Top Savings Accounts

Chip+1 savings account pays 1.25% on up to £10,000 (newbies only)

Chip is a savings app you connect to your current account through Open Banking. It's known for autosaving, where it uses an algorithm to work out how much you can afford to save.

Normally these apps don't pay interest, or very little, but its Chip+1 account (accessible via our code MSE21 – just put it in the VIP box once you've registered) pays 1.25% variable if you're new to Chip. Though there's a lot you need to know before you sign up...
 

• You can get 1.25% interest on up to £2,000 for free, or up to £10,000 for a fee. The Chip+1 account is made up of two different plans:
  
  - ChipLite. Chip's fee-free plan won't autosave for you, but will pay 1.25% variable on up to £2,000 (0% above).
  
  - ChipAI. The default plan, it pays 1.25% variable on up to £10,000 (0% above) and charges a £1.50 fee every four weeks – though everyone gets a four-week free trial.
  
  ChipAI gives you access to Chip's autosaving features – just make sure you specify autosaves should go to the 1.25% account during sign-up. If you don't want this, you can pause autosaves once you've registered (go to your profile in the app, then 'Auto-save settings' then 'Skip auto-saves' and choose a date – you can pause for up to three months at a time).
  
  
• If you've more than £4,600 to save, you'll get better returns with ChipAI. If you've less, putting £2,000 in ChipLite and putting the rest in a top easy-access savings account paying 0.55% works out better.
  
  But anyone with over £4,600 will be better off with ChipAI, once the fee has been factored in. If you can save the full £10,000 with the ChipAI plan, with the fee taken into account, you'll receive an unbeatable effective interest rate of 1.05% in year one.
  
  
• It's easy access so you can take cash out when you want, but it's best to time withdrawals. The interest is calculated weekly (on a Tuesday) and is payable every 90 days, but if you close an account before it's paid you get nothing for that period. So withdrawals are best made shortly after interest's been paid, if possible.
  
  The interest's held in a separate account, so it DOES NOT compound (ie, you don't get interest on the interest), but at 1.25% it still dwarfs what others are paying. If you're concerned, you could withdraw the whole balance and interest and redeposit it if you want to get interest on the interest (unless you already have the maximum £10,000).
  
  
• The money you put in is fully UK savings-safety protected but the interest you get isn't. Chip has partnered with ClearBank to run its Chip+1 account. As ClearBank has a full UK banking licence, money held there gets the normal UK savings safety protection like other savings. 
  
  With the interest, Chip's actually giving you a marketing bonus for saving. And while your balance will update each time interest is paid out, the cash doesn't go into the ClearBank account – it's held separately, in a ring-fenced high-street bank account.
  
  If you want to protect the interest, you'll need to withdraw ALL your savings and interest, then redeposit it all into your Chip+1 account to get the protection (it's not possible just to withdraw the interest and pay that back in).
  
  
• To use Chip+1, you'll need to connect your bank account. Chip connects to most (but not all) bank account providers. These are Bank of Scotland, Barclays, Danske, First Direct, Halifax, HSBC, Lloyds, Marks & Spencer, Monzo, Nationwide, NatWest, RBS, Revolut, Santander, Starling, TSB and Ulster Bank.
  
  
• What is autosaving? Autosaving apps use clever tech to work out what you can afford to save and then do it for you, er, automatically, moving money from your bank account to a virtual savings account. The idea is that you start building up savings without really noticing the cash is going – useful if you find it difficult to put money aside or don't know how to start saving.