Easy Access Savings Accounts
Compare no notice, easy access savings accounts
As their name implies instant access accounts should offer you easy access to your deposit. You should be able to make withdrawals from an easy access account when and where you like, without the need to give notice. In exchange such a no-notice account may offer you a lower interest rate than you would expect from a Notice, fixed rate or Bond Acccount
You may be offered additional benefits, such as a credit card or chequebook, to help you make withdrawals from your instant access savings account.
However in practice operating an instant access account may not be so simple.
You may be required to:
Visit a branch in person
Make a minimum withdrawal - perhaps more than £250
Limit your withdrawal - a maximum of, say, £1000 may be set
Wait for a cheque to be mailed to you
Take funds back into your account by BACS
Wait for your money. Although CHAPS payment, also sometimes called same day telegraphic transfers, can be cost effective for larger amounts they may not be offered to you, meaning that you lose 3 days interest on the amount withdrawn by cheque or BACS
Lose interest on the sum withdrawn, or even the entire balance remaining balance for the current month, or even longer - some accounts will lower the rate of interest on your remaining balance for the whole year when a specified number of withdrawals is exceeded. The banks themselves will sometimes recommend that you withdraw your whole remaining balance as the last permitted withdrawal rather than suffer such a loss of savings interest.
Lose a bonus that would otherwise have been due had no withdrawals been made from your instant access account
If you expect not to make withdrawals from your easy access savings account, but would like the opportunity to do so in an emergency, you may be able to find a notice savings account, paying a higher rate, that will allow you to make a few withdrawals without losing interest, or to make unlimited withdrawals provided a, normally substantial, minimum balance is maintained.
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