The UK’s leading building society, Nationwide, has introduced an 8% regular savings offer – the highest available rate in ten years.
Starting Thursday, the Flex Regular Savings account from Nationwide will provide a 12-month interest rate of 8%.
With First Direct’s regular saver offering 7% annually, these are the only two accounts currently outpacing inflation.
Last month, inflation surprisingly dropped to 6.7%, as reported by the Office for National Statistics on Wednesday.
This offer, however, is restricted to current Nationwide account holders, and there’s a limit to the deposit amount, thus capping potential interest earnings. Deposits exceeding the limit will see the savings rate for the extra amount drop to 2.15%. After a year, the account will transition to an instant-access type.
This development follows a recent declaration by the financial watchdog to publicly call out lenders not reflecting the Bank of England’s rate hikes.
Anticipations are high for the Bank to raise its rates to 5.5% this Thursday. Citibank analysts predict this to be the concluding hike in the current tightening phase.
The recent surge has elevated the average savings deals to peaks not seen since the financial meltdown.
On September 4, Santander introduced an easy-access account offering a 5.2% rate for savings up to £250,000 — marking the best such deal in 14 years. However, this offer was withdrawn just a week later.
Tom Riley from Nationwide commented, “Our goal is to provide compelling reasons for individuals to choose and remain with Nationwide. With our Flex Regular Saver, we are offering a top-tier rate as a reward for our current account holders.”
He added, “This underscores the unique advantages of being affiliated with a contemporary, member-driven entity.”
Starting today, those who transfer their current accounts to Nationwide will receive a bonus of £200, the mutual society disclosed.
To be eligible for this bonus, individuals need to make a comprehensive switch using Nationwide’s “Current Account Switch Service.”
Nationwide also pointed out that by taking advantage of both incentives, customers switching to its new account stand to gain as much as £377 in the initial year.
These switch promotions are valid for enrollments initiated from September 21 onward. To be eligible for these benefits, account holders are required to deposit £200 at the beginning of every month into their accounts.
