Best savings rates for pots ranging from £1k to £50k

A quick roundup of the best rates for any pot size, including how you can effectively earn more than 5.3% on £10,000 savings – comfortably beating the bestbuy accounts out there.

How much you earn depends on how much you have

What’s the best possible rate you can earn on your savings?

You might think the answer would be straightforward, but the truth is it will vary greatly depending on how much money you want to set aside.

In fact, the top rate can range anywhere from 4.75% to 7.5% as a result of your pot size.

So let’s take a quick look at the top savings rates available on cash savings of all sizes, starting at £1,000 and going all the way up to £50,000.

How we’ve selected the rates

For each section, we’ll look at the absolute best rate available and, if that is only available to existing customers, the best open-to-all rate on the market as well.

Where the best rate is an access account, we will also provide the best fixed-rate account.

That’s because rates are expected to continue falling in the coming months as the Base Rate gradually declines and, as a result, many savers will be looking to lock into a fixed rate.

The best savings rate for <£1,000 pot: up to 7.5%

Choosing the best rate for this category is tricky as it could involve either savers who only have a tiny amount of money to set aside or people who have just started saving and are looking to regularly set money aside.

Let’s start by looking at those with only a small pot and no plans to grow it rapidly.

For this, the best rate currently available is the Chase Boosted Saver access account, which pays 4.75%% and can be opened from as little as £1.

The catch is that it's only available to new Chase current account customers who download the app. 

So you'll need to not be a customer yet and be willing to apply for a current account just to earn a little more interest on your small pot of cash.

If that sounds like too much hassle, the Cahoot Simple Saver is open to all, can also be opened from £1 and pays a rate of 4.4%.

If you’re looking to lock into a fixed-rate account, Atom Bank has a six-month bond paying 4.4% that can be opened with as little as £50.

If you only have a very small pot but are now in a position to regularly set money aside, you should instead look at a regular savings account.

The best by far is from Principality Building Society, paying a rate of 7.5% and allowing monthly contributions of up to £200.

It is also open to everyone, unlike many other top regular savers, which require a linked current account.

SUMMARY

Best open-to-all rate 7.5%

The best savings rate for a £3,000 pot: 4.75%

The Chase Boosted Saver account mentioned in the previous section pays 4.75% and is your best bet for pots of this size.

The downside is it's only available to new Chase customers who apply for its current account first.

If that sounds like too much hassle, the best open-to-all access account is the Cahoot Simple Saver, which pays a variable rate of 4.4%.

If you’re looking to lock your money away in return for a guaranteed rate that won't fall, the top one-year fixed-rate account is from Chetwood Bank, which has a 4.5% rate and can be opened from £1,000.

SUMMARY

Best rate with strings attached: 4.75%

Best open-to-all access rate: 4.4%

Best open-to-all fixed-rate: 4.5%

The best savings rate for a £5,000 pot: 4.75%

The best option that allows withdrawals is once again the Chase Bank Boosted Saver, which comes with a variable rate of 4.75%.

The top open-to-all access account is the Cahoot Simple Saver, which pays a variable rate of 4.4%.

If you’re looking to lock your money away and shield against possible rate cuts down the line, the top one-year fixed-rate account is from Chetwood Bank, which has a 4.5% rate and can be opened from £1,000.

SUMMARY

Best rate with strings attached: 4.75%

Best open-to-all variable rate: 4.4%

Best fixed rate: 4.5%

The best savings rate for a £10,000 pot: effectively 5.36%

To earn the best rate on your £10,000 pot, you’ll need to stack a bonus offer on top of your savings interest.

Savings platform Raisin is currently offering a £100 boost to anyone opening an account and depositing £10,000 into one of its fixed-term savings accounts (offer ends 30 September).

You can learn more about how to qualify here.

In effect, this will give a 1% boost to your returns on a £10,000 pot.

The best rate available on the platform at the time of writing is 4.36% from BPI Europe PLC, meaning you can effectively earn 5.36% on your savings.

Please note that to qualify for the £100 offer, you need to use the code HELLO100 when applying. Please check out the full details here before applying to ensure you don’t miss out.

