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.
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: 5.1%
- Number of savings accounts: 17
- Minimum deposit: £1,000
- FCA regulated and FSCS protected:✔️
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 5.03% from Allica Bank, with a minimum opening balance of £1,000 for one year.
Best fixed rates on Active Savings (AER*/Gross)
- 6 months 5.07%/5.01%
- 9 months 5.08%/5.05%
- 12 months 5.10%/5.10%
Minimum deposit requirements apply for the fixed products listed.
Best variable rates on Active Savings (AER*/Gross)
- Easy Access 4.72% 4.62%
Best rate in HL Cash ISA (AER*/Tax-free)
- Easy Access 4.67% 4.57%
Highest rates as of 5 June 2024 at 14:20. All rates offered by HL banking partners.
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
- Constantly updated interest rates
- Wide range of providers
- Cash ISA available
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
- Potentially better rates by going direct
- Cash can be tied up for a set period
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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