In a rare piece of good news for savers, banks and building societies appear to be gradually increasing the interest rates on savings accounts, while some are offering sizeable bonuses to entice new customers. With banks looking to boost capital reserves to enhance their financial security, competition is developing among banks to attract savers. This competition has prompted Alliance and Leicester to this week increase the interest rate for its online saver account to 2.81 per cent, edging ahead of rival bank Egg who last week announced an increase on its equivalent product to 2.8 per cent.
Banks are not only using higher interest rates to entice new customers, however, but are also offering bonuses to savers. Customers opening an online savings account with Alliance and Leicester enjoy a 2.31 per cent bonus on the first 12 months, while the West Bromwich building society are offering a 1 per cent bonus on its Direct Bonus Account 2 until March 2011.
Head of banking at Moneysupermarket.com, Kevin Mountford, has advised savers to take advantage of these offers, but to remain aware of when these bonuses expire.