Sadly, the cashback offer from Raisin is only available if you lock your money in a fixed-rate account, meaning those who need access to their funds will have to accept a lower return on their savings. 

The Chase Boosted Saver account mentioned throughout this article is the top variable rate access account pick, paying a rate of 4.75%.

The downside is it's only available to new Chase customers who apply for its current account first.

The top open-to-all access account is from Cahoot Simple Saver, which pays a variable rate of 4.4%.

SUMMARY

Best overall rate (fixed): 5.36% effective 

Best access rate with strings attached: 4.75%

Best open-to-all access rate: 4.4%

The best savings rate for a £20,000 pot: effectively 4.86%

Much like with the £10,000 pot example above, the best way to maximise your savings is to take advantage of a signing up bonus offer on top of your interest.

Raisin will pay £100 to anyone who opens an account and deposits their pot in a fixed-term account through savings platform before 30 September (learn how it works here).

This will give you an effective boost of 0.5% on your £20,000 pot over one year.

The best rate available on the platform is 4.36% from BPI Europe PLC, meaning you can effectively earn 4.86% on your pot when the bonus is added on.

Please note that to qualify for the £100 boost, you need to use the code HELLO100 when applying. Please check out the full details here before applying to ensure you don’t lose out.

Need access to your savings? The best option in this case is once again the Chase Boosted Saver, paying 4.75%. 

Up until this point in our guide, we've solely looked at the best outright rates you can get.

However, as your savings pot gets larger, it's important to factor in the impact of tax.  

Under the Personal Savings Allowance, you can earn up to £1,000 in interest tax-free each year if you're a Basic Rate Income Taxpayer.

This falls to £500 for those in the Higher Rate and nothing at all for those in the Additional Rate.

If you expect to lose a sizeable chunk of your interest to the taxman, then consider a tax-free Cash ISA for your funds instead.

At the time of writing, Trading 212 pays a rate of 4.38% on its ISA, and you can deposit up to £20,000 in any tax year under the current rules.

SUMMARY

Best overall rate (fixed): 4.86% effective

Best access rate with strings attached: 4.75%

Best tax-free rate: 4.38%

The best savings rate for a £50,000 pot: 4.75%

The best rate you can currently earn on a £50,000 pot is 4.75% via the Chase Boosted Saver account.

To repeat what we've mentioned throughout this article, this rate is variable, meaning it will likely fall if and when the Base Rate is next cut, and the account is only available to new Chase customers who first open a current account with the bank.

Looking to lock your money away and secure a guaranteed rate that won't fall? Raisin will be your best bet here.

That's because you can currently get a £100 top up when you sign up to a fixed-term savings account through savings platform Raisin (learn more about that offer here).

On a £50,000 pot, that adds an effective 0.2% boost to your returns over a year.

When you consider the top account available via Raisin currently pays 4.36%, from BPI Europe PLC, that would effectively give you a rate of 4.56%.

As mentioned earlier, it’s important to point out that, to qualify for the £100 offer from Raisin, you need to use the code HELLO100 when applying.

Please check out the full details here before applying.

An important factor when saving such large sums is the impact of tax on your returns. 

Under the Personal Savings Allowance, you can earn a maximum of £1,000 in interest tax-free each year if you're a Basic Rate Income Taxpayer.

This falls to £500 for those in the Higher Rate and nothing at all for those in the Additional Rate.

If you want to shield your funds from the taxman, make the most of your annual Cash ISA allowance.

Under current rules, you can shield up to £20,000 a year (you can boost that to £40,000 by making use of your partner's allowance) in a tax-free wrapper.

At the time of writing, Trading 212 pays a rate of 4.38% on its ISA, allowing you to shield at least some of your £50k pot from the taxman at a rate that isn't too far off the outright best on the market.

Best access rate: 4.75%

Best fixed rate: 4.56% effective

Best tax-free rate: 4.38%*

*ISA allowance is limited to £20k a year, so a £50k pot would need to be deposited over a number of tax years.