Savings warning: 'Top-pick' easy-access account to be cut within hours - 'last chance' to claim 5.1% interest

JPMorgan-backed Chase added a one per cent bonus rate to its 4.1 per cent easy-access account in June.

The added one per cent bonus makes all the difference as it makes it a "top pick," in the market, according to the MoneySavingExpert team.

Chase's underlying rate of 4.1 per cent is a variable rate and could change before January 16, 2025.

But the one per cent boost is fixed, so even if Chase cuts the rate on the account before January 16, 2025, customers will still earn one per cent on top of whatever the new rate is if it changes.

To get the savings, customers need to open its free current account. There is no hard credit-check and people don't need to switch to it.

Existing Chase members who have less than £50,000 across all of their Chase accounts and those who joined after May 3 can also apply for this deal, as well as new customers.

The bonus is available until January 16, 2025.

Since May, Chase's standard rate has been set at 1.15 per cent points below the Bank of England base rate.

But if the base rate falls from 5.25 per cent to five per cent at the next Monetary Policy Committee meeting, Chase's standard rate would fall from 4.1 per cent to 3.85 per cent.

That would mean savers who did not get the one per cent bonus would have their rate cut to 3.85 per cent while savers who have the boosted rate until January 2025 would get a rate of 4.85 per cent.

James Blower, founder of Savings Guru said: "If a base rate cut doesn't happen then the Chase rate looks hard to beat and definitely worth securing the bonus before it goes tomorrow.

"If it does then the question is how does a 4.85 per cent combined rate (3.85 per cent plus one per cent bonus) look with the base rate at five per cent.

'The answer is that I'd expect it to be very competitive still so still likely a very good deal for savers. However, once the bonus drops off in January, the underlying rate at 1.15 per cent below the base rate is almost certainly going to be very uncompetitive.

"So the end of the bonus in January is likely to be the time to move your money elsewhere."

Easy-access cash ISAs currently pay the top rate that anyone can get, plus they get the tax benefits of it being an ISA.

However if someone does want a savings account, the MSE "top pick" is app-based Chase* at 5.1 per cent. However Ulster Bank (owned by NatWest) pays slightly more at 5.2 per cent.

Britons will need to open its current account to get it, but unlike with Chase, there is a hard credit check, and there aren't any perks that come with it.