Building societies offer more consistently good savings rates than banks, according the first Moneyfacts consistency survey of 2010, with 72.5 per cent of all accounts listed as performing consistently over an 18-month period.
Moneyfacts, the UK's leading independent provider of personal finance information, produces quarterly reports on the consistency of savings rates. Many savings providers lure savers into accounts with headline-grabbing rates of interest only for the top rate to be significantly lowered after a few months.
In the January 2010 Moneyfacts.co.uk Consistency Survey, 72.5 per cent of the most consistent savings accounts are offered by building societies with the National Counties Building Societies scoring the biggest number of consistent products, with five products in the tables.
Bath Building Society, Leeds Building Society, Teachers Building Society and Yorkshire Building Society follow closely, with four products each in the tables.
The best performing bank is Halifax with four consistent products.
“Yet again, our results show building societies still reign supreme in the consistency stakes,” commented Louise Holmes, spokesperson at
Moneyfacts.co.uk
"Many savers simply do not have the time or inclination to trawl the market looking for the best account, and certainly do not wish to keep moving their money around to achieve a slightly better rate of return.
“Instead, savers would rather invest their money in an account that continues to pay a competitive rate of interest, rather than one where top rates are paid one minute and are gone the next.
"These results also suggest that savers feel more comfortable placing their cash with some of the lesser known providers. Some of the most consistently performing accounts are offered by providers such as Bath Building Society and Teachers Building Society."
