The Cambridge helps savers weather future uncertainty

September 30, 2022

The Cambridge Building Society is increasing the rate on its Your Saver product today, during the first ever UK Savings Week, to encourage households to get into a regular savings habit.

The first ever UK Savings Week began on Monday to reinforce the message to get people saving.

The Cambridge Your Saver account is paying interest at 2.10 per cent and has the flexibility to allow savers to put away what they can spare as often as they can.

CEO, Peter Burrows, said: “Household finances are under increasing pressure from the rising cost of living, and we want to encourage people to put away anything they can, however small, so they have something for a rainy day. Little and often can be key and the Our Saver account is designed with that ease and flexibility in mind.

“We’d encourage people to put a little by each month to build a safety net for any unexpected costs. Creating a regular habit is often the best way to start saving, especially if you can earmark a regular amount.

“But even if the amount saved flexes depending on other expenses in the month, it’s still better to save something than nothing.”

New research from the Building Societies Association (BSA), reveals that the average person has £17,356 put away, while one in seven people (13%) say they have no savings at all.

A third of savers say that if they lost their income, they wouldn’t have enough in savings to cover their living costs for even a month. And more than a third of savers (36%) said they are relying on savings to get them through the cost-of-living crisis, with more than half (55%) admitting they’ve reduced the amount they save.

Despite the financial pressures caused by rising costs, almost two thirds (64%) of those with no savings said they could save £10 a month.

Earlier this month The Cambridge passed on the 0.50% base rate increase announced by the Bank of England in August in full to its variable rate savers.

Savings rates have been rising steadily in recent months and are at their highest rates since the beginning of 2009.

Peter said: “We feel it is important to do as much as we can for savers, especially in these times of rising costs. We think it is important to help alleviate some of that anxiety by helping people build some resilience into their finances.”

Andrew Gall, head of savings and economics at the BSA, said: “Whilst the midst of a cost-of-living crisis might seem like an odd time to launch activities encouraging good savings habits, those who are able to save can benefit from building their resilience to future shocks.

“When, how and how much people save will be different for everyone and UK Savings Week aims to help individuals to save their own way, when they can. And for those who are already savers, it aims to help people think about making the most of their savings.”