The 20 top savings accounts

We show you the best savings accounts currently on the market.

Let's get straight to the savings account round-up.

Easy access

Here are the top accounts allowing fast withdrawals that are available to all and don't have the tricky, onerous conditions you often find in savings accounts (such as too few free withdrawals or tied products). These are sorted by interest rate:

The interest rates are close, so consider not just the rate, but the minimum rates for the first 12 months, if applicable.

All these pay the interest rates shown on deposits of £1 or more, except Lloyds' eSavings account, for which you require a deposit of at least £10,000. And these accounts can all be managed online except Birmingham Midshire's Telephone account, although you can apply for that online.

Sainsbury's Finance's Easy Saver comes with Double Nectar points, but the conditions for achieving that will cost you more in lost interest than you'll earn in points. To earn double points on your Sainsbury's shopping, you'll need to deposit at least £5,000 within 30 days of opening the account, and maintain that balance for the next two years. But there's a high chance the account won't stay competitive throughout this period. Personally, I don't think you should get sidetracked by extras like loyalty points. What's really important is that you hold the account for as long as it measures up well against others on the market, and switch when it starts to fall behind.

The account is also limited to five free withdrawals in 12 months, which I think is enough to justify its inclusion in the table. All the other accounts shown allow unlimited withdrawals, although Tesco's Internet Saver limits withdrawals to a maximum £10,000 per day.

Notice accounts

Notice accounts have variable interest rates, much like easy-access accounts, but you have to give notice before you can make a withdrawal. Typically this is 30-90 days.

To make these worthwhile over easy-access accounts, they should pay a fair bit more interest or have better guarantees. However, the difference in interest at the moment is so slight (at best 0.1% more), and the guarantees are worse, so I recommend you avoid these accounts for the moment.

Fixed term (and fixed interest rates)

Moving on, fixed term accounts (aka bond accounts) are currently just about good enough to justify including in my article. Here are the better ones, which pay a fixed amount of interest over an agreed period, provided you don't make early withdrawals:

I've listed no four-year bonds, as none currently pay enough in comparison to three-year bonds. Indeed, Baroda Max's three-year bond has a higher interest rate than all the existing four year ones. Shorter bonds are better for the majority of people, as it decreases the risk of your money being tied up as inflation and other savings interest rates rise.

Those were the best I could find after my thorough search of the whole market. Personally, I don't think any of these pay enough for most of us to justify locking our money in. It's not enough compensation for the risk that you a) need the money sooner or b) lose out whilst inflation rises and easy-access accounts (or other savings and investment plans) start paying you a lot more.

Regular savings accounts

Again, these are the top paying accounts with fixed interest rates that aren't too exclusive and don't have terrible terms in the small print – which doesn't leave many:

Neither of these accounts are available via the internet and you must pay in the amount you agree every month for 12 months to get the interest.

The Norwich & Peterborough account allows one penalty-free withdrawal inside 12 months, which is good. Usually you get none with this sort of account. The Saffron account is even more unusual in that you can make as many withdrawals as you want, penalty free, according to Saffron's website.

These accounts are most suitable for people who already have more than enough savings for emergencies in flexible accounts, such as easy-access accounts. From any spare income you earn each month on top of that, you could use a regular savings account. Because of the higher interest rates normally on offer, this will usually mean you earn more interest in the year. When the regular savings deal ends (usually after 12 months) you'll need to then transfer the savings pot to a more suitable account (e.g. the top easy-access account at the time).

There's some confusion amongst our readers about the mathematics of regular savings accounts, but if you're saving monthly from your income it's unquestionably more profitable to save in a regular saver paying 4% per year than it is to save monthly in an easy-access account paying 2.8% per year.

Things to remember

Particularly if you have a lot of savings, make sure you spread your money around in case a provider goes bust. The Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS) protects desposits up to a maximum £50,000 per institution (as long as it is a member of the FSCS) in the event that the bank collapses. If you have more savings, it's sensible not to put all your eggs in one basket. 

The savings provider automatically deducts tax on the interest from all the accounts mentioned in this article. However, you can buy all these sorts of accounts in a tax-free wrapper called a cash ISA, in which you can put up to £5,100 per year. Read about them in The top 18 cash ISAs.

I've been as thorough as I can, but let me know below if you think I've missed a good savings account.

Compare savings accounts through lovemoney.com.