Premium Bonds savers will receive a record £330million in prizes this month, meaning more than £25billion has been paid out to winners since the first-ever draw in 1957.
The bumper winnings come after NS&I’s decision to up the prize fund rate to 3.3 per cent – the highest rate in more than 14 years.
The change to the Premium Bonds prize fund rate is the fifth increase that NS&I has made in the last year and the third rise in 2023 alone.
Savings lottery: Premium Bonds offer an average prize fund rate of return that has now risen to 3.3% – a level that beats most easy access savings deals
Premium Bonds remain the nation’s most popular savings product with roughly 21million people holding a collective 120 million eligible Bond numbers between them.
The two winners of this month’s £1 million jackpot came from Nottinghamshire and Oxfordshire.
The person from Nottinghamshire won with the maximum £50,000 in Premium Bonds, having purchased their winning Bond in October 2020.
The Oxfordshire-based winner won with £30,284 in Premium Bonds, having bought their winning Bond in January 2018.
Jill Waters, retail director at NS&I, said: ‘Since the first ever Premium Bonds draw in 1957, we’ve now paid out a staggering £25.1billion in prizes – that’s an impressive milestone, and shows why Premium Bonds continue to be so popular with so many people.
‘Could you be a jackpot winner next month? Make sure all your contact details are up to date, including your address – you never know, one of our Agents Million might be knocking on your door sometime soon to deliver the life-changing news.’
| Value of prize | Number of prizes in Feb | Number of prizes in March |
|---|---|---|
| £1,000,000 | 2 | 2 |
| £100,000 | 59 | 62 |
| £50,000 | 117 | 124 |
| £25,000 | 236 | 249 |
| £10,000 | 590 | 622 |
| £5,000 | 1,177 | 1,242 |
| £1,000 | 12,573 | 13,220 |
| £500 | 37,719 | 39,660 |
| £100 | 1,280,509 | 1,406,020 |
| £50 | 1,280,509 | 1,406,020 |
| £25 | 2,376,161 | 2,140,768 |
| Total prizes: | 4,989,652 | 5,007,989 |
| Total value of Prizes: | £314,347,875 | £330,527,200 |
At its current rate of 3.3 per cent, the odds of each £1 Bond winning a prize will remain at 24,000 to 1 – but this month’s changes mean that the number of prizes worth £50 to £100,000 have now increased.
For example, there were 62 prizes worth £100,000 this month, up from 59 last month, and the number of £50,000 prizes rose from 117 in February to 124 in March.
This is Money publishes a list of winners of prizes worth £1,000 and above here.
Premium Bonds holders can also check to see if they have won a prize in March’s prize draw, by using the NS&I’s prize checker, official prize checker app or their Alexa-enabled device from tomorrow.
Customers will need their Premium Bonds holder’s number to use the website and their NS&I number or holder’s number to check via the prize checker app.
At the same time, they can also check for any unclaimed prizes owed to them.
THIS IS MONEY’S FIVE OF THE BEST CASH ISA DEALS
