|
With
just days to go before a widely predicted base rate rise, the first bullets in
the latest rate war have been fired and much like
ICICI and Icesave before it, it’s a new player in the savings market
that is making headlines. However, this time it’s not a foreign invasion – it’s
a new ‘best of British’.
The
provider in question is
Whiteaway Laidlaw Bank Ltd.
The company was founded back in 1971 and was recently acquired by Manchester
Building Society. Since the takeover the company has made its goal to compete as
a highly competitive mutual provider – and its latest savings account offering
certainly fits that bill.
Whiteaway Laidlaw Bank has launched a
60 day notice
account for personal banking customers. This offers a market leading
5.95%Gross/AER and allows you to invest
any amount from £1,000 to £100,000. This puts the account an impressive 15bps
above the previous market leader.
However,
this is not an easy access account – as the name suggests this is a notice
account. A notice account works via an agreement from the consumer to give the
provider a specified notice period before a withdrawal is made – in this case 60
days. In return, you receive a higher interest rate, but on the downside if you
make a withdrawal without this notice period you will be subject to 60 days loss
of interest on the amount withdrawn.
So is
this an option you should consider? Personally, I think this is an enticing deal
if you are willing to use it as part of a portfolio – it’s a strong hybrid
between an easy access account and a one-year fixed bond.
For many
customers though, the easy access option will be preferred. Savings rates will
no doubt alter dramatically in the coming days so a safe option appears to be
the
ICICI HiSAVE Savings Account, which
currently offers
5.65%AER and has a gross
rate guaranteed to be above the Bank of England base rate by at least 0.25%
until the end of the year.
With so many rate rises
expected over the remainder of the year, it’s questionable if the providers will
continue to beat the base rate, so this is a welcome guarantee. However, with
ICICI and now
Whiteaway Laidlaw Bank leading the charge, the rate war is alive and
well – and that’s great news for customers.
LINKS:
Whiteaway
Laidlaw Bank Ltd 60 day notice account – 5.95%Gross/AER
ICICI HiSave
Savings Account – 5.65%AER
Compare
more than 4,000 UK savings accounts
Back to Top |
