Hargreaves Lansdown’s Active Savings Review: Switch Your Savings Around

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Hargreaves Lansdown Active Savings Review
Hargreaves Lansdown

Name: Hargreaves Lansdown Active Savings

Description: Hargreaves Lansdown’s Active Savings product was launched by the investment broker in 2018 and lets customers pick and choose from a range of the best easy-access and fixed-term savings accounts. The Active Savings portal is now five years old and as of the end of December 2022, they have helped over 146,000 clients savings, over £6.3 billion.

Summary

Hargreaves Lansdown Active Savings is a one-stop shop where you can find the best interest rates from a range of providers. You can get up to 6% interest on your money (far more than your bank account) from a panel of 31 savings products.

  • Highest interest rate: 6%
  • Number of savings accounts: 17
  • Minimum deposit: £1,000
  • FCA regulated and FSCS protected:✔️

Pros

  • Constantly updated interest rates
  • Wide range of providers
  • Cash ISA available

Cons

  • Potentially better rates by going direct
  • Cash can be tied up for a set period
  • Pricing
    (4.5)
  • Market Access
    (4)
  • Online Platform
    (4.5)
  • Customer Service
    (5)
  • Research & Analysis
    (4.5)
Overall
4.5

What is Hargreaves Lansdown Active Savings?

You get started by depositing a minimum of £1,000 which you can allocate to as many savings accounts as you want, with rates of up to 6%. You’ll receive monthly statements and a warning when rates are about to expire.

Hargreaves Lansdown Active Savings is a similar product to raisin, which also lets you manage multiple savings accounts from a single platform.

Emma Wall, head of investment analysis and research at Hargreaves Lansdown said that:

Active Savings provides a solution for the 49% of people who haven’t moved their savings in the past 5 years, and the 35% who’ve never switched. Through one single application, savers can move money between accounts with different banks and building societies in just a few clicks, removing the need to ever complete another application.

Hargraves Lansdown Active Savings Rates

At the moment, the best rate in HL’s Active Savings platform is 5.55% from GB Bank, with a minimum opening balance of £1 for one year. The best easy-access savings account where you can withdraw money when you want is 4.71% from Allica Bank.

ProviderAER Gross

Term

Min opening

Interest paid

Apply by

GB Bank5.55% 5.55%1 year fixed£1.00Maturity27/11/2023
ICICI Bank UK5.45% 5.45%1 year fixed£1,000.00Maturity01/12/2023
Aldermore5.40% 5.40%1 year fixed£5,000.00Maturity28/11/2023
Paragon5.40% 5.40%1 year fixed£1,000.00Maturity29/11/2023
Paragon5.40% 5.38%18 months fixed£1,000.00Annually29/11/2023
Aldermore5.33% 5.30%9 months fixed£5,000.00Maturity28/11/2023
Aldermore5.32% 5.25%6 months fixed£5,000.00Maturity28/11/2023
Emirates NBD5.32% 5.25%6 months fixed£1.00Maturity30/11/2023
ICICI Bank UK5.28% 5.25%9 months fixed£1,000.00Maturity01/12/2023
Sainsbury’s Bank5.21% 5.21%1 year fixed£1.00Maturity01/12/2023
Zopa5.21% 5.21%18 months fixed£1,000.00Annually27/11/2023
Santander International5.20% 5.20%6 months fixed£1,000.00Maturity03/12/2023
Paragon5.20% 5.20%2 years fixed£1,000.00Annually29/11/2023
Santander International5.15% 5.15%9 months fixed£1,000.00Maturity03/12/2023
Arbuthnot Latham5.15% 5.15%1 year fixed########Maturity27/11/2023
Santander International5.15% 5.15%1 year fixed£1,000.00Maturity03/12/2023
Aldermore5.09% 5.15%18 months fixed£5,000.00Maturity28/11/2023
Sainsbury’s Bank5.14% 5.14%6 months fixed£1.00Maturity01/12/2023
Arbuthnot Latham5.12% 5.12%6 months fixed########Maturity27/11/2023
United Trust Bank5.21% 5.11%3 months fixed£1.00Maturity28/11/2023
Emirates NBD5.20% 5.10%3 months fixed£1.00Maturity30/11/2023
Zopa5.10% 5.10%9 months fixed£1,000.00Maturity27/11/2023
Sainsbury’s Bank5.09% 5.09%9 months fixed£1.00Maturity01/12/2023
Sainsbury’s Bank5.06% 5.06%3 months fixed£1.00Maturity01/12/2023
Santander International5.05% 5.05%3 months fixed£1,000.00Maturity03/12/2023
Aldermore4.88% 5.00%2 years fixed£5,000.00Maturity28/11/2023
RateSetter Powered by Metro Bank5.06% 4.95%Easy access£1.00MonthlyNo deadline
Paragon4.95% 4.95%3 years fixed£1,000.00Annually29/11/2023
Zopa4.81% 4.81%5 years fixed£1,000.00Annually27/11/2023
Aldermore4.59% 4.80%3 years fixed£5,000.00Maturity28/11/2023
Emirates NBD4.85% 4.75%1 month fixed£1.00Maturity30/11/2023
Aldermore4.40% 4.70%4 years fixed£5,000.00Maturity28/11/2023
Paragon4.65% 4.65%5 years fixed£1,000.00Annually29/11/2023
Allica Bank4.71% 4.61%Easy access£1.00MonthlyNo deadline
Paragon4.70% 4.60%Easy access£1.00MonthlyNo deadline
Aldermore4.23% 4.60%5 years fixed£5,000.00Maturity28/11/2023
Zopa4.66% 4.56%Easy access£1.00MonthlyNo deadline
Sainsbury’s Bank4.54% 4.54%2 months fixed£1.00Maturity01/12/2023
GB Bank4.60% 4.51%Easy access£1.00MonthlyNo deadline
Sainsbury’s Bank4.44% 4.44%1 month fixed£1.00Maturity01/12/2023
Santander International4.44% 4.35%Easy access£1.00MonthlyNo deadline
Coventry Building Society3.30% 3.25%Easy access£1.00MonthlyNo deadline
ICICI Bank UK2.75% 2.72%Easy access£10.00MonthlyNo deadline

