Best Online Savings Accounts
Birmingham Midshires - Our Favourite - Flexible / High Interest
The Midshires Internet Easy Access Savings Account can pay a high rate of 4.95% gross/AER and you only have to put in £1 to start. The quoted interest rate includes a 0.65% bonus for the first year and you can access your money at any time. So it looks like a pretty good online savings account.
Barclays Regular Saver Account - Very High Interest / Strict Requirements
Now with the Barclays Regular Savings Account you can get a massive 10% Gross /EAR. There is a catch in that you have to pay at least £1000 into a Barclays current Account each month which should be your salary or pension and you're not allowed any withdrawls or additional deposits. So if these stipulations are ok with you then find out more.
ING Direct
ING Direct typically have savings rates at around 4.5% Gross /EAR or their internet savings account and from what we can see, try and make things simple when it comes to opening up an account and managing it. This is why we think that when it comes to online savings accounts, it's one of the best savings accounts there are.
We've got one of these accounts and can resolutely say that this is one of the best savings accounts we've ever had. You can manage your account online, move money around, set sms alerts etc etc. We've find it fantastic. The savings account interest rates are also typically around the 4.5% Gross /EAR mark.
We've also got one of Capital One's credit cards and believe Capital One try very hard to have a good customer relationship. They've often been up there for credit cards, but the Capital One Savings Account is pretty good with their interest rates too - typically around 4.5% Gross /EAR too.
This account can only be opened online but the benefit is that you can earn 4.75% gross/AER p.a. There's a stipulation that you can't save more than £2,000,000 - that's correct! If you've got less than a couple of million to spare you can pay in money at your local Sainsbury's store. This has the makings of a good online savings bank account.
If you've got a quid on you you can open the account, or a tenner if you're transfering money from another account via a card. With an online savings account by definition you can check your balance online. There are two types of account, one's a variable one with a rate of around 4.5% AER/gross p.a.; whereas the fixed one is at 5% AER/gross p.a. for 5 years and you have to open it with £500 or more.
This is at the lower level of online savings account in terms of the interest rate offered - which is about 4% AER (variable). You can have a balance from £1 to £2million. And have "no notice", direct access to your funds. And ten free withdrawls a month.
* Best only in terms of basic interest rates - whether it is best for you will depend on your circumstances.
