Martin Lewis warns Brits they must act ‘this minute’ after Bank of England votes to keep interest rates the same

Money saving expert Martin Lewis has warned that savers need to act immediately thanks to a shock decision from the Bank of England.

He said: “The Bank of England minutes ago voted to maintain interest rates at 5.25% – not increase as many predicted.

"It’s therefore possible fixed-rate savings may shave down their rates at speed (as they’re based on longer term predictions of interest rates).”

But it’s not as simple as just opening a savers account now, as Lewis advised savers to hedge their bets and ‘play it both ways’.

Mr Lewis continued: “Open the fix today, but don’t fund it (you’ve usually seven to 14 days to do that).

“Just hold it so you’ve got it available, and you can wait and see what happens to rates. If they go the other way, just don’t fund the facility you’ve opened now – that’s not a problem.”

Savings rates have surged in recent months as the base rate has increased.

Earlier this week, NatWest said the number of fixed-term accounts opened in the first half of 2023 was around 17 times the total it recorded in the same period in 2019.

More than 82,000 fixed-term savings accounts were opened in the first half of this year, the bank said.

This compares with 4,700 in the first half of 2019, according to NatWest’s data.

Nationwide Building Society, which launched a regular saver account on Thursday with eight percent interest, has also previously reported seeing a jump in people snapping up fixed-rate deals.

Tom Riley, director of retail product at Nationwide, said earlier this week: “In recent months we have seen an increase in people taking out our fixed-rate accounts. Given the rates on offer we have found savers are increasingly willing to lock their money away for a period.”

If you’re not able to open a fixed-rate savings account immediately, then don’t despair.

Experts have advised that although interest rates aren’t rising today, it doesn’t mean they won’t do in the future.

Sarah Coles, head of personal finance at Hargreaves Lansdown, said: “If your current fixed-rate deal doesn’t come to an end for a while, don’t lose faith.

“The Bank of England’s insistence that the fight against inflation is ongoing means we could see more rises further down the line, and at the very least is likely to mean it keeps interest rates higher for a considerable period.”