You can see the savings products available in Hargreaves Lansdown’s Active Savings portal ranked by the highest interest rate here:AER (Annual Equivalent Rate) shows what the interest rate/expected profit rate would be if it was paid and compounded once each year. It helps you compare the rates on different savings products.

Gross means the rate without any tax removed. Interest/profit will be paid gross and you’re responsible for paying any tax due on interest/profit that exceeds your Personal Savings Allowance to HMRC.

Advantages of Hargreaves Lansdown Active Savings

The key advantage is that you can get the best interest rates for your savings, by constantly switching savings accounts without actually having to move your money around or open lots of different savings accounts.

“Active Savings is the only UK service where people can manage their investments and savings in one place,” says Hargreaves Lansdown’s head of communications, Danny Cox. “This makes managing your money so much easier than multiple accounts.”

At the moment, the service offers access to 25 different savings accounts, so you have a good chance of finding some of the best savings providers with the highest interest rates. Hargreaves Lansdown hopes to add more providers in time, which will increase choice.

You can also save money in a cash ISA which reduces your tax bill. However, if you want better returns and are prepared to take more risk, a stocks and shares ISA maybe more appropriate.

Disadvantages of HL Active Savings

The biggest potential disadvantage of the service is that you might be able to get better rates by going to the banks directly. This is because Hargreaves Lansdown doesn’t charge you directly, instead they charge the providers you save with. This means the same or similar products offered directly by the banks and building societies may have different interest rates to those available on Active Savings.

So you are paying a small amount for the convenience of HL managing the process.

And while switching is easy, you need to be sure you’ll take notice of the email warnings about soon-to-expire rates.

If you’re a Hargreaves Lansdown customer, Active Savings is probably going to be the most convenient savings option out there. And with more banks set to come on board, the choice of accounts – and hopefully rates – will soon increase.

Fixed-Term Cash ISAs

Hargreaves Lansdown is also one of the only (and first) investment and savings platform to offer Fixed Term Cash ISAs

  • Fixed term products will sit alongside existing easy access and limited access options, meaning clients can now spread their Cash ISA allowance across multiple products.
  • Fixed Term Cash ISA is provided by Coventry Building Society offering clients a one-year rate of 4.8%, tax free.
    Sainsburys Bank joins Active Savings, taking the number of banking partners to 20
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