Saving & banking

Starling Bank has been fined £29million by the FCA for failings in its financial crime controls. The FCA blasted Starling's 'shockingly lax' financial crime controls which 'left the financial system wide open to criminals'.

Have you won one of this month's major prizes? Our tables show all the £1,000 to £1m winners. You can also look up the winners for the past 12 months and tap in your bond numbers to see how close you were to winning.

The shift to digital has made life easier for many people. But one in four Britons feel they are digitally excluded in some form, research from the UK's cash access and ATM network Link shows. Adrian Roberts, chief executive of Link, asks whether the UK is really ready to go digital.

More than 670,000 people in this age group have a combined £1.4 billion in matured Child Trust Funds that have yet to be claimed. These funds are long-term, tax-free savings accounts that were set up for every child born between September 1, 2002, and January 2, 2011, with the Government depositing £250.

As many as two-thirds of branches in the region have closed since 2015, leaving 4.4 per 100,000 people. The East Midlands has the second-worst access to banks, with just 4.6 branches per 100,000 people. There are now 30 parliamentary constituencies without a bank - nine of which are in Yorkshire and the Humber.

Many more savers will be forced to pay savings tax as interest rates have risen and people hit their tax-free limit. Almost 2.1m people are expected to pay tax on their savings this year, up from around 650,000 just three years ago

The amount of money savers poured into cash Isas in the first half of 2024 skyrocketed as they tried to shield their savings from tax. At the end of June 2024, there was £351.6billion held in adult cash Isas, compared to £309.3billion at the end of December 2023

Common beliefs are that new Premium Bonds are more lucky than old ones, or that certain areas are more likely to win than others. These myths have been debunked by NS&I, which says the prize draw is totally random, and that if an area has more jackpot winners then it must have more bondholders. But are some Premium Bonds luckier than others - and is there a way to work out if you have a 'lucky' bond or not?

Three in ten savers hold most of their savings in their current account, new research from the Building Societies Association reveals. Holding savings in a bank account is bad news for most savers, as they will either earn very low or no interest on their savings. Millions of savers are missing out on earning interest on their savings by keeping them stashed in current accounts.

The debanking scandal erupted last year as several individuals felt their bank accounts were closed unfairly due to their political beliefs. Today the FCA regulator said it had found no evidence of unfair debanking, but could not say this with 100% certainty.

Premium Bonds are home to more than 22million Britons' savings. The prize fund rate is now 4.4% and the odds of winning a prize are 21,000 to 1. Here's how the prize fund rate differs to an interest rate.

Savings rates have been falling at an alarming speed since the Bank of England cut the base rate to 5%. What is breathtaking is the speed of the falls - it is almost as if the providers have planned them for months. Here are the best places to put your money if your savings account has taken a hit.

There is only one right answer when it comes to paying the local currency or in pounds when on holiday. We reveal the best and cheapest option.

Chip has a savings account which comes with a monthly prize draw where savers can win prizes of up to £75,000. We look at how Chip's Prize Savings Account works, how it measures up to Premium Bonds, and what the odds are of winning big.

Last week the Bank of England finally bit the bullet and cut the base rate from 5.25% to 5%. Rate cuts are usually bad news for savers, as banks reduce the interest rates paid on their savings accounts. We look at some of the rates which have taken a hit.

I have an easy-access cash Isa with Plum. On 5 July, I requested £16,000 to be transferred out of the Isa and to my bank. But almost a month on, it still has not happened. Why is the transfer taking so long?

If you're one of the 220,000 savers who piled £10billion into one-year issues of N&I's best-ever Guaranteed Growth and Income Bonds last year, you're in luck. NS&I will offer new one-year Guaranteed Growth Bonds and Income Bond at 5.15% or 5.03% to existing bond holders.

In the very unlikely event that your bank, building society or credit union goes bust, you should get your savings back thanks to FSCS protection. This official government-backed scheme also protects investments and pensions, while there are other measures in place for final salary schemes. We explain.

Savers continued their cash Isa rush as £3.4bn poured into tax-free accounts in June, new Bank of England data shows. It means in the first three months of the 2024/25 tax year, early bird savers have squirreled away almost £20bn into cash Isas - up £5bn on last year.

Chip's Isa is a flexible, which means savers can take money out and pay it back in without using up part of your £20,000 annual Isa allowance. The only caveat being that you must replace the cash in the same tax year.

NatWest reeled in 83,131 new bank account switchers in the first three months of this year. The banking giant managed to entice 60,497 more customers than it lost during this time.

Banks and building societies will have to asses local gaps in access to cash under new rules announced by the FCA. Some three million people rely on cash according to the financial watchdog.

Digital bank Monzo has become the latest bank to branch out into providing debit cards for children. We look at what the account offers and how to sign up for it.

Savers, I implore you to be on your guard. Rates on some easy-access accounts are already being cut, reducing the reward for prudent saving significantly. The Bank of England has kept the base rate steady at 5.25% for the best part of a year now. But that hasn't stopped savings providers from snipping away at the deals they offer in anticipation of a rate cut.

The rise in savings rates means many more people are forced to pay tax on their interest, as they breach the tax-free personal savings allowance. We explain everything you need to know about savings interest, from how the personal savings allowance works, to whether you will have to pay interest on your savings, and how you tell the taxman.

They have helped prudent households manage their finances through countless onslaughts. Because, let's face it, our wealth and savings have been under attack for decades and by successive governments. But I would think very carefully before going beyond that and making changes to your finances based on what you think Labour might do.

The secret to saving success is compound interest. Over the long-term this earns you interest on the interest on your savings and boosts your returns. This calculator works out how much a regular monthly savings scheme could make and how much a lump sum investment could be worth.

How hard does your bank account work for you? Hard enough to give you cashback on your household bills, interest on your balance or simply standout customer service? Here is our pick of the best accounts to make your money work harder, cut down on fees, or get free stuff.

A new wave of savings platforms have emerged in recent years which help savers keep track of their accounts more easily and move money into better rates after signing up. We round them up, look at the top rates from savings platform Raisin and reveal whether they beat the best buys in our independent This is Money savings tables.