16 super savings accounts!

This article will help you decide where to put your savings whether you have £1, £10,000 or £1 million!

There are thousands of savings accounts, but I'm focusing today on the best ones available: which means they have the highest rates and fairest terms and conditions (for example, I won't include fixed-term accounts if the interest rate is variable).

But there's more detail on my selection process below* so, enough chatter, here are the accounts. Let's start off with the best buys for smaller savers:

Saving from £1 to £3,600

• Data obtained 09/03/10 from lovemoney.com, Moneyfacts, the providers' own websites, and my trawling of the Internet.

Quick definitions:

• 'Regular saver' accounts are for saving a little bit of income each month, rather than for irregular amounts or lump sums.
• 'Bonds' are savings accounts with a fixed-term, e.g. 12 months.
•  'Cash ISAs' are tax-free savings accounts. (With a normal savings account your bank will automatically deduct 20% tax from the interest it pays you, and higher-rate taxpayers must pay an extra 20%. Non taxpayers are entitled to receive tax paid gross on completion of an R85 form.)
• 'Easy-access' means you can access the money instantly or within days, without penalty, making such accounts suitable for short-term, long-term, and emergency savings, as well as for saving regularly.

Watch our video How to save when you've got no money.

Some accounts listed have bonuses. Although savers often shun bonuses, there's no need. Banks can (and do) swiftly drop savings interest rates without giving a reason, as soon as they've taken in their target amount of deposits. Fixed bonuses effectively prevent banks from dropping the rate to zero during the bonus period. In other words, they are a guarantee that you'll get paid at least some interest.

My picks

The first account in the above table, the Fixed Rate Regular from the Nottingham, is limited and I don't expect it to last many days when other websites catch on. It's a great choice if you're looking to save regularly. Most people should go for that account or the excellent Flexible ISA from Alliance & Leicester and Santander. Or both. If you can't get another ISA, the next choice is the AA Internet Extra account or Post Office Growth Bond.

Saving from £3,601 to £50,000

Although this second table is tailored to those of you with as much as £50,000, almost all the above accounts are available to savers with somewhat less than £3,600, which means we're not being rewarded for having more cash at present. Hence, you'll often find your best deal is the same as someone with just £100. In some cases it's worse!

Saving £50,001 and upwards

If you have more savings you're getting into special territory, because just the first £50,000 of your money - and £100,000 for couples -  that is saved under one banking licence is protected by the Government under the Financial Services Compensation Scheme. (Note not every bank or building society has a unique licence: sometimes when a number of banks are part of the same banking group they share one licence between them. This means you can't get extra protection by spreading your money between those banks. Most banks in this article aren't connected.)

Related how-to guide

Build up your savings

Here's how to get into the savings habit, find forgotten money, work out the real value of a savings rate and build up that emergency savings pot.

See the guide

This means you must pick from the same savings accounts as everyone else, but you'll need to spread your money between them. Take a look at the two tables in this article. Apart from the cash ISAs and regular savers, all the accounts shown will let you put in at least £100,000. Most of the accounts can be joint but, if not, you can open two separate accounts.

Outside the box

Outside the box, there are two more types of account I would recommend. The first is National Savings & Investment's Index-linked Certificates, which pay you inflation plus 1% for three or five years. Although you're allowed to invest just £15,000 per issue, there are currently two issues available, giving you £60,000-worth if you have a spouse and open separate accounts. NS&I also creates new issues regularly.

Finally, you can lend some of your savings on Zopa, which effectively lets you cut out the middleman, the bank, and earn more interest.

Compare savings accounts at lovemoney.com

*I've excluded easy-access accounts that penalise you for withdrawals, and accounts that are for existing customers only. I've also excluded accounts that tie you in for more than a year and all term or notice accounts, because the interest rates, in my opinion, aren't good enough for the vast majority on those accounts at present. I've favoured accounts with good guarantees and fixed rates even if they pay slightly worse than the top variable rates, because of the standard practice of savings providers to reduce variable rates at the first opportunity. I've also favoured accounts with internet access except in exceptional cases.

More: Get the top new savings account | Top 20 savings accounts and cash ISAs