ICICI one year fixed rate bond

Commenting on the new ICICI one year fixed rate bond at 7.2 per cent, Kevin Mountford, head of savings at moneysupermarket.com, said: "ICICI have really put the cat amongst the pigeons by offering this fantastic rate for savers who are willing to lock up their cash for a year - especially as it is a standalone offering. It's especially good news for savers who will have recently been disappointed with the withdrawal of the top two highest rates less than two weeks ago.

"In the past providers would usually only offer such competitive rates for customers with linked products, such as the last ICICI offering when savers had to also invest in the easy access savings account to get the high rate on the fixed rate bond.

"It will be interesting to see how UK providers react to a foreign provider yet again raising the bar in the British savings market."