Regular savings accounts
Earn up to 7.5% on your savings
If you usually save little and often, regular savings accounts can offer top rates of up to 7.5% for feeding them every month – we've all the top picks in this guide, plus tricks to maximise interest.
This guide was originally written by Martin Lewis and is now updated by the MSE Money Team.
Top-pick regular savers
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Top existing-customer accounts, including
First Direct – 7% fixed
Co-op Bank – 7% variable -
Top open-to-all accounts
Principality BS – 7.5% fixed for six months
Other MSE savings guides...
- Top savings accounts: The top-paying normal savings
- Cash ISAs: The likely winner if you pay tax on savings interest
- Children's savings: Earn up to 5.8% on kids' savings
- Current accounts: Earn up to 5.12% on smaller sums
What are regular savings accounts?
The clue's in the name. Most regular savings accounts require you to put money away each month and the interest is paid yearly (unless otherwise stated). They offer higher interest rates than traditional fixed or easy-access savings accounts, but tend to impose rigid terms and conditions, such as limiting the number of withdrawals you can make, forcing you to make a deposit every month and capping how much you can save. And the rate usually only lasts for a year.
You'll get what 'looks like' half the advertised interest (they're still winners though)
With regular savings, the interest you'll earn is about half the interest rate of the account. But don't worry, it's not a con – it's because the money is saved monthly rather than as a lump sum.
This has caused confusion and disappointment in the past, with some complaining that they've received less interest than they thought they would. Yet that's because they expected the wrong amount, not because they were underpaid.
Mr Matt Mattics has saved a total of £3,000 in a regular savings account paying 10% interest over a year.
What does he expect to earn? A simple sum works out that putting £3,000 in at 10% interest should earn £300 interest.
Why is this wrong? Matt only had £3,000 in there for the last month; it took a year to build up to that amount. You only earn interest on money in the account. So after the first month he was earning the 10% on just £250, halfway through the year he was earning it on £1,500, and so on.
How should Matt work it out? Over the year, his average balance was roughly half the £3,000, in other words £1,500... so Matt should expect to earn about 10% of £1,500 over the year, which is £150.
Does this mean regular savings accounts aren't worth it?
No, even though you only save in increments, the higher rates mean you are still getting unbeatable interest on the money in the account.
If that’s new money from your regular income, you can’t beat it. If that’s money you’re moving from elsewhere (for example, from a lower paying easy-access account), then remember that while you’re waiting each month to move it across to the higher rate, it’s still (hopefully) earning interest there too, you can’t see it in isolation.
Should I get a regular savings account?
To help you make the most of a regular savings account, it's worth getting your head around the following need-to-knows...
This is crucial. Regular savers are for putting away specific amounts each month, and a few accounts are strict about this – fail to make the minimum deposit on time and you risk losing the interest or the provider closing your account.
While some regular savers let you skip the odd payment, try to avoid this if possible – you may not be allowed to make it up later, and you'd be sacrificing the interest.
If you've got a regular saver and can't make your normal payment, it's worth contacting your provider to discuss your options and see if it can help.
Most regular savers only last for a shorter fixed term – normally one or two years. After that, whatever you've saved is usually swept into a bog-standard account paying much less. So it's worth remembering to check for better rates after your regular saver ends.
Beware! Some regular savers have variable interest rates – here, the rate can change at the provider's whim, so keep an eye on it and be ready to switch away if it does.
Regular savers are for saving smaller amounts monthly. But if your savings goals are a little grander and you've more to save, there's nothing stopping you from using more than one regular saver. For example, combine our three open-to-all top picks below and you could save £800 a month – all earning 5.5% or more in interest.Just be aware that you can usually only have one regular saver with each provider at any one time.
While regular savings accounts can pay higher rates of interest, the problem with them is that it takes time to build up the amount of money you have in there. Yet if you have a lump sum of cash, and you want to maximise its earnings, you can still take advantage.
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Put the lump sum in the top-paying easy-access account.
You'll then start earning interest on the full sum straightaway (see Top savings accounts).
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Then, pay in to the regular saver from the easy-access account each month.
The key is to put as much as you can (up to the monthly limit) into the regular savings account to max the interest.
