The Best UK Savings Rates for September 2026

September 2026's best UK savings rates: four 8% regular savers, 5% fixed bonds, Premium Bonds' rise to 4.35%, and the top easy access and cash ISAs.

The Bank of England held the base rate at 3.75% on 30 July — and once again the vote was tighter than the headline. It split 6–3, with the three dissenters wanting a hike, not a cut. Inflation has since ticked up to 2.9%, the next decision lands on 17 September, and nobody is seriously pricing in a cut before then. For savers, that's good news: rates aren't just holding, several categories have actually climbed since last month.

The loudest news, though, came from NS&I — so let's deal with that first.

Every account here is on DepositScout.com, where you can filter by type, run the savings and tax calculators, and check the rate history graphs before you open anything. Those graphs show whether a provider tends to hold its rate or chop it soon after launch — worth thirty seconds before you commit.

Premium Bonds: the prize rate rises to 4.35% — here's what that actually means

From the September draw, the Premium Bonds prize fund rate rises from 3.8% to 4.35% — the second increase this year — and the odds of each £1 bond winning improve from 22,000 to one to 21,000 to one. Hold the average of around £5,000 and you can expect a prize roughly once every four months.

But 4.35% is not an interest rate. It's the average payout spread across every bondholder — and because the prize pool is skewed by large prizes, most people earn well below it. Around two-thirds of holders have never won a single prize.

Who are they for? The same answer as always: higher and additional-rate taxpayers who've filled their ISA allowance and used up their Personal Savings Allowance. For them, tax-free prizes on up to £50,000 of Treasury-backed cash genuinely make sense. For everyone else, you're swapping guaranteed interest — as high as 5% right now — for a lottery ticket.

The irony is that NS&I's least glamorous products are currently their best. Their British Savings Bonds were hiked at the same time: around 4.82% on a one-year fix from £500, and because it's the Treasury, 100% of your money is protected — no £120,000 FSCS cap. If you hold a large cash pot, that's a genuinely strong reason to use NS&I. The Premium Bonds aren't.

Switch offers: up to £500 for moving your account

Barclays' £600 offer expired at the end of August, so the ceiling drops — but there's still real money on the table, plus the strangest offer we've ever listed.

The verdict: for most people, HSBC's standard account at £220 is the pick — deposit £2,000, spend £500 on the card and set up two Direct Debits within 60 days. The £200 offers across NatWest, RBS and Ulster are the lowest-effort cash, but remember you only ever get one bonus from the NatWest Group. And Starling has ditched cash entirely: switch by 11 October and you get a SURI Pro 2.0 electric toothbrush, RRP £105. Full switch in 30 days, nothing else required — genuinely the easiest offer to qualify for, provided you want a toothbrush.

Easy access: 5% still available — and a brand-new name that's actually an old one

Revolut's boosted 5% closed to new savers in August, leaving LemFi alone at the top — with a pile-up at 4.5% just below it.

The verdict: LemFi wins on rate at 5.00%, but its 1.96% bonus ends after just six months — the shortest boost on the table — reverting to 3.04%. Set an alarm. The new entrant is First Active at 4.55%: it's the relaunched NatWest Group brand, so your FSCS protection is shared with any NatWest or Ulster money. Cahoot's Simple Saver at 4.52% now runs as a 12-month rate reverting to 1.00%, so it needs an alarm too. If you're fed up with bonus structures entirely, toggle "promo rates" off on our easy access table and you'll find Oxbury's Easy Access Summer account at 4.33% — no bonus, no cliff, though the £1,000 minimum won't suit everyone.

Small balances: Spring's 5% quietly beats Santander's 6%

If you've got £5,000 or less earning nothing in a current account, there's a separate market for you — and it has a new leader. Spring's Accelerate Saver pays 5% on up to £5,000, from £10, no fees, no current account required. That out-earns Santander's headline-grabbing 6% Edge Saver (£240 on its £4,000 cap, before the Edge account's ~£3 monthly fee) and Cahoot's Sunny Day Saver (5% on just £3,000). The bigger cap wins. Just note Spring is app-only, the rate is variable, and you must make your first deposit within 28 days or the account closes. We covered it in full here.

Cash ISAs: eToro leads at 4.87% — but read this first

eToro's 4.87% leads the easy-access ISA market, but it isn't a normal savings account. Your money sits in a money market fund — a fund that pools everyone's cash and lends it very short-term to banks and governments, about the lowest-risk end of investing there is — and passes the yield back to you. That means FSCS investment protection of £85,000 rather than the £120,000 deposit cover, the 4.87% is a 12-month rate that drops to around 3.57%, and more than three withdrawals costs you the bonus. It's flexible, the minimum is £500, and transfers in (via Moneyfarm) need £5,000. The offer is also for new eToro and Moneyfarm customers only.

