Savers find it increasingly hard to pick an instant-access savings account without strings attached, according to new research by Investec Bank.
Of the top 50 instant-access savings accounts for balances of £5,000, only 19 do not come with any restrictions or penalties if you want to get hold of your money, the wealth manager found.
The number of no-strings accounts has fallen from 23 in May.
The number of easy-access accounts that rely on a short-term bonus to boost their headline-grabbing rate has risen from five in May to nine today, Investec found.
Daniel Widdowson, head of direct retail savings at Investec, says: ‘As competition increases in the savings market, accounts are becoming less easy to understand —and often come with nasty surprises.
Of the top 50 instant-access savings accounts for balances of £5,000, only 19 do not come with any restrictions or penalties if you want to get hold of your money
‘Customers should always look beyond the headline interest rate and check whether there are restrictions or penalties around accessing their money.’
The research found that 40 per cent of instant-access accounts only permit a limited number of withdrawals, which can be as little as three times a year.
Failure to stick to these rules means you lose the headline interest rate.
Furthermore, 12 per cent of instant-access savings accounts go even further — not allowing any more withdrawals once a certain number have been made.
Another catch put in place is that 8 per cent of easy-access accounts can only be opened by the provider’s existing current account holders.
