- 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
Fair
The app is amazing and it has fees that make sense.
Perfect
Omogočanje investiranja vsem, ne glede na prihodke posameznika.
Simple
At Lightyear, even a novice investor can build a profitable investment portfolio.
Ease
Easy to use interface
Simple and smart
Makes good and informed investment available to everyone
Simplicity
It's the simplicity of the app and also how fast the funds can be transferred
Easy
Branding, user experience, educational content
Smooth
The app combines smooth UI with enough customisation when making trades, analysing and etc.
Easy
Simple clear information
Innovative
The simplicity is their ultimate sophistication
lean
The application is straightforard, menu structure is clear, no visual clutter. The transaction fees are perfectly balanced, some providers make little investments unfeasible due to high constant costs in each and every transaction, which in the end burns all the money.
Accessible
Lightyear provides a user-friendly app for ordinary people to invest in the stock market. From an array of ETFs, to thousands of stocks, Lightyear enables an affordable investment opportunity, multiple informations to guide its users (through its AI information provider), round the clock global information of the stock market, interest on uninvested cash, and many others. I've been using it since Dec 2023, and I have been fortunate in finding such platform to help me in my medium to long term plan to invest and be financially free (as much as possible really).
Usable
It offers transparent and cheap way to invest. Also, it integrates seamlessly with local investing vehicles (investing account in Estonia) which allows to postpone income tax from gains as long as they haven’t been withdrawn from the account), enabling users to postpone paying 22% tax.
Slick
Beautiful design, excellent tools, great service
Informative
Lightyear delivers timely updates on market-moving events, making it easier to invest efficiently and keep track of stocks in your portfolio.
Often used to describe their interest rates on uninvested cash (they pass the central bank rates directly to you). Modern: Referring to their multi-currency accounts that let you hold USD, GBP, and EUR in one place lightyear is the best
Lightyear is efficient. Low fees, great FX rates (0.35%), and an interface that doesn't waste your time. It’s the first 'fintech' broker that actually feels like it’s on the user’s side. Highly recommended for both beginners and seasoned stock pickers, that's so great 👍
intuitive, customer friendly
trustful
Best designed
They've got the best overall app and experience. Super low fees and great UX.
Modern
Making it really easy to invest with low fees.
Superb
It super easy to use, makes investing easy, makes stock performance understandable, very modern app. Super localised.
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.
Richard’s contributions and expertise have been recognized by respected publications such as The Sunday Times, BusinessInsider, Yahoo Finance, BusinessNews.org.uk, Master Investor, Wealth Briefing, iNews, and The FT, among many others.
Under Richard’s leadership, the Good Money Guide has evolved into a valuable destination for comprehensive information and expert guidance, specialising in trading, investment, and currency exchange. His commitment to delivering high-quality insights has solidified the Good Money Guide’s standing as a well-respected resource for both customers and industry colleagues.
