How to net a top rate on your savings: As war breaks out among the banks, SYLVIA MORRIS reveals exactly how you can take advantage
By SYLVIA MORRIS, THIS IS MONEY AND DAILY MAIL SAVINGS EXPERT
Updated: 05:26 EDT, 22 July 2026
Savers have reason to cheer – rates are rising. That means if you’ve not shopped around for a better deal for a while, you need to readjust your expectations.
When you come to renew your one-year bonds or cash Isas taken out 12 months ago, you may be tempted to stick with your existing provider.
However, they might have offered a good deal a year ago, but today there are even better offers to snap up.
The top, one-year fixed-rate cash Isa stands at 4.65 per cent from Vida Savings, after several providers upped their rates last week.
That compares with a top rate of just 4.3 per cent last year. This would not earn a bank and building society a place to the top 20 payers now.
Others that pay more than 4.5 per cent are: Tandem (4.62 per cent); Hodge Bank and Close Brothers (4.61 per cent); Investec, Coventry BS, and Oaknorth (4.6 per cent); Charter Bank (4.58 per cent); Furness BS (4.57 per cent); and Aldermore (4.55 per cent).
Rate hikes: The top, one-year fixed-rate cash Isa stands at 4.65% from Vida Savings. That compares with a top rate of just 4.3% last year
There is a similar story with fixed-rate bonds.
The best you could find a year ago was 4.52 per cent from Cynergy Bank. Today, Marcus by Goldman Sachs will pay 4.9 per cent and many pay more than 4.52 per cent.
Even National Savings \& Investments pays 4.69 per cent, up from just 4.18 per cent if you signed up for its one-year bond this time last year.
It is offering competitive rates because it is looking to pull in a huge £15 billion from savers in its current financial year.
Last week, easy-access Isas went up to over 4.5 per cent. Hargreaves Lansdown raised its rate to 4.52 per cent on Friday.
This led the app-based account Moneybox to raise its rate to 4.65 per cent, including a bonus of 1.2 percentage points for the first 12 months.
Trading 212 topped it with 4.67 per cent, including a 1.07 percentage point bonus for your first year in the account.
I am reluctant to recommend accounts with bonuses to all, in case they fail to switch at the end of the deal.
But if you are an active saver, there are rewards to be reaped from these accounts, so I always want to tell you what is going on.
On easy-access accounts, Saga has upped its rate to 4.5 per cent. You can do better with 5 per cent from Cahoot Sunny Day Saver, but the most you can put into the account is £3,000 and the rate drops to 1 per cent after a year.
App-based Tembo lets you put up to £25,000 into its Home Saver and pays 4.55 per cent, but this includes a bonus of 1.55 per cent for the first year.