Yorkshire Building Society issues warning as millions of Britons 'missing out' on £1,000 in savings interest

Over £366billion is still sitting in UK current and savings accounts and only earning returns of one per cent or less, according to analysis carried out by the building society and CACI.

As it stands, there are 13 million current accounts in the UK with a balance of over £5,001 with the average held in these accounts standing at £23,700.

If these bank customers opted to take advantage of Yorkshire Building Society's Easy Access Saver with 4.80 per cent interest rate, they would earn an extra £1,141 in extra income.

In comparison, if this cash was kept in a current account with a 0.05 rate, Britons would only make an additional £11.61.

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Based on survey conducted by Opinium, 17 per cent of British adults admit to having never checked what interest rate they are earning on their savings.

This is despite the fact accounts from high street banks and building societies are offering historically high rates of interests to customers.

In recent years, the Bank of England has chosen to raise the UK's base rate numerous times in its fight to ease the consumer price index (CPI) rate of inflation.

Since August 2023, the central bank has held the rate at 5.25 per cent which has been passed onto savers.

Notably, around 55 per cent of the British public have not moved their savings in the last year which meaning millions are potentially losing out on hundreds of pounds in interest during this period.

Chris Irwin, the director of savings at Yorkshire Building Society, broke down why Britons should consider moving their money as soon as feasibly possible.

He explained: “Despite the attention savings interest rates continue to have following the significant increases in the bank rate, it’s surprising that there continues to be such large pockets of people who are significantly missing out on savings interest.

"We started the year highlighting that keeping large amounts of funds in low paying current accounts has become a costly mistake for millions.

"It’s encouraging to see that for a small number of people they have made moves to improve the situation however there is still an incredible amount of money not earning returns like they could be.

"It’s understandable to want to have money accessible for emergencies or even topping up everyday expenses, but with so many instant access savings accounts currently still available in the market paying much higher returns, access requirements shouldn’t be a barrier to attaining higher rates."

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Rachel Springall, finance expert at Moneyfactscompare.co.uk, added: “Consumers will have different reasons for why they save and how, but it is essential they check that their account is paying a decent return of interest on their hard-earned cash.

"Loyalty does not always pay and the convenience of stashing cash in a current account means many savers are getting little to no interest.

"Interest rates have changed considerably over the past 12 months but if someone does not proactively switch, they could be losing money in real terms due to inflation.

"It’s quick and easy to switch accounts to chase a better return of interest, but some may feel it’s not worth doing if their priorities are focused on using their savings to cover the cost of living.”