Home › Savings Hub › Best Easy Access Savings Accounts
Best-ofEasy-access accounts hold your emergency fund and short-term savings — they're the workhorse of a UK savings strategy. This page covers what to look for, the pitfalls, and how to combine easy-access with better-rate wrappers where appropriate.
Reading time: ~7 minutes
Rates vary daily. Always verify at source before opening an account. See our review methodology.
An easy-access savings account gives you same-day (or minute-by-minute, via Faster Payments) access to your cash, at a variable AER. It's FSCS-protected up to £85,000 per banking group, and you can withdraw and re-deposit without penalty.
Key characteristics:
The base rate is the ceiling. A well-priced easy-access rate should sit within about 0.5% of base. Anything below base minus 1% is quietly underpaying you. Check the current base rate before you compare.
Some headline rates include a 12-month bonus that drops afterwards, sometimes to below 1%. Read the small print — if there's a bonus, put a diary note to switch when it ends.
Some "easy-access" accounts limit you to 3–5 penalty-free withdrawals per year. That's usually fine for an emergency fund but not for money you're actively moving around.
If you already hold £70,000 with Lloyds Banking Group, opening another account inside the same group (Halifax, Bank of Scotland) doesn't add cover — you're still capped at £85,000 total. See our FSCS £85,000 protection guide.
App-based challenger banks (Chase, Monzo, Starling, Kroo, Zopa, Chip) typically open in minutes and let you withdraw with a tap. Traditional building societies (Coventry, Skipton, Nationwide) may take days to onboard but often offer competitive rates on larger balances.
| Easy-access | Notice account | Fixed-rate bond | Cash ISA (easy-access) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Access | Instant | After 30–120 days | Locked until maturity | Instant (usually) |
| Rate | Variable, top of market | +20–50 bps over EA | +50–150 bps over EA | Similar to EA |
| Tax on interest | Counts vs PSA | Counts vs PSA | Counts vs PSA | Tax-free |
| Best for | Emergency fund, short-term goals | Money you can plan around | Money you won't need for the term | Higher-rate taxpayers, ISA-eligible savers |
Chase, Monzo, Starling, Chip, Kroo, Zopa, Atom. Typically offer rates within 0.3% of the top of the market, open in under 10 minutes, and let you withdraw with a tap. All FSCS-protected. Downside: some have transaction limits or savings-pot structures that don't suit larger balances.
Coventry, Skipton, Nottingham, Newcastle, Family and others. Occasionally lead the market — often paying above the base rate for a period. Slower onboarding, sometimes only postal or in-branch withdrawal.
Barclays, HSBC, Lloyds, NatWest, Santander. Rarely competitive on easy-access — typical rates are 0.5%–1.5% below the top of market. Convenient if you already bank there, but often expensive to your future self on balances over £5,000.
Hargreaves Lansdown Active Savings, Raisin UK, Flagstone (for larger balances). One login, access to multiple provider rates, easier FSCS group management. Rates on individual accounts still driven by the underlying provider.
Example — the £8,000 emergency fund. Alex builds a £8,000 emergency fund and shops for easy-access. Top rate available: 4.75% at a challenger bank. Alex's high-street current account offered 1.2%. Difference: £284 per year in interest. Alex is a basic-rate taxpayer with plenty of PSA headroom, so no tax owed. Setting up took 15 minutes.
Example — the £25,000 higher-rate saver. Priya (higher-rate) has £25,000 in easy-access earning 4.8%. Annual interest = £1,200. Her PSA is £500. £700 of the interest is taxed at 40% = £280 tax. Moving £20,000 to a Cash ISA at 4.5% (£900 interest, tax-free) plus £5,000 in taxable easy-access at 4.8% (£240 interest, all within remaining PSA if she has some) drops the tax bill to near zero.
Yes — deposits at UK-authorised banks and building societies are covered up to £85,000 per person per banking group. Split across groups to increase cover.
Yes. Easy-access rates are variable — the bank can change them at any time, usually with notice. When the Bank of England base rate moves, easy-access rates typically follow within weeks.
Interest counts toward your Personal Savings Allowance — £1,000 tax-free for basic-rate taxpayers, £500 for higher-rate, £0 for additional-rate. Interest above your PSA is taxed at your marginal rate. Cash ISA interest is tax-free and doesn't count toward the PSA.
Look for a rate within about 0.5% of the Bank of England base rate on the top challenger and app-based banks. Anything below base rate minus 1% is losing you money vs the market.
Not necessarily. Constant switching for 0.1–0.2% differences delivers small annual gains for small balances. For balances over about £15,000, switching for 0.3%+ improvement is usually worth the 15 minutes it takes.
Easy-access savings are for money you might need soon — emergency funds and short-term goals. Look for a rate within 0.5% of the Bank of England base rate, avoid time-limited bonuses that expire without warning, and check FSCS at the banking-group level. If your Personal Savings Allowance is nearly used, a Cash ISA at similar rate usually beats it after tax.
Tax-free savings options.
Open comparison →Time-horizon framework.
Read guide →The banking-group rule.
Read guide →Tax on your interest.
Read guide →Sizing the buffer.
Read guide →Project growth.
Open calculator →This is general information, not personalised financial advice. Rates change frequently — always verify at source. Pennywise Finance is not authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority. For complex situations, consult an FCA-authorised adviser or the free MoneyHelper service.