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Easy Access Accounts



Most easy access accounts allow savings from £1, ideal then for those starting to save. A handful of higher interest products have minimums of £1000 or even £5000.

As their name suggests, accounts allow people to withdraw money when they wish. The savings facility is useful for emergency cash, in case your boiler goes, or the gear box falls apart. But some top interest-paying accounts place limitations on access. They slash rates if you withdraw cash more than a few times a year. Interest can reduce to almost nothing in the most extreme cases.

Easy access products may have a cash card, which permits withdrawals via ATMs. Some accounts pay flat rates regardless of the sum deposited, others tier interest, so the more you save, the more you get.

Remote transacting

There is a huge difference in interest rates paid by the top and bottom interest accounts. Most of the best payers require you to transact remotely with the bank or building society - by phone, letter, internet, or a combination of two or all three. It seems you pay extra in reduced interest for most branch-based products. Distance dealing does have its drawbacks. If you use the mail, access to funds can be delayed by the postal system. Electronically transferring capital to your current account can take three days.

Providers frequently find their way to the top of the best buy tables, and thus buy in business, by offering short-term interest bonus rates. These drop after six months or a year, leaving savers with significantly less interest. Institutions rely on savers' inertia to stay put, after their products have dropped out of the tables, to make accounts more profitable.


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UK Investments - Financial, Property & Other Investments - 1998-2008

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