The easy-access verdict: eToro leads on rate by a clear margin. Chip's Smart Cash ISA at 4.60% is the best straight deposit rate — flexible with unlimited withdrawals, though it doesn't accept transfers in. Moneybox pays 4.57% (£500 minimum; a fourth withdrawal in any year collapses the rate to 0.75%). And if you never want to think about it again, Hargreaves Lansdown's 4.52% has no bonus and no cliff — the set-and-forget pick, though it's not flexible.

Worth a mention for anyone with a mortgage on the horizon: Tembo's HomeSaver Cash ISA pays 2.8% from day one, with a further 2.7% fixed bonus — up to 5.5% in total — unlocked when you complete a mortgage or remortgage through Tembo within three years. Tembo is a fee-free whole-of-market broker with a best-deal guarantee, which makes the bonus realistically collectable — but if you don't complete with them, you've earned 2.8%, well below everything else here. Only open it if you genuinely expect to use them.

The fixed verdict: if you want a rate that can't move, the whole fixed ISA curve has shifted up since last month, and Tandem's crown has gone. Vida's two-year at 4.77% is the standout — the highest fixed ISA on the table, flexible, with no meaningful minimum — alongside Vida's one-year at 4.70%. Aldermore's three-year at 4.75% is unusual for being flexible on a longer fix, and Skipton covers the five-year end at 4.76%. But notice the spread: barely 0.07% separates one year from five, so you're not being paid to lock away for longer.

One planning note:

Fixed rate bonds: a genuine rate arms race

This is the most hard-fought category on the site right now — providers have been leapfrogging each other all month.

The verdict: 5% is available from £1,000 — Afin Bank pays it on both three and five-year fixes, with Investec matching the three-year rate but demanding £5,000 entry, and Chetwood joining the 5% club on five years. GB Bank sits just behind at 4.98%. On one-year money, MBNA leads at 4.85% (phone-managed, which won't suit everyone), with NS&I's Treasury-backed 4.82% close behind. Only lock away what you're certain you won't touch — and remember three MPC members just voted for a hike, so you're betting rates don't rise from here.

Notice accounts: still hard to justify

The verdict: the top notice rate — GB Bank's 150-day at 4.38% — pays less than the top clean easy-access rate. You'd be giving up access to your money for a lower return. The one honest case is discipline: if a notice period stops you raiding a house deposit, there's a behavioural argument. Otherwise, this category makes no sense this month. (If you hold a notice account and disagree, genuinely — tell us why in the comments on the video. We ask every month.)

Regular savers: four accounts at 8% — and why a 6% account beats them all

The top of the regular saver table has never been more crowded: Lloyds (both the Club and standard Monthly Saver), Halifax, Bank of Scotland and Santander all advertise 8%. Two things worth knowing before you're dazzled. First, you don't need the fee-carrying Club Lloyds account for Lloyds' 8% — the standard Monthly Saver pays the same rate on the same £250 monthly cap, and any Lloyds current account qualifies, including the free Classic. Second, Halifax's version requires no current account at all, making it the easiest 8% on the market (though there are no partial withdrawals — you close the account to access the money, with full interest paid to closure).

But regular savers have the most misleading headlines in savings, because you drip-feed monthly rather than depositing a lump sum. Rank them by what you actually earn and the table reorders itself:

The verdict: every single 8% account earns you less than Monmouthshire at 6%, because Monmouthshire's £500 monthly cap doubles what the 8% accounts will take. If you're opening one regular saver, it's Monmouthshire: roughly £195 over the year, no current account needed, open to everyone. Virgin Money's new Regular Saver Exclusive at 6.50% fixed illustrates the same lesson — a higher rate than Monmouthshire, a £250 cap, and around £106 of actual interest.

Stacking them: the Savings Stacker

Nobody says you have to pick one. Regular savers are capped per account, not per person — so the real maximisers stack them. The rules: only one Lloyds Monthly Saver per person (Club or standard), but Lloyds, Halifax and Bank of Scotland are separate brands within one group, so you can hold one saver from each.

We built the Savings Stacker for exactly this. Pick the savers you're eligible for, set your monthly amount, and it splits the money across them — highest rate first, each up to its cap — and shows what the combination actually earns. Halifax and Monmouthshire together, both maxed at £750 a month, earn around £325 in a year; no single account in the UK pays that. And while you're drip-feeding, the waiting money can sit in an easy access account earning 4.5%+, so the pot works at both ends.

The bottom line

September is a strong month to make your money work: 5% easy access if you move quickly, 5% fixed bonds from £1,000, a 4.87% easy-access ISA, four regular savers at 8% — and a Premium Bonds rise that sounds better than it is. In nearly every category the headline hides a catch worth knowing. Run your numbers through the savings calculator, check the rate history graphs, and if you're doing regular savers properly, play with the Savings Stacker before you open anything.

Rates correct as of 1 September 2026 and can change at any time; most easy-access and variable rates can be adjusted by the provider without notice. This article is general information, not financial advice — always do your own research before opening an account. Some links are affiliate links, and we may earn a small commission at no extra cost to you.