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NatWest and RBS savers to earn 5% on up to £5,000

Paloma Kubiak
Written By:
Paloma Kubiak
Posted:
Updated:
11/11/2022

NatWest and RBS will increase the deposit limit on the Digital Regular Saver, meaning customers will be able to earn 5% on up to £5,000 next month.

Current account customers of both NatWest and RBS are able to open a Digital Regular Saver which currently pays 5% gross (variable) interest on balances up to £1,000.

However, the banks confirmed that from Tuesday 6 December, this savings limit will be automatically increased to £5,000, with balances above this earning 0.65%.

Currently, balances between £1,001 and £5,000 earn 1% interest, while balances above £5,000 earn 0.5%.

NatWest said it wanted to help customers “build up resilience to the cost-of-living crisis”, adding that the Digital Regular Saver is designed to “help customers with little or no savings develop a savings habit”.

It can be opened online or via the banking app and allows savers to pay in up to £150 each calendar month via a standing order or ad-hoc payments. Withdrawals are allowed and the rate doesn’t expire after a year. Interest is paid monthly.

Debit card round-ups also gain 5%

As the name suggests, the banks allow customers to round-up debit card spending to the nearest £1. The difference is then added to a savings account attached to any of the NatWest/RBS Select or Reward current accounts.

This includes the Digital Regular Saver so customers can also earn 5% on these round-ups. This bonus doesn’t count towards the £150 monthly limit, so it’s possible to stash away a lot more than £150 a month. The banks confirmed up to £1,000 can be saved in round-ups.

A savings competition has also been launched where customers have the chance to win £5,000, while 30 runners-up could win £350 if they switch on the round-up feature. It runs until 30 November.

If you have the app, here are the steps to take to switch on the round-up feature:

  1. Log into the app
  2. Go to the ‘Round Ups’ tab under your current account
  3. Tap it and follow the instructions

If you don’t have the NatWest or RBS app, you’ll need to download it from the App Store (Apple) or Google Play (Android) and follow the steps above.

Lewis Broadie, NatWest’s savings expert, said: “Round Ups makes it simple for customers to save and with the added incentive of winning a £5,000, we hope to help even more customers to achieve their savings goals.”

The First Saver interest rate will also increase on 6 December from 1% to 1.5%.