Savers looking for a top easy-access account need to watch out. The best deals may look similar but new tricks used by providers mean that beneath the surface they couldn’t be more different.
Providers hope you will be pulled in by an enticing rate – often northwards of 5 per cent – without looking at what hoops you must jump through to earn it.
Some restrict the number of times you can take money out each year, others ask for a huge minimum balance of £25,000 or boost the rate with very short-term bonuses.
No fewer than four out of the five top-paying, easy-access, tax-free cash Isas have at least one of these restrictions. There’s nothing wrong with the accounts.
They will suit those who are willing – and organised enough – to read the terms and conditions and move their money when their rate is cut.
But thankfully, there are still simple savings accounts out there for those who want them. These are four I love:
Small print: The best savings deals may look similar but new tricks used by providers mean that beneath the surface they couldn’t be more different
Ford Money Flexible Saver (4.35 per cent on £1 plus); RCI Bank with its Freedom Account (4.25 per cent on £100 plus); Marcus (4.3 per cent on £1 plus); and – if it is a tax-free cash Isa you are after – Ford Money Flexible Isa (4.35 per cent).
The tax-free option means you can take money out of your account and put it back in the same tax year without affecting your £20,000-a-year cash Isa allowance.
You won’t earn the very top rate with these accounts, but they are among the better payers – and should stay that way.
All four accounts have paid competitive rates since they appeared on the scene between six and ten years ago.
Check the best cash Isa rates in our savings tables
They pay the same rate to new and existing savers, so you don’t have to worry if you’ve ended up in a dead-end account. While they are only available online, they offer phone support (from humans, not just recorded messages).
I can see why savings providers are increasingly offering easy-access accounts with restrictions.
Savers love easy-access accounts – they soak up the bulk of our savings. Marketing departments know this, so find tricks to stay at the top of the best-buy tables while keeping their profit margins intact.
The top rate on cash Isas comes from app-based Chip with an impressive headline of 5.25 per cent.
But it is boosted by a 0.93 percentage point bonus which only lasts for three months. After that you earn its standard rate of 4.32 per cent. That’s the shortest bonus offer I have seen – most last for 12 months.
Next comes Plum at 4.76 per cent. But the underlying rate is just 3.54 per cent, boosted by a 1.22-point bonus for a year. And if you make more than three withdrawals a year, the rate falls to 2.5 per cent.
On ordinary easy-access accounts, online newcomer Vida Savings pays a chart-topping 4.63 per cent on its Defined Access Account. But you’re limited to making four withdrawals a year – any more and your rate plummets to 2.5 per cent.
Monument Bank pays 4.55 per cent, but you need £25,000 to open an account. If the balance falls below that level, the bank could just close your account.
Close Brothers asks for £10,000 where you can earn 4.45 per cent, but if your balance goes below, rates fall to 1 per cent.
Read More: Four top savings accounts I love – because the rate WON’T plummet, says SYLVIA MORRIS