This technique is called 'drip-feeding', as you're slowly moving your cash across, month by month. This means every penny you want to save is earning the most it can at any moment. Here's how it should work in practice...
Let's say you have £3,000 in savings. If you start by putting this in the top easy-access account with unlimited withdrawals and moving £250 across to a top regular saver in the first month, you'll have £2,750 earning the easy-access rate (for example, 4.1%), and £250 earning the higher regular saver rate (for example, 6%).
This way, you can keep getting interest on the lump sum while getting a higher rate on the money you pay in to the regular saver. After 12 monthly payments, the full amount will be in the regular saver. You can then move the whole lot to the top payer at the time and start the process again with a new regular saver (provided they're still around).
To get the maximum gain, put as much in as possible in the early months, but always ensure you've enough left to keep up the minimum payments for the account's lifespan. Then you've got as much interest as possible, while meeting the account's terms and conditions.
Want to see how much you'll earn doing this dripfeeding technique? Find out with our Regular Savings Calculator. Simply plug in the rates on both accounts and it'll tell you how much interest is paid in total.
The protection you get here is the same as normal savings. Provided your money is in a UK-regulated bank or building society account, it's protected by the UK's deposit guarantee scheme – the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS). The golden rule is...
The first £85,000 per person, per financial institution is protected.
While that sounds simple, the details are more complex – there are specific rules involving how different banks are registered and what counts as a financial institution. For full info, read our full Are my savings safe? guide.
How to maximise safety
With most regular savers, limits on the amount you can deposit mean the balance gets nowhere near £85,000, so there's no problem.But if you have savings in other accounts with the same bank, don't put more than £85,000 in any one institution – spread it around. See how to get 100% safety.
Children's regular savers
If you've a child aged 17 or under, you can get 5.8% AER fixed for a year with the Saffron BS Children's Regular Saver. However, you (or they) can only save between £5 and £100 a month. You must open the account by post or in branch. For an account you can open online, there's the Halifax Kids' Monthly Saver for children aged 15 or under (min £10, max £100/mth). For more on these and other kids' accounts, see our Kids' savings guide.
Help to Save for those on low incomes
The Government's Help to Save scheme is designed to encourage people claiming universal credit or working tax credit to save. If you qualify, you can deposit between £1 and £50 a month, and get a 50% bonus on the amount saved (up to a maximum bonus of £1,200 over four years).Our Help to Save guide has full info on the scheme, including when you should and shouldn't go for it.
You need to deposit a certain amount every month
The headline rate usually only lasts a year – so ditch and switch after
You can open more than one account across different banks
Maximise interest by drip-feeding cash from easy-access savings
Up to £85,000 per person is protected in UK-regulated financial institutions
Got kids or on a low income? You can boost returns via special accounts
Top existing-customer accounts
The top-paying regular savers come with a big 'but' attached – you must also hold another product from the same provider, usually its current account. You can then fund the regular saver by standing order from that linked account. We've listed key info on the top deals below.
For most providers, if you don't currently bank with them you can just open a current account first – you'll then be able to open the regular saver once it's open. Do check Best bank accounts for more details on the accounts themselves first – some will even often pay you up to £200 in free cash to switch to them.
So, for most of these, it's go for the one you can get. If you are opening a new account to get a regular saver, First Direct pays a fixed 7% on up to a decent £300/month, though you must pay in every month and you can’t make any withdrawals or close the account during the 12 months (you’ll get a much lower rate if you do).
