Best Regular Saver Accounts in the UK: October 2026

Regular savers are the one corner of the savings market where the biggest number on the page is routinely the wrong one to chase. Santander's 8% is the highest rate in the UK right now and it will pay you about £104 over a year. First Direct's 7% pays about £136. That's the whole game with these accounts, and once you see it you can't unsee it.

I check every regular saver DepositScout tracks each week, 48 of them at the moment, and this guide is the standing list of the ones worth your time. It's updated monthly, the table below is live, and the rankings are by what you'd actually earn, not by the headline.

The best regular saver accounts right now

Rates checked 6 October 2026. "Max year-one interest" assumes you pay in the maximum every month for 12 months and make no withdrawals. All accounts are FSCS protected up to £120,000 per banking licence.

The live table below is the same data the site runs on, so if a rate moves between my monthly updates, this will show it first.

Why 7% beats 8%: the maths nobody puts on the poster

A regular saver only pays its rate on the money that's actually in the account, and you drip-feed it in. Your first £300 earns interest for 12 months. Your last £300 earns it for one. Across the year your average balance is roughly 6.5 months' worth of deposits, which is why the interest comes out at a little over half of what "7% on £3,600" sounds like it should be.

Run the numbers and the ranking flips:

• First Direct, 7% on £300 a month: £3,600 paid in, about £136.50 interest.
• Chase, 6.5% on £300 a month: £3,600 paid in, about £126.75.
• Co-op, 7% on £250 a month: £3,000 paid in, about £113.75.
• Santander, 8% on £200 a month: £2,400 paid in, about £104.

So the question to ask isn't "what's the rate?" It's "what's the cap, and can I actually fill it every month?" If you can only spare £150 a month, every account on this list pays within a few pounds of each other and you should pick on the rules instead: fixed rate, withdrawals allowed, and whether you already bank there.

If you want to model your own numbers, the savings calculator has a regular saver mode that uses the right interest-on-each-deposit formula rather than treating it like a lump sum.

Best regular saver by situation

Most interest in cash: First Direct (7%, £300 a month)

The biggest payout on the market and the rate is fixed, so it can't be cut on you mid-year. The catch is strict: no withdrawals at all. Close it early and you get interest at the ordinary savings account rate instead. You'll need a 1st Account, which is a decent current account in its own right and comes with a switch bonus more often than not.

Most interest with flexibility: Chase (6.5%, £300 a month)

Nine pounds a year behind First Direct, fixed, and you can withdraw to your Chase account whenever you like with no penalty. For most people that trade is worth it. Chase's current account is free and takes minutes to open in the app, which makes this the easiest high payer to get into. The full review is in Chase Regular Saver vs Lloyds and Bank of Scotland.

Best if you already bank there: Co-op (7%) or Santander (8%)

Both are for existing current account customers, both allow withdrawals, both are variable. Co-op pays more in cash because the cap is £250 rather than £200. Santander's reverts to 3% after 12 months, so set a reminder. Neither is worth switching banks for on its own, but if you're already a customer there's no reason not to fill one.

Best without switching banks: the 5.75% building societies

Skipton, Newcastle, Vernon and Manchester all pay 5.75% on £250 a month with no current account required, which works out at about £93 a year. That's £43 behind First Direct, so if you're willing to open a current account you'll do better. If you're not, these are the ones. Check the withdrawal and closure rules on each before you open; they vary, and Vernon's is online only.

Avoid: Nationwide Flex Regular Saver on paper, fine in practice

6.5% looks competitive until you see the £200 cap, which pulls it down to £84.50 a year, below the 5.75% building societies. It's still a reasonable account if you're a Flex customer and want three free withdrawals, but it's not the best buy it's often sold as.

Stacking regular savers: the £1,500-a-month version

Nothing stops you holding more than one. If you can really put away £1,500 a month, filling First Direct, Chase, Co-op, Santander, Club Lloyds and Nationwide together pays about £667 in year one on £18,000 of deposits. That's an effective 7.4% on the average balance, which is better than any single account in the UK on a sum that size.

The honest caveat: that's six current accounts to open and six standing orders to keep straight. I'd start with the top two and add more only once the admin is boring. If you're saving a lump sum rather than a monthly surplus, a regular saver is the wrong tool entirely and an easy access account at 5% will do more for you.

Rules that cost people money

• Pay-in deadlines. Lloyds and Halifax want the money by the 25th. Miss it and that month's allowance is usually gone for good, not rolled over. Set the standing order for the 1st.
• Variable means variable. Santander, Co-op, Nationwide and the building societies can cut the rate mid-year. First Direct, Chase and Club Lloyds are fixed for 12 months. In a market where the Bank of England has held at 3.75% and three MPC members voted for a rise in September, fixed isn't the obvious win it was a year ago, but it's still the one you can plan around.
• Maturity is where the money dies. Most of these dump your balance into an easy access account paying 1% or less when the 12 months are up. Halifax moves you to an Everyday Saver at 0.75%. Put the maturity date in your calendar and move the money the day it lands.
• Withdrawals. First Direct and Halifax: none. Nationwide: three, then the rate collapses. Chase, Lloyds, Co-op, Santander: free. If there's any chance you'll need the money, that's the first filter.
• Tax. Interest is paid at maturity on most of these, so the whole year lands in one tax year. On £136 that's irrelevant for almost everyone with a personal savings allowance, but if you're stacking six accounts and already using your allowance elsewhere, the tax calculator will tell you what you'd keep.

How I'd use these in October 2026

If I were starting from scratch with £300 a month to save: Chase. The fixed 6.5%, the £300 cap and the free withdrawals are the best combination on the market, and the account takes ten minutes to set up. With £600 a month, I'd add First Direct and accept the no-withdrawal rule in exchange for the top payout. With more than that, I'd keep stacking down the table in order of year-one interest, not rate.

What I wouldn't do is open a regular saver because of an 8% headline and then feel short-changed when it pays £104. It's doing exactly what it says. It just isn't saying what most people hear.

How this list is ranked and updated

Accounts are ordered by maximum year-one interest at the full monthly cap, because that's the number that ends up in your account. Rates come from DepositScout's live database, which is checked against provider websites daily, and I refresh the written rankings on the first week of every month. Accounts restricted to a small region or to existing members of a building society are left out unless they beat everything else by a clear margin.

Frequently asked questions

What's the best regular saver account in the UK right now?

Measured in pounds, First Direct's 7% on £300 a month, at about £136.50 in year one. Measured on rate alone, Santander's 8%, but the £200 cap limits it to about £104.

Can I have more than one regular saver?

Yes. There's no limit across providers, only per provider (usually one each). Most people are limited by how many current accounts they want to run, not by the rules.

Do I have to pay in every month?

Most accounts let you skip a month without penalty but won't let you make it up later. First Direct and a few building societies are stricter. Check the specific terms before you open.

Is a regular saver better than an easy access account?

For money you're saving monthly, yes, nearly always: the rates are 1.5 to 3 points higher. For money you already have, no. A regular saver can't take a lump sum, and £5,000 in a 5% easy access account earns more than any regular saver on this page.

What happens to my money after 12 months?

It's moved to a standard savings account at the same provider, typically paying between 0.75% and 1.5%. Move it somewhere better the same week. Then open a new regular saver, since most providers let you start again straight away.

Is the interest on a regular saver taxable?

Yes, like any savings interest, but it's covered by your personal savings allowance: £1,000 for basic-rate taxpayers, £500 for higher-rate, nothing for additional-rate. Interest is usually paid at maturity, so it all counts in that tax year.