I use my savings accounts to get a slightly better interest rate than my current accounts without the risk of my riskier investments. I try to keep a 50/50 balance between my almost zero-risk savings and higher risk/reward investments.
1. Marcus Savings Account
This is my day-to-day instant access savings account. When I opened it, it had a decent interest rate of 1.2% but this has gone down to 0.7% in recent months so I am looking to make a switch.
I keep the money that I owe HMRC in this account until my accountant has completed my tax return, which means I earn interest on the money before I have to pay it out. I also have a small amount of cash savings in here.
See my review of this account here.
2. Club Lloyds Monthly Saver
This is a regular savings account. I pay in £400 every month and get a decent interest rate of 2.5% at the end of twelve months. However I cannot access the money until the twelve month period has ended. Locking up my cash for a year gives me a better interest rate than instant access savings accounts.
See my review of this account here.
3. First Direct Regular Saver
Like the Club Lloyds Monthly Saver, this is a regular savings account. It offers a higher interest rate of 2.75%, however the maximum monthly deposit is lower at £300.
See my review of this account here.
4. RCI 5 Year Fixed Rate Savings
I opened this long term (5 year) savings account to get a decent fixed interest rate if markets and interest rates were to crash. I locked £2000 in at 1.9% in April 2020, which turned out to be pretty good because interest rates have dropped since then.