British savers want Irish guarantees

Four out of ten British savers want unlimited guarantees for their money according to new data from money website Fool.co.uk . The raising of the UK compensation scheme to £50,000 may be too little too late.

Four out of ten (41%) savers would switch to an Irish bank
Four out of ten have put safety ahead of interest rates

A significant number of British savers (41%) are ready to switch to safer Irish banks after the Irish Government introduced a guarantee to protect all deposits earlier this week.

Further evidence that savers are preparing to switch can be seen from the number of new Irish bank accounts opened through the Fool.co.uk savings centre. Out of 19 savings accounts offered on the website, Anglo Irish Bank accounted for four out of ten (41%) new accounts opened.

The threatened flow of money into Irish banks suggests that the raising of the UK Financial Services Compensation Scheme from £35,000 to £50,000 may not convince savers. The current scheme is unnecessarily complicated as it restricts compensation to a banking license. So, different brands under one license are only covered once.

David Kuo, Head of Personal Finance at Fool.co.uk, says: "The decision by the Irish Government to give its domestic banks complete backing is the least that any government should do to assure savers. The UK Government should follow suit.

"Interestingly, Anglo Irish Bank is not even a top interest payer. So, it seems that savers appreciate the relationship between risk and reward, and top rates may indicate where your money may be most at risk.

"In today's troubled markets, savers are not too bothered about full returns on their savings but that their savings are returned in full when they want."