- Good Money Guide experts rate Lightyear High-Interest Vaults highly for providing an easy-access investment product that allows users to earn competitive interest rates on idle cash. The product is backed by AAA-rated money market funds, although it does come with a 0.25% annual fee and lacks FSCS protection, which may be a consideration for potential investors.
- Across 676 user reviews on Good Money Guide, averaging 4.9/5, customers frequently commend the app's user-friendly interface, low fees, and transparent pricing. Many users appreciate the platform's simplicity and efficiency, making investing accessible for both beginners and experienced investors. However, some users have noted that while the service is excellent, there may be better interest rates available elsewhere.
Lightyear High-Interest Vaults Expert rating
Our expert rating is the average of the areas listed here, each scored out of 5 by our team.Our experts have rated Lightyear High-Interest Vaults across five key areas of our review framework.
- Pricing4.5
- Market Access4.0
- App & Platform5.0
- Customer Service5.0
- Research & Analysis4.5
Pros
- High interest rates
- AAA-rated money market fund
- Interest earn daily
Cons
- Better rates are available elsewhere
- Interest is paid monthly instead of daily
See full expert review
Our verdict
Lightyear’s High-Interest Vaults give customers a way to earn interest on uninvested cash by placing it into low-risk money market funds managed by BlackRock. These are easy-access, variable-rate investment products available in GBP, EUR and USD, designed to track short-term interest rates such as the Bank of England overnight rate.
What are Lightyear High Interest Vaults?
We rate Lightyear’s Vaults highly as they are designed for investors who want their idle cash to earn a market-linked return while remaining easy to access, rather than sitting uninvested in a brokerage account.
Lightyear's High Interest Vaults are an easy-access cash investment product with variable rates, and there are separate vaults for deposits in Sterling, Euros and US dollars. Currently, the Sterling Vault offers around 3.77% AER (variable), with interest calculated daily and paid monthly. There are no minimum or maximum deposit limits, so users can start from £1 and add unlimited amounts.
How do Lightyear Vaults differ from holding cash from savings accounts?
Unlike a traditional savings account, the Vault is an investment product rather than a bank deposit. Your money is invested in AAA-rated money market funds, meaning capital is at risk and FSCS protection does not apply to funds held within the money market fund itself.
What is your money actually invested in?
Cash in the Sterling Vault is placed into funds such as the BlackRock ICS Sterling Liquidity Fund, which invests in diversified short-term instruments like treasury bills, commercial paper, certificates of deposit and repurchase agreements. This spreads risk across multiple institutions rather than relying on a single bank.
Is it cheaper to buy the money market fund directly?
Lightyear charges a 0.25% annual fee on money held in the Sterling Vault. While investors could theoretically access similar institutional money market funds directly, minimum investments can run into hundreds of millions, so Lightyear provides retail access to these products with no minimum deposit.
Customer reviews for Lightyear
Customer ratings come from reviews left on this site. Every review is read and approved before it is published.Based on 676 reviews
- Excellent92%
- Very good6%
- Basic1%
- Poor1%
- Bad0%
Read customer reviews
Super
Easy and simple
Nice
Very nice!
User-friendly platform
Perfect!
Amazing!
Optimal for beginner investors
The application and the company behind it makes the investing very cost effective with an optimized and balanced way.
Nekem ez az első.
Most kezdtem tőzsdézni. 6 hónapja használom, de eszembe sem jutott másikat keresni.
Excellent
Easy to use and no expensive fees
A client friendly organisation
My company is a very recent customer and my experience so far is excellent! I received a good guidance regarding the opening of account and the procedures through a very personal service. This is very unusual compared with the other brokers and it gives a competitive edge to Lightyear. And I am surely very impressed & pleased by the easy-to-use web portal of Lightyear that has a focus on just the main features important to an investor.
Amazing UI
Easy to use interfaces, quick account creation process
Perfect
Easy to navigate
Easy and no fees
ETFs are easy to buy with no fees, and stock purchases have low fees. Best investing app! 🙂
Kiváló
Csak így tovább.
Simple and clear with an app that so far has no glitches
As a first-time investor in France it lets me do everything I want and gives me good access to a range of international stocks which I couldn't find elsewhere. Holding your cash at attractive interest rates is a great plus. My main bank is Wise, although I haven't seen many advantages (even though Lightyear was started by people from Wise). I do wish there were even more stocks and ETFs availabke sometimes.
No 1 app
This app is good an provide good features
Super
Simple, easy-to-use, small commissions
Easy to use
Easy to use
Easy
The Lightyear platform is very easy to use. All fees are transparent.
Easy and fun to use with outstanding stock information
Try it, you’ll get hooked like me! 👌😀
Simple, practical, visual
Simple, practical, visual
Top notch service
Well built and meets modern world expectations in all means!
Lightyear’s High-Interest Vaults are designed to help investors earn a return on idle cash by placing it into low-risk money market funds rather than leaving it uninvested in a brokerage account. In this guide, we explain how the Vaults work, what they invest in and whether they’re a good alternative to traditional savings.
Capital at risk
Richard is the founder of the Good Money Guide (formerly Good Broker Guide), one of the original investment comparison sites established in 2015. With a career spanning two decades as a broker, he brings extensive expertise and knowledge to the financial landscape.
Having worked as a broker at Investors Intelligence and a multi-asset derivatives broker at MF Global (Man Financial), Richard has acquired substantial experience in the industry. His career began as a private client stockbroker at Walker Crips and Phillip Securities (now King and Shaxson), following internships on the NYMEX oil trading floor in New York and London IPE in 2001 and 2000.
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