Premium Bond minimum lowered to £25

Previously, the minimum amount you could save was £100 (or £50 by standing order), but on Friday (1 Feb) this was reduced – for both one-off purchases and regular savings.

The maximum Premium Bond holding remains at £50,000.

The change was announced in last year's Budget, alongside the news that adults, other than parents and grandparents, will be able to purchase bonds for children under 16.

National Savings & Investments (NS&I), which offers Premium Bonds, says that this option will launch at a later date.

It is the first time in the 63 years since Premium Bonds launched that the minimum investment has been lowered.

For more on how Premium Bonds work – and whether they're worth it – see our Premium Bonds guide.

What are Premium Bonds?

Premium Bonds are essentially a savings account you can put money into, where instead of earning interest, tax-free prizes are awarded in a monthly prize draw – meaning there's no guarantee you'll get any return on your money.

Prizes range from £25 to £1 million. In the latest prize draw, also announced today, there were 3,223,731 prizes won, with a total value of £92,144,925.

It's worth bearing in mind that the nearest thing Premium Bonds have to an interest rate is an annual prize rate, which means 'on average' the annual return is 1.4% – but in reality, this is just a vague benchmark and there's no guarantee you'll win anything at all.

See our Premium Bonds guide for full info and drill down into your chances of winning with our Premium Bonds Calculator

What does NS&I say?

NS&I chief executive Ian Ackerley said: "Lowering the minimum investment on Premium Bonds is part of how we can support a stronger savings culture across the country and help those who want to be able to save little and often, and for those who want to give the gift of savings to their loved ones."