Fixed rate savings battle gathers pace

Andrew Hagger of Moneynet.co.uk looks at recent developments in the fixed rate savings arena. Good news for savers has been pretty thin on the ground since the heady days of last September when rates of 7% plus on fixed rate deposits were plentiful.

Following a rapid decline in base rate, savers have been left floundering and not sure where to put their money for the best.

At the end of February you'd have been hard pressed to find a single bond in 4% territory whereas today there are almost 40 fixed rate bonds of varying terms, offering rates of between 4% and 4.40% Gross.

During the last week in April we saw West Bromwich Building Society launch a cracking 4.30% deal for 1 year (Min £5k) and ICICI Bank UK came to the table with a five year bond at 4.40% (Min £1k)

However, in the last four days there has been more activity with competitive new deals from Birmingham Midshires 4.25% (2 years), Barclays 4.25% (3 years) and Nottingham Building Society 4.15% (2 years)

This renewed appetite for retail savings balances will be welcome news to savers up and down the land who will be hoping there's still more to come in the next few weeks.

Swap rates have been edging up over the last 10 days and may account for some of the better rates that are starting to appear on the shelves.

We may have started to move away from the low point on fixed rates, but whether this is the start of something more prolonged or a temporary blip, it's probably too soon to say.