The second Nationwide Start to Save prize draw fund stood at £89,700, equating to 897 people winning £100 each.

Winners will be notified by email this week with prizes paid into accounts around 28 October.

This is double the number of winners (458) in July’s first draw which had a total prize fund of £45,800.

The Nationwide Start to Save account

Nationwide’s Start to Save account launched in February with the aim of getting people to save more.

It’s an online, instant access, regular savings account paying 1% AER/gross (variable), which allows a balance increase of up to £100 per month.

To be eligible for the prize draws, savers need to increase their balance in the account by between £50 and £100 in each of the three calendar months leading up to the month of the prize draw.

Based on the number of accounts meeting the entry criteria, a total prize fund is generated and an equivalent 1% of the total balance increase across all the qualifying accounts in a three-month period is paid out to winners.

Since launch, Nationwide said 137,000 Start to Save accounts had been opened by the end of September, up 90,000 since the end of April.

This means they will be eligible for the January prize draw, assuming a minimum £50 is saved each month between October and December.

Nationwide said the account has proved popular with those aged 18-39 (52%).

Tom Riley, Nationwide’s director of banking and savings, said: “We’re focused on delivering convenient, secure and easy-to-use products and services which put members in control of their money at every step. We launched Start to Save in February to help play our part in getting the nation saving and support the Money and Pensions Service’s new financial wellbeing strategy.

“These latest figures from our second prize draw are extremely encouraging, especially with more than 60,000 who previously had less than £100 now having more than that as a result of saving into the account. Despite the pandemic and the financial difficulties it has led to, it’s great to see that people, particularly in younger age groups, have continued to try to save where they can.”