they were making, while savers over the age of 45 were more likely to have a more realistic view of their returns than younger savers.
Sarah Coles, senior personal finance analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, described high street banks as being like “spectacularly disappointing life partners”, and urged savers to seek alternatives for their cash savings.
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“If you’re hanging on with your high street bank in the hope that they’ll eventually be persuaded to do the decent thing and raise rates, then you could be in for a long wait,” she said.
“But you don’t need to be saddled with a disappointing savings partner for life. There are plenty of far more attractive options out there, with much more to offer if you’re prepared to check out the alternatives.”
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