A fan of Martin Lewis asked for help to build up her savings
Martin Lewis has discussed how to secure a significantly better return on your savings. He offered a wealth of guidance about bank accounts on his BBC podcast.
He provided some valuable insight for listeners, such as when you should close an old current account and the different types of savings account you can go for. One query was submitted by a woman who had purchased her first property with her husband in October 2025. They had spend a big portion of their savings on the mortgage deposit and on renovations for the house. Now she wanted to rebuild her savings fund.
She explained her current savings account was yielding merely 1.05 per cent and asked Mr Lewis’s views on the most competitive accounts available for growing her savings. She mentioned they intended to deposit £250 monthly into their savings.
In his reply, the savings specialist told her what ought to be the first priority: “The most important start point is you build up an emergency fund of ready cash. You want three to six months of bills, that gives you that financial security, that financial defence mechanism, which is really worth doing.
“You can have that in any funds, as long as they are easy access.” Mr Lewis suggested a suitable type of savings account to establish this emergency reserve would be a regular saver.
He clarified: “They’re not for lump sums, they are only for small amounts that you put in each month, but you are exactly in that bag.” The consumer champion highlighted some of the leading accounts in this category.
The highest rate available is 7.5 per cent fixed for six months with Principality Building Society, allowing deposits of up to £200 monthly. You could accumulate up to £26 in interest over the six-month period.
‘Much higher’ interest rates
Mr Lewis said: “The reason you do these is the interest rate is much higher.” There are several regular savers out there with rates of 7 per cent or above.
This significantly outperforms the leading rates of around 4.5 per cent offered with other easy access savings products. Another bank offer to think about, which can substantially boost your savings is bonus switching incentives.
Many institutions will reward you financially for transferring your current account to them. For instance, Nationwide Building Society is currently providing a £175 payment, Santander offers £200 and Lloyds Bank will pay you up to £500.
Mr Lewis spoke about another provider for this purpose. He said: “First Direct right now is paying switchers £175 to switch to its bank account
“Top rate for customer service and then you can save with it for a year at 7 per cent, and you can put up to £300 a month in. So you get £175 and the interest on top.”
If you deposited the maximum £300 monthly into this regular saver, which offers 7 per cent fixed for 12 months, you would generate £136.50 in interest. Combined with the £175 switching bonus, this would increase your savings by over £311.
The listener said a big thank you to Mr Lewis for this advice. She said she had “no idea” that there were savings accounts offering a 7.5 per cent interest rate.
