| Requirements: | Minimum deposit of £1 |
| Interest rate: | 0.5% (from 11th December 2020) |
| Benefit: | Instant access |
| Website: |  |
Welcome to my Marcus Savings Review.
Please note that this is review of the Marcus Savings product only and not a bank review of Goldman Sachs. It is also a review of the UK version of the product.
Marcus (from Goldman Sachs) was a market-leading savings account in early 2020 (when opened mine), with an interest rate of 1.2%, however since that time it has dropped its interest rate 0.5% and is now only average.
About Marcus by Goldman Sachs
Goldman Sachs are an investment bank based in New York and have a heritage that can be traced back over 150 years.
They introduced the Marcus account to the UK in 2018, offering simple savings with great customer service (including UK call centres). They also offered a great interest rate, which caused many individuals with cash savings to move their money over to a Marcus account.
How My Marcus Savings Account Fits in with my own Financial Plan
I use my Marcus Savings Account to store the money that I owe in tax and National Insurance as well as a small amount of cash savings.
I try to keep my assets about 50% cash savings and 50% riskier investments. I use a very simple financial plan, which you can read about here.
When I opened it at the beginning of 2020, it was a market leader for interest rate for instant access savings offering 1.2%, however since the emergence of coronavirus the rate has steadily been going down so that it is now only 0.7%. There are quite a few instant access savings accounts with better interest rates on the market and so I plan on switching very soon.
Operating a Marcus Savings Account
Opening the account was easy and the couple of times that I have contacted customer services have been pleasant experiences. I had to call them up because I had inputted the incorrect mobile phone number and could no longer login to my account because I required an SMS code. They resolved this in a matter of minutes and the customer service representative was pleasant and communicated well.
Online services are pretty intuitive – basically, login and check balance. I do a bank transfer each month to put the earnings that I have allocated for tax and cash savings into the account. Withdrawal is just as easy using the online dashboard.
The Marcus savings account forms part of my low-risk cash saving plan along with my First Direct Regular Saver and my Club Lloyds Monthly Saver.
Verdict
A good instant access savings account really only needs two things. Easy access to your money when you need it and a market-leading interest rate.
When I opened my Marcus account, the interest rate was brilliant but now it is distinctly average.
The customer service and website are both good, so no complaints there – in fact, this is one of the reasons that I still use this account.
In the current climate, top instant access interest rates are hovering around the 5.5% mark, however, they are quite volatile and I’ve not yet found an account offering a decent fixed rate, so the thought is always there that they will lower their variable rate as soon as open an account.
I do check regularly for better deals and I am ready to move my cash away from Marcus when the opportunity arises.
| Good points | Not-so-good points |
| Great customer service | No longer a decent interest rate |
| Operating the account is as simple as it should be |
Although I currently hold a Marcus savings account, I unfortunately cannot recommend it because if I didn’t already have a savings account, Marcus would not be the one I would choose.
Although their customer service is great and there online services are simple to use, the primary factor when using a savings account product (for me, anyway) is the interest rate and Marcus are currently slightly below par.
If it wasn’t for the fact that everyone’s interest rates are falling at the moment, I would have switched ages ago.