If you want to put some money away but don’t think you’ll need to access it in too much of a hurry, a notice savings account has always been a good option.
As the name implies, these accounts require you to give some notice before you withdraw your money or you’ll lose the interest you’ve built up.
In return, they historically offered better rates than instant-access savings accounts, although the rates aren't usually as good as you’ll find with fixed-rate bonds, which lock your money away for longer.
Sadly, in line with other savings products, interest rates on notice accounts have fallen sharply over the course of the past couple of years, particularly for 60-day and 90-day accounts. A considerable number of accounts have even been withdrawn for new customers.
That's partly because banks and building societies are generally lending less so don't need the same level of deposits as they did in the past. They were also able to borrow money at cheaper rates, thanks to programmes such as the Government's Funding For Lending scheme.
Let's have a look at the top accounts across the different notice periods and see how they compare to other types of savings accounts.
Top 30-day notice accounts
|
Account |
Interest rate AER |
Minimum deposit |
Access |
Notes |
|
Harpenden Building Society Notice Account |
1.51% |
£1000 |
Branch, post |
Existing members only |
|
Post Office Reward Saver (Issue 7) |
1.35% |
£500 |
Branch, phone, post |
Rate includes 0.60% bonus for first year |
|
Aldermore 30-Day Notice (Issue 5) |
1.25% |
£1000 |
Online, branch, phone |
|
|
Beverly BS 30-Day Notice Account |
1.25% |
£10,000 |
Post, branch |
|
|
Darlington BS Loyalty Bonus |
1.20% |
£1 |
Post, branch |
|
The best rate around from a 30-day notice account is 1.51% - but it’s only available to existing members of the Harpenden Building Society.
The next best rate open to all is 1.35% from the Post Office, but this falls short of the best easy access account which currently pays 1.50%.
Top 60-day notice accounts
|
Account |
Interest rate AER |
Minimum deposit |
Access |
Notes |
|
Kent Reliance BS 60-Day Notice (Issue 10) |
1.35% |
£1,000 |
Online, post, branch |
|
|
Raphaels Bank 60-Day Notice |
1.35% |
£2,000 |
Online |
|
|
Bath BS Lifestyle 60 |
1.25% |
£1 |
Branch, post |
|
|
Nottingham BS Branch Notice |
1.25% |
£500 |
Branch |
|
|
Loughborough BS 50-Day Notice 2 |
1.20% |
£50 |
Branch, post |
Only available to new members in LE, DE, and NG postcodes. |
At the moment you won’t get a better rate from giving up access to your cash for an extra 30 days, as the top 60-day notice account pays 1.35%.
In fact locking your money up for an extra 30 days may actually bag you a worse rate than with a 30-day notice account.
However, there a number of other accounts that only cater to savers in the local area which may be worth a look.
Top 90-day notice accounts
|
Account |
Interest rate AER |
Minimum deposit |
Access |
Notes |
|
Hampshire Trust Bank 90-Day Notice (Issue 5) |
1.60% |
£1,000 |
Post |
|
|
Julian Hodge Bank 90 Day Notice Deposit |
1.55% |
£10,000 |
Branch, post |
|
|
Shawbrook Bank 95 Day Notice Personal Savings Account (Issue 15) |
1.45% |
£1,000 |
Post, online |
|
|
Monmouth BS Income Generator (Issue 3) |
1.41% |
£5000 |
Post, branch, online |
Available to existing members or new customers who live within the following postcode areas: NP, CF, SA, LD, WR, GL, HR & BS. Existing Society customers may open this account. |
If you are willing to give three months’ notice to access your cash you could earn a much better rate of 1.60%. This beats the top rate available on an easy access account right now.
Top 120-Day notice accounts
|
Account |
Interest rate AER |
Minimum deposit |
Access |
|
Secure Trust Bank 120-Day Notice Account (Issue 12) |
1.91% |
£1,000 |
Online, post |
|
Shawbrook Bank 120-Day Notice Personal Savings Account (Issue 23) |
1.85% |
£1,000 |
Online, post |
|
Islamic Bank of Britain 120-Day Notice |
1.80% |
£250 |
Online, post, branch, phone |
If you’re willing to give up access to your cash for four months then you can get a top rate of 1.91% from Secure Trust Bank.
To put that into context that’s around the same or better than the top one-year fixed rate bonds at the moment.
A word or two on interest rates
You'll notice the Post Office Reward Saver account comes with bonus interest rates for the first year. If you decide to plump for this one, it's worth keeping an eye on that rate, as when it disappears the account will drop to a much lower, almost certainly uncompetitive rate. Some interest rates are also variable, which means they could be cut or increased at any point.
Is an ISA a better option?
If you don't have a huge pool of money to save and you're likely to need access to it at some point, you could put it in an easy access or short-term notice Cash ISA.
While these are better used for long-term savings, if you're not going to have any spare cash to top up your savings you'll probably earn a better interest rate. And of course you won't pay any tax on the interest. For the latest rates, take a look at The UK's best Cash ISAs. Just remember that once you've used some or all of your yearly allowance it's gone for good.
The Financial Services Compensation Scheme
Finally, just a reminder that all the above accounts are covered by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS). This guarantees your savings up to £85,000 per financial licence (if you want to see who owns who, read Who owns your bank or building society?) in the event it goes under.