The most consistent savings account

Which savings account provider consistently pays the highest rate? We reveal the results of the lovemoney.com poll.

If you're looking for the perfect savings account, you'll probably search the market for the highest interest rates before making your choice. And there's absolutely nothing wrong with that.

But surely the only way to keep getting the best possible return is to continually chase the market-leading rates. After all, today's best-buys will almost certainly slip down the tables in the coming months.  

Is there a better way?

Repeatedly moving your savings into the latest best-buys takes some considerable effort. So what if you don't have the time or the inclination? Are you doomed to poor savings rates forever more?

Of course not. If you don't like the idea of rate-tarting, you could choose an account which has a great track record for consistency instead.

What is consistency?

Quite simply, a consistent savings account is one which has paid the most interest in total to savers over a set timescale - usually 18 or 36 months. Consistent accounts don't necessarily pay the highest rates. In fact, they may never have made it onto the best-buy tables. But these accounts have a reputation for paying consistently good rates over the longer-term.

Most consistent savings account for big savers

If you have a significant amount of cash to put away - I'm talking about £25,000 plus - you can enjoy a consistently good return over the long-term with the Investec Bank High 5 account. This account pays the average of the five highest rates on the market, so you know you're always going to get one of the best rates.

The rate is calculated using the top easy access and notice accounts, and the return is updated weekly. Right now you could earn an excellent rate of 3.34%. Just bear in mind that you'll need to give three months notice for withdrawals, which means this account is only suitable for savers who don't need instant access.

What if you don't have £25,000 to invest?

You can still opt for a consistently good account, based on its track record, but unlike with the Investec Bank High 5 account, there are no promises with these accounts. They may have been consistently good in the past, but that doesn't mean they will always pay the highest amount of interest in the future. 

Most consistent online savings accounts over 18 months for £1,000

So, let's take a look at the most consistent accounts over the last 18 months. If you put £1,000 into one of these online savers, this is how much interest you would have earned:

Source: Moneyfacts.

Given that the best-buy easy access savings accounts are now paying more than 3%, you can easily see that some of the current rates on the most consistent accounts are far behind. ICICI HiSave Savings, for example, is the fourth most consistent account over 18 months, but it's only paying 1.7% at the moment.

The Intelligent Finance isaver account is perhaps a better choice. This account has been the most consistent with total interest paid of £56.15. But it also offers a fairly decent current rate of 2.49%.

I think the isaver should be deemed the real best-buy. Not only does it offer a consistently good rate, but it doesn't apply a short-term bonus like many of today's top rate accounts. Even better, it gives savers true easy access with no notice or penalties.

Your most consistent savings accounts

We recently polled you, our lovemoney.com readers, to find out which banks or building societies you thought were the most consistent. Here are the results.

The runner up

The provider you voted into second place was none other than Intelligent Finance. It's true the isaver may not pay the top rate, but it has certainly got your vote and mine when it comes to paying a decent return over the long term. Well done, Intelligent Finance.

And the winner is....

The most consistent savings provider, according to you, our readers, is First Direct. This is an interesting choice since the bank isn't known for particularly generous savings rates on easy access accounts.

In fact, its two ordinary savings accounts, the Everyday e-Saver account and the Savings Account, pay less than impressive rates of 0.25% and 0.05% respectively (although there's an extra 1% bonus for 12 months on savings over and above the opening balance in either of these accounts).

So you may be wondering why First Direct is a popular choice. Well, when it comes to other types of savings accounts there are some pretty good deals on offer for existing customers. For example, First Direct's Cash e-ISA pays a rate of 2.50%, which is not only competitive compared with other cash ISAs, but it's also fixed until June 2011 - so you're guaranteed a set return for the next 18 months.

There's also a regular saver account paying 5% fixed for a year on savings of £25 to £300 per month. This a market-leading rate right now. (Note that withdrawals from the Regular Saver aren't allowed.)  

Finally, there's the First Direct Offset Mortgage which allows borrowers to reduce the amount of interest they pay by offsetting their mortgage debt with their savings. First Direct says this is equivalent to benefitting from a rate of up to 6.33% AER, which sounds attractive over the long-term. You can work out how much an offset mortgage could save you using this calculator.

So I hope all this will help you to make the most of your cash. You can do yourself a favour by joining other lovemoney.com readers who are all working towards our Build up your savings goal. And if you have a general question about savings, why not check out what the lovemoney.com community thinks using Q&A?

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