Millions of savers shunted onto new deal as Barclays scraps 20 old savings accounts

Nearly half a million savers will see their interest rate cut from February 2015.

Barclays has announced it will axe another 20 savings accounts in order to further ‘simplify’ its range.

From 18th February 2015 it will transfer three million savers using old instant access and notice accounts, no longer available to new customers, onto its newer Everyday Saver.

The Barclays Everyday Saver is a no notice account, which has no withdrawal limits and pays tiered levels of interest.

Currently savers can earn 0.31% AER on balances from £1, 0.46% on balances from £10,000, 0.60% on balances from £25,000, 0.70% on balances from £50,000 and 0.80% on balances from £100,000. These rates are variable and include an introductory bonus of 0.21%, which will drop away after 12 months.

Old accounts that are moved over will have restrictions like notice periods and withdrawal limits removed and customers will be able to access their money with the same sort code and account numbers.

Barclays says the majority of customers that move onto the Everyday Saver account will be better off as a result of the changes. Around 2.52 million will receive a better return than what they currently get, but 480,000 will be moved onto a worse deal.

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Impacted accounts

The table below sets out the accounts that will be closed from 18th February 2015 along with the current interest rates each pay.

Accounts to be axed	Current interest rates (AER)
Active Savings	0.10% (£1+)
Bonus Saver	0.05% (£1+) 0.10% (£5,000+)
Easy Saver	0.10% (£1+)
Instant Cash Account	0.10% (£1+)
Day to Day Savings	0.10% (£1+)
Direct Access	0.70% (£1+) 1% (£2,500 +) 1.35% (£10,000+) 1.40% (£50,000+)
Direct Access Plus	1.50% (£1+)
E-savings	0.10% (£1+) 0.12% (£100,000+)
Essential Savings	0.10% (£1+) 0.25% (£10,000+) 0.59% (£25,000+) 0.69% (£50,000+) 0.79% (£100,000+)
Instant Savings Account	0.15% (£1+)
MoreForMore Savings	0.50% (£1+) 0.65% (£25,000+) 0.75% (£50,000+) 0.85% (£100,000+) 1% (£250,000+)
Nest-egg savings	0.05% (£1+) 0.10% (£5,000+)
Postal Savings	0.10% (£1+) 0.30% (£25,000+)
Regular Savings Account	0.05% (£25+)
Reward Saver	0.10% (up to seven withdrawals a year) 0.15% (three to seven withdrawals a year) 0.20% (over seven withdrawals a year)
Savings Builder	0.05% (£1) 0.10% (£10,000+)
Tracker Savings	0.10% (£10,000+)
30-Day Savings	0% (£0+) 0.10% (£1,000+)
50-Day Notice	1.25% (£1+) 1.45% (£2,500+) 1.85% (£10,000+)
60-Day Savings	0% (£0+) 0.10% (£1,000+)

Those with a Direct Access, Direct Access Plus, MoreForMore Savings or 50-Day Notice account stand to lose out from the changes.

The worst affected savers will be those with a balance of £10,000 or over in a 50-Day Notice account. Currently these customers receive a rate of 1.85%, but from February next year this will plummet to 0.46%. On a balance of £10,000 that means a loss of £139 in gross interest over a year.

The biggest winners will be those with a balance of less than a £1,000 with a 30-Day or 60-Day savings account as these product pay currently pay 0%.

Barclays is writing to all impacted customers to let them know about the changes. But if you think your savings will be moved onto a worse deal take a look at The best instant-access savings rates for similar options or Where to earn the most interest on your cash for some even better alternatives.

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Cleaning out the closet

This is the latest move from Barclays to simplify its savings range.

Back in August the bank said it would close 11 instant access Cash ISAs and move savers onto a newer deal from 5th November. Read Barclays to 'simplify' 11 instant access Cash ISAs for more. In this case 1.6 million savers were put onto a worse rate.

The eagerness to tidy up its product ranges could have something to do with the current investigation into the UK cash savings market by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA).

In July this year the regulator revealed its interim findings which showed banks and building societies pay lower interest on older accounts because most savers don’t move onto a better deal. Read more in Loyal savers exploited.

The final findings and the FCA's recommendations will be published later this year.

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