Current accounts are costing us billions – get more from your savings

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Tax, investments and pension rules can change over time so the information below may not be current. This article was correct at the time of publishing, however, it may no longer reflect our views on this topic.

Keeping too much money in current accounts is costing us dearly. Here’s how to get more from your savings, while keeping them accessible.

This article isn’t personal advice. If you’re not sure whether an investment is right for you please seek advice. If you choose to invest the value of your investment will rise and fall, so you could get back less than you put in.

18 September 2023

Managing our cash better could net us hundreds of pounds of interest every year.

Our savings and resilience tool showed us that households in 2022 had an average of £8,267 in current accounts. Most current accounts don’t pay interest. If they moved £5,000 of that into an easy access savings account paying 5%, they could make £250 a year.

This figure assumes the interest rate will stay the same over the year, in practice easy access accounts can change their rate at any time.

Last September, our research showed around one in five savers keep at least some of their savings in a current account. When choosing where to hold our savings, one of the top considerations is how easy it is to access our money.

But we don’t need to lock it away to make our