Big banks start to offer easy-access savings rates BELOW 1% once more

Savers who keep their savings with big banks on the high street could be in for a nasty shock in the coming months.

Santander's Everyday easy-access account now pays just 1 per cent on savings kept in it, and experts believe other big banks will soon follow suit.

Metro Bank has already reached the sub 1 per cent mark for easy-acces rates, offering just 0.9 per cent on its instant access savings account.

The Bank of England cut the base rate to 4 per cent from 4.25 per cent at August's Monetary Policy Committee meeting where the base rate was set.

Rates on easy-access savings accounts and Isas have been plummeting as a result, with dozens of banks cutting their rates in the week since the base rate was cut.

But while many reprice the best buy deals above 4 per cent, big banks are typically offer a far worse deal.

The last time the base rate was at 4 per cent, in February 2023, big banks paid less than 1 per cent on their basic easy-access accounts, exclusive data from rate scrutineer Monetfacts Compare shows.

Rachel Springall of Moneyfacts Compare says: 'When the base rate was last 4 per cent, some of the biggest banks paid savers less than 1 per cent, including Barclays, Lloyds and NatWest'.

Barclay's every day saver paid 0.55 per cent, Lloyds Bank's easy saver paid 0.65 per cent, NatWest's flexible saver paid 0.65 per cent HSBC's flexible saver paid 1.16 per cent, Santander's everyday saver paid 0.6 per cent.

The average rate these five big banks paid across their easy-access account on a deposit of £10,000 was 1.21 per cent.

Fast forward two years and four bank of England base rate hikes, and the five biggest banks today pay an average rate of 1.54 per cent on a £10,000 deposit saved in their basic easy-access accounts.

Andrew Hagger, founder of independent information website MoneyComms says: 'Another rate cut or two and we could well see a raft of sub 1 per cent deals again.'

'Barclays has already recently reduced from 1.16 per cent to 1.11 per cent First Direct and HSBC are reducing from 1.3 per cent to 1.15 per cent from 20 October and Metro Bank is already at 0.9 per cent.'

There are three accounts to watch when it comes to easy-access rates dropping below 1 per cent according to Moneyfacts Compare.

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Rachel Springall, finance expert at Moneyfacts Compare says: 'The three accounts to keep an eye on are the most flexible options from Barclays Bank (Everyday Saver), Lloyds Bank (Easy Saver) and NatWest (Flexible Saver) – these three banks should be watched closely – as these might fall below 1 per cent as a result of the base rate cut.'

In July 2025, Barclays, NatWest and Lloyds paid near 1 per cent on these accounts. The average rate for all the five banks was 1.49 per cent.

A year ago in Auguat 2024, the three banks paid less than 2 per cent and the average for all the five banks 1.9 per cent

In August 2023, just before the base rate was hiked to 5.25 per cent Barclays paid 1 per cent, Lloyds paid 1.1 per cent and NatWest paid 1.4 per cent. The average for all the five banks was 1.81 per cent.

Savers must now check their savings deal and make sure it is paying at least above the rate of CPI inflation which is 3.6 per cent. If it is not, they should find a better deal.

Savers can do even better than this as the top easy-access deals with no strings attached pay arounf 4.45 per cent.

Andrew Hagger says: 'It's possible to virtually quadruple your interest income on the poorest paying deals by switching your cash - you can open a new account really quickly these days, so the effort involved is minimal.

'£5,000 with Metro at 0.9 per cent gets you £45 interest per year whereas 4.3 per cent with Spring, Close Brothers or Charter Savings would deliver £215 interest in 12 months.'