Skipton re-launches Serious Saver and Online Bonus Saver

Skipton is bringing back two of its most popular savings accounts to help people get their savings off to flying start for the year.

The Society is today re-launching its Serious Saver, a 15-day notice account offering a highly competitive interest rate of 2.75% with a minimum opening and operating balance of £5,000.

And our Online Bonus Saver is also making a re-appearance, at 3.05% with instant access and a minimum opening and operating balance of £1,000.

Both accounts include bonuses for the first 12 months. The Serious Saver can be opened and operated via the Society's national branch network and Skipton Head Office and the Online Bonus Saver is a web-only account.

Head of Products Kris Brewster said: "We're delighted to bring back these two accounts, the first issues of which were withdrawn towards the end of last year due to overwhelming demand.

"We know from recent research conducted by the Society that sorting out their finances and committing to saving ranks among people's main new year's resolutions for 2012 and we believe these accounts offer them a very persuasive incentive for achieving this aim - whether their preference is a notice or easy access account."

These latest offerings follow a number of other savings account launches by the Society so far in 2012. The Society has also added a My New Year's Resolution Saver to its innovative My Savings goal-based account range for a limited time. This offering combines an attractive interest rate of 2.50% (online) and 2.25% (branch), with easy access AND the encouragement people need to keep what they are saving up for very much in mind. It means that there are now 13 accounts in the My Savings range - including everything from a ‘My Bills Saver' to a ‘My Retirement Saver' and, for those looking forward to a warmer time of year, a ‘My Holiday Saver'. The My New Year's Resolution Saver replaces the limited edition My Christmas Saver which Skipton launched last November to help people start putting away some cash towards Christmas 2012.

The launch of the My New Year's Resolution Saver follows research conducted by the Society among 2,000 UK adults, which showed that managing their finances better and getting into the saving habit ranked among their top 5 resolutions for the year ahead. A startling 27% of Brits have made a finance-based resolution for this year; an equally impressive 27% plan to focus on saving and 26% say they are more likely to achieve their resolutions if they have a specific goal in mind.

The Society has also recently launched a Limited Edition 2 Year Tracker Bond which combines an attractive interest rate with the reassurance that it will rise in line with any increases in the Bank Base Rate (BBR), currently 0.50%. Available both online and via the Society's national branch network and Skipton Direct telephone service centre, the new Tracker Bond offers variable interest rates of up to BBR plus 2.70% p.a. AER, currently 3.20%, until January 2014, with the added benefit that it will go up if the Base Rate does.

All of these new products complement the wide variety of other good value savings accounts Skipton has to offer, including some of the most competitive ISAs and bonds. The Society was among the first providers to offer the new government-backed Junior ISA.

For more information, visit skipton.co.uk.