Provider | Rate (AER) | Max monthly deposit | Can you skip months? | Penalty-free withdrawals allowed? | How to open |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Here are the accounts with the top rates... | |||||
7% fixed for one year | £300, maxed out that's £135/yr interest | No, min £25/month | No. If you close early you only get 1.75% interest for the time the money was in the account | Online/ app | |
7% variable for one year | £250, maxed out that's £113/yr interest | Yes | Yes | Online/ branch | |
6.5% variable for one year | £200, maxed out that's £84/yr interest | Yes | Yes, three a year | Online/ app | |
Lloyds Bank | 6.25% fixed for one year | £400, maxed out that's £161/yr interest | Yes | Yes | Online/ app/ branch/ phone |
Skipton BS | 6.25% variable for one year (Tracks 2% above Bank of England Base Rate for one year) | £250, maxed out that's £101/yr interest | Yes | No, but early closure permitted | Online/ app/ branch/ phone/ post |
Top alternatives. Though rates are lower... | |||||
5.5% fixed for one year | £250, maxed out that's £89/yr interest | Yes | Yes | Online/ app/ branch/ phone | |
5.5% fixed for one year | £250, maxed out that's £89/yr interest | No | No, but early closure permitted | Online/ app/ branch/ phone | |
5.5% variable for one year | £150, maxed out that's £53/yr interest | Yes | Yes | Online/ app | |
5.25% fixed for one year | £250, maxed out that's £85/yr interest | Yes | Yes | Online/ app/ branch/ phone | |
Yorkshire Building Society | 5.05% variable for one year | £250, maxed out that's £81/yr interest | Yes | Yes, one a year. Must keep at least £1 at all times | Branch/ post |
5% fixed for one year | £250, maxed out that's £81/yr interest | Yes, by cancelling standing order | Yes, but you can't replace withdrawn funds | Online/ branch | |
5% fixed for one year | £250, maxed out that's £81/yr interest | No, min £25/month | No. If you close early you only get 1.75% interest for the time the money was in the account | Online/ branch (sole accounts) or (joint accounts) | |
5% fixed for a year | £200, maxed out that's £65/yr interest | Yes | Yes, but you can't replace withdrawn funds | Online/ branch | |
Got less to save? A top rate but low maximum deposit. | |||||
Provider | Rate (AER) | Max monthly deposit | Can you skip months? | Penalty-free withdrawals allowed? | How to open |
8% fixed for a year | £50, maxed out that's £26/yr interest | Yes | Yes, one a month. Must keep at least £1 at all times and you can't replace withdrawn funds | Online/ branch | |
Not sure how much interest you'll get? Find out with our Regular Savings Calculator. Simply plug in the rates above, and how much you'll save, and it'll tell you how much you'll earn. The calculator also has a mode to show how much more you could earn dripfeeding cash into the regular saver from another account.
Top open-to-all accounts
The top open-to-all accounts match or even beat some of the existing-customer accounts above. So you could always open one (or more) of the accounts above and couple it with one here, to maximise the amount you can save per month.
Principality Building Society pays the top rate at 7.5% and while the rate's fixed, it only lasts for six months. You can put in up to £200/month and you don't have to pay in every month, though you can't make any withdrawals, so only put in what you're sure you won't need to access (though if you really need to you can close the account early).
Alternatively, Progressive BS, pays 5.5% on up to £300/month. Although the interest's variable, meaning it could fall at any time, you can make unlimited withdrawals without penalty (so you could move your savings elsewhere if the rate did plummet).
Provider | Rate (AER) | Penalty-free withdrawals allowed? | How to open | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
7.5% fixed for six months | £200, maxed out that's £26 interest after 6mths | Yes | No, but early closure permitted | Online/ post/ branch | |
5.5% variable for 12 months | £300, maxed out that's £106 interest after 12mths | Yes | Yes, one per day | Online | |
5.25% variable for 12 months | £200, maxed out that's £68 interest after 12mths | Yes | Yes | Online/ branch |
Not sure how much interest you'll get? Find out with our Regular Savings Calculator. Simply plug in the rates above, and how much you'll save, and it'll tell you how much you'll earn. The calculator also has a mode to show how much more you could earn dripfeeding cash into the regular saver from another account.
Quick question
MoneySavingExpert.com is a national website serving England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. So we try to feature accounts open to everyone, which means you need to be able to open them online, by phone or by post.
Branch-based accounts are more difficult, as unless the account is offered by one of the big banks it's unlikely that everyone will be able to reach a branch. For example, someone in Carlisle couldn't access branch-based accounts offered by Suffolk Building Society as there isn't one close by.
It's always worth looking at local building societies and banks as they can occasionally have a corking branch-based account. But because we're a nationwide site, we can't feature them all.
My building society or bank has a better rate than accounts here. Why isn't it featured?
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