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With lingering expectations that interest rates will rise across the rest of 2026, savers are being presented with the opportunity to boost their cash positions as more banks, building societies and financial providers offer ever-competitive deals.
Right now, the top easy-access savings accounts and cash ISAs are offering around 5 per cent, meaning you can earn £150 in a year in interest if you have £3,000 in the bank.
Rates and details of the below accounts are correct at time of publishing but do change constantly, so check any of them suit your needs – including deposit limits, withdrawal allowances and bonus lengths – before choosing which one to open.
Best easy access savings accounts
Three different free-to-open easy access savings accounts are now available which have hit the 5 per cent milestone, giving savers more choice depending on their cash positions – though Spring have removed theirs. However, there are different limitations to consider to achieve this top rate.
Cahoot, owned by Santander, are offering a straight 5% rate still – but they only offer interest on balances up to £3,000. That means £150 across the year in interest if you max it out. If you have more than £3,000, then obviously you’ll need to put the rest somewhere else. The account lasts for 12 months then will be closed.
Starling have launched a newly created 5% account, but theirs includes a bonus which lasts for six months. Thereafter it reverts to 2.5%, meaning (to keep the comparison easy) that with £3,000 saved, after a year you’d earn a little over £114 in interest, giving an effective whole-year rate equivalent to around 3.8%. However, the actual limit on this account is £25,000 for the bonus rate – if you happen to have that spare, you’d earn around £630 interest in the first six months before the bonus runs out!
Finally, Lemfi still have their 5% offer on too – the bonus lasts six months here as well, then the rate becomes 3.04%.
Below these, if you don’t want six-month or deposit limits, your choices for higher yields include Zopa Bank (4.56%) where you can make a maximum of three withdrawals; Tembo (4.55%) who will add another 1% if you use their mortgage services; and Cynergy Bank (4.55%) which is more no-frills, no limits.
Chase, who launched their enticing regular saver this week, also still have a 4.5% easy access account for new customers.
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Best easy access cash ISAs
As a reminder, ISAs are savings accounts where the interest you earn is always tax free. Competition for the top-rated cash ISA has been fierce across most of 2026, but right now at the start of October there is a slight gap at the top.
Trading 212 are offering 4.6% for new customers, including a bonus for Independent readers. That rate is eligible for new customers and current-year contributions to your ISA, so transfers from another provider will not get that rate. It includes a bonus which lasts for 12 months and the ISA is a flexible one, meaning you can withdraw cash and put it back in the same tax year without double-docking your annual allowance.
After that, the next highest offers come from Moneybox at 4.56%, Chip at 4.56% and Plum at 4.55%.
Each include 12-month bonuses, but there are different terms across them such as needing to keep Plum’s account open for 12 consecutive months, being a completely new customer with Chip or being restricted to three withdrawals annually with Moneybox.
Check which suits your financial needs and circumstances and remember all these cash ISA rates are variable, so could change. They will change when the bonuses run out!
Top rate fixed-term savings accounts
Finally, if you’re looking to lock some money away rather than have ongoing access to it, you can benefit from fixed-term bonds or savers. The trade-off here to not being able to withdraw your money is that your rate won’t change (up or down) for the whole term you have it for, giving security and ability to map out your future income.
For one-year bonds, Union Bank of India (UK) offer 5.12% and thisbank have raised their offer to 5.1% – with the same rate also available on a 15-month term.
On two-year terms it’s OakNorth Bank (5.15%) and DF Capital (5.15%) who have the highest rates, while if you want to guarantee three years’ worth of interest around that level, thisbank (5.18%), Chetwood Bank (5.17%) and Aldermore (5.16%) have the highest offerings.
You can lock money away for longer periods too of course, though it may be worth considering whether you want to invest some of that longer-term money rather than keep it in savings.
When investing, your capital is at risk and you may get back less than invested. Past performance doesn’t guarantee future results.
