More than one million in UK ‘missing out on up to £4,700 a year’ | Personal Finance | Finance
More than one million Brits are missing out on easy ways to save money.
Research from savings provider Spring found there were 1.04 million current accounts holding more than £50,000 at the end of March this year that paid zero interest, with a combined £116billion sitting idle. The average balance in these accounts was £111,537. The findings are likely to reignite questions over whether banks are doing enough for savers. While many high street lenders pay little or no interest on current account balances, they are able to use those deposits to support lending through mortgages, personal loans and credit cards, where customers typically face much higher borrowing costs.
The gap between what banks earn on loans and what they pay out to savers has helped drive a surge in profits across the sector in recent years. Britain’s biggest lenders continue to report hefty earnings. Lloyds Banking Group reported pre-tax profits of £6.7bn for 2025, up 12% on the previous year, while NatWest posted pre-tax profits of £7.7bn, a rise of 25%.
According to Spring’s analysis, based on figures from consumer data provider Caci, 79 million of the UK’s 91 million current accounts in credit – around 87% – paid no interest at all on balances. Derek Sprawling, head of money at Spring, said many people were unaware of how much they were losing.
He said: “Often, it comes down to convenience or habit, but with balances of £50,000 or more, the missed returns can be significant.”
Spring’s survey found 36% of people keep their savings with their main current account provider, while 21% leave savings directly in their current account.
The company said a combination of habit, uncertainty and confusion was preventing people from moving money into better-paying accounts. The cost of doing nothing can be substantial.
According to the Bank of England’s inflation calculator, something costing £100 in 2016 would now cost around £140. Inflation currently stands at 2.8%, but peaked at 11.1% in October 2022 during the cost of living crisis.
By contrast, savers willing to move their money can secure significantly better returns. Finance website Moneyfacts says the average easy-access savings account currently pays around 2.5%, while the average one-year fixed-rate account offers 4.23%.
Savers are missing out on an average of £4,700 a year based the average balance of £111,537 and the average one-year fixed savings rate of 4.23%.
Cash ISAs pay similar rates, with one-year fixed deals averaging 4.25%. Interest earned within a cash ISA remains tax-free, helping explain why savers have been rushing to make use of the allowance before planned changes take effect.
Bank of England figures show savers poured £12bn into cash ISAs in April alone – the second-highest monthly inflow ever recorded. The rush comes ahead of a planned reduction in the annual cash ISA allowance from £20,000 to £12,000 from April 2027.
Charlene Young, senior pensions and savings expert at AJ Bell, said many savers were keen to maximise the current allowance while they still can. But she warned inflation remains a threat to cash held in low-paying accounts.
She said: “We already had sticky inflation before the Iran conflict, and further surges are expected as the full impact of supply chain disruption and energy shocks filters through.”
