Interest rates are coming down on many savings accounts following the Bank of England cut on Thursday. But although the base rate fell by just a quarter of a percentage point, the rates on some savings accounts have come down by far more. Newcomer Kaupthing Edge, however, has thrown down the gauntlet by declaring that it will not cut the 6.5% rate on its table-topping easy-access account. ICICI, which pays 6.41% to HiSave customers, Bradford & Bingley (6.40%) and Icesave (6.40%) have yet to reveal whether they have the stomach for a fight. Watch this space!
Posts Tagged ‘instant-access’
Savers should beware as rates fall
Monday, February 11th, 2008Newcomer Kaupthing offers 6.5% to online savers
Tuesday, February 5th, 2008Icelandic-owned Kaupthing Edge, an online savings provider, has become the latest foreign bank to launch an account aimed at British savers. The instant-access savings account which pays 6.5% gross rivals that of ICICI Bank’s HiSave account at 6.41% (which has stayed at the top for a long while). Savers must first open the instant-access account with a minimum of £1,000 before they can take advantage of Kaupthing’s fixed rates while ICICI HiSave only requires £1. It also offers a six-month fixed-rate bond at 6.8% gross and a 12-month fixed-rate bond at 6.86% gross. Kaupthing is regulated by the Financial Services Authority and as such savers’ cash up to £35,000 is protected under the Financial Services Compensation Scheme if the bank were to run into difficulties. Kaupthing also guarantees that the rate on its instant-access account, which is variable, will not be less than 0.3 of a percentage point above the base rate until February 2012.
