One year on from Lehman Brothers collapse

Ahead of the one year anniversary of the Lehman Brothers collapse, Kevin Mountford, head of banking at moneysupermarket.com, said: "It's hard to believe that a year has passed already since Lehman Brothers collapsed. And in this period we have seen a far greater level of consolidation within the banking sector than many of us would have predicted.

"In particular, the building society sector has been hard struck. 14 per cent of all building societies closed in the past 12 months - highlighting how far this once buoyant and seemingly secure industry has fallen.

"We have also seen a number of ‘super banks' come to the fore - most notably Lloyds Banking Group and Santander, which have gobbled up many of their failing contemporaries. Only time will tell how consumers will fare under these new administrations, but there can be little doubt competition will suffer as a result.

"And as predicted at the time, savers have not suffered adversely during the banking crisis. Although interest rates have dropped from 5.25 per cent to 0.5 per cent, because savings rates have decreased by a lesser degree (and indeed we are starting to see rates increase now) savers are now getting a better margin above the Base Rate than this time last year. The average rate of the top five easy access accounts is now 3.15 per cent. This may not sound impressive given the best rates were above six per cent this time last year, but it's 2.65 per cent above the Base Rate.

"We must also recognise that the six per cent plus rates on offer last year were inflated as banks tried desperately to secure consumers cash, and these deals were never going to be maintained.

"Also, with inflation having plummeted over the past 12 months, savers don't have to worry about the value of their returns being eroded by the effects of rising prices. In September 2008 when the Retail Price Index (RPI) was running at five per cent, a standard rate taxpayer needed a savings rate of 6.25 per cent just to break even. Inflation is now much less of a problem - RPI is currently minus 1.4 per cent.

"It's unlikely that that Base Rate will significantly rise again within the next year - but just because we are in a flat interest rate environment people shouldn't rest on their laurels. Savers must always look for the best returns on their cash and switch if they can get a better rate elsewhere."