If you don’t want to tie your money up for a fixed period but don’t need instant access to your cash either, a notice savings account could be your happy medium. Here’s how to choose the best notice account for your circumstances.
If you don't like the idea of locking your savings away in a fixed term bond, but are put off by the lower interest rates on offer from instant access accounts there is a way to get the best of both worlds.
Notice savings accounts could provide the middle ground you’re looking for, offering a balance between accessibility and higher savings rates.
Here's how to decide if a notice account is the best option for your savings, and how to choose the best notice savings accounts for your needs.
What is a notice savings account?
Notice account savings usually offer better interest rates than their instant access equivalents, but as a result don’t allow you immediate access to your cash.
Instead they apply a notice period to withdrawals so you have to let the bank or building society know well in advance if you want to draw on your savings.
For instance, if you have a 30 day notice account you would need to request a withdrawal 30 days in advance of when you need the money.
The trade off for this notice period is the better rate of interest generally offered by this type of account.
Are they right for you?
A notice savings account is essentially the middle ground between an instant access savings account and a fixed term account.
If you don’t want to tie your money away for a fixed term but are happy to restrict your access slightly to getter a better interest rate then they could prove to be the best choice.
How do you choose the best notice account?
When choosing a notice account you need to weigh up two main factors: access and interest rates.
Access
Before comparing the best notice savings accounts on the market you need to consider how long you are happy to wait to access your money.
Notice savings accounts are available with notice periods as short as 1 day and as long as 180 days, but most providers offer 30 day notice savings accounts, 60 day notice savings accounts and 90 day notice savings accounts as standard.
Given that you could face penalties for withdrawing your cash without notice, or simply be unable to do so once the account is open you need to give some consideration to how long a notice period you're comfortable with before you deposit your cash.
Interest
Once you’ve established how far in advance you're prepared to give notice for access to your savings you are ready to consider the other important factor that will influence your choice of notice account - the interest rate.
It is the interest rate that determines exactly how much money your savings will earn while they are held in a notice savings account.
As with most savings accounts it is a case of the higher the rate the better so it's worth doing your research to make sure that you get the best notice account rates on the market.
You can compare the interest rates paid on the best notice savings accounts with your desired notice period at a glance and find the most suitable deal using our notice account comparison table.
What are the alternatives?
If you are don't want to give notice to be able to withdraw your cash then a notice account is unlikely to be the best option for you.
If you want the flexibility to access your cash whenever you want or need to you should look at the best instant access savings accounts available, to see if the difference in the interest rates makes a notice savings account worthwhile.
Equally, if you want a better return on your money and don’t mind putting it away for a fixed period, you can compare the rates offered by fixed term savings accounts.
