My older peers are always quick to tell me that "age doesn't matter". Possibly so, but when it comes to banking it seems, at least on the surface, that age is actually very important.
The array of over-50s savings and now current accounts available is a clear indication that providers see this age group as a lucrative market - and they're willing to do what it takes to win their custom.
In the past this usually meant offering competitive rates alongside features such as branch access. The feeling was that the over-50s age group placed great value on being able to pop down to the high street to sort out their finances.
However, older customers are now seen as more sophisticated, with a wave of silver surfers seeking out online deals to secure the best rates. Providers are adjusting their products to reflect this.
The Alliance & Leicester Premier 50 is the latest example - a first current account of its kind, aimed exclusively at the over-50s age group.
Appealingly, it offers a whopping 7% interest fixed for a year on balances up to £2,500 and 0% on overdrafts for 12 months. Beyond this, it also offers genuine incentives for over-50s, with travel and health benefits including multi-trip worldwide travel insurance, a health information service and out-patient private medical consultations.
The catch is that Premier 50 does come with a £10 monthly fee - however, its benefits are estimated to be worth around £1,500 by Alliance & Leicester, so this could prove to be a money-saving offer for a large number of customers, despite the monthly charge.
Certainly this deal has a lot of advantages and many of its terms compare favourably with the rest of the market - although Abbey is still the market leader on rate, offering 8% on balances up to £2,500. Check out the current account comparison tool to compare more than 300 UK current accounts.
The arrival of the Premier 50 in the current account market follows hot on the heels of an increasingly competitive over-50s savings market.
In the easy access category, the table is topped by the Coventry Building Society 50 Plus eSave account which offers a rate of 6.4% AER and the Saga Online Savings Account with a rate of 6.35% AER. At moneysupermarket.com we have an over-50s savings account comparison tool which allows you to compare all of the age-related offers on the market.
However, do these deals really offer better value than conventional easy access savings products aimed at savers of any age?
The current market leader in that field is the ICICI HiSAVE Savings Account, which offers a rate of 6.41% AER. The key to this deal however, is not only its market leading rate but the fact that it offers a guarantee to be 0.3% above the base rate until 31 December 2011. This is the longest and highest base rate guarantee of its kind in the savings market.
If easy access isn't important to you and you're willing to provide a notice period before accessing your savings account, then the current market-leading product comes from the same bank, ICICI, whose HiSAVE Term Deposit account offers a rate of 6.85% AER for one-year savings and 6.65 AER over six months.
Alternatively, for shorter notice period accounts, the Whiteaway Laidlaw Bank Limited 90day Notice Account offers a rate of 6.51% AER on balances from £1,000 to £100,000.
Clearly regular savings products sometimes have the edge on rate, a strong motivation for older savers to shop around and not be lured in just because a product is marketed at their age group.
However, over-50s savings and current accounts certainly have their place in the market if they can offer legitimate incentives and a genuine alternative, as the Alliance & Leicester Premier 50 appears to do. So shop around and find the right deal for you.
DISCLAIMER: Please note that any rates or deals mentioned in this article applied at the time of writing and may no longer be available/applicable today.
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