A complete guide to notice savings accounts
Want to lock your money away but still have the safety net of accessing it if you need to? Then you should take notice of a notice account. Offering both high-interest rates and more choice on when you can access your savings, these accounts really differ from other savings products.
Imagine a savings account that offers a good return on your money but allows you to access your funds with a heads-up. That’s what you’ll get with a notice savings account. It’s a type of account where you’ll have to notify your bank a specific number of days before withdrawing. The notice period could be anything from 30 days, with some even stretching to 180 days, depending on the account’s terms.
You can transfer money into a notice savings account like any other. The twist here is that you must give your bank ‘notice’ when you want to withdraw your money. This notice is usually in days and you can choose this when you open the account. So, if you’ve got a 90-day notice account, for instance, you’ll need to wait 90 days from when you notify your bank to when you can withdraw your cash.
With an OakNorth notice account, the amount of notice you’ll need to give is very clear — it’s in the name of every notice account we offer. So you’ll know how much notice you’ll need to give before you open your account. Then when you decide you want to access your savings, the amount you’ve chosen to withdraw will be in your nominated account automatically when your notice period has passed.
Yes, you can — one of the biggest perks of these types of savings accounts is the interest you earn. Generally, notice accounts offer a higher interest rate than easy access accounts because you agree to limit your access for the agreed period of time. The exact interest rate will vary depending on the bank and the notice period required, so it’s worth shopping around for the best rate and one that suits how long you can leave your savings untouched.
Keep your saving safe with easy-to-understand access terms.
Notice accounts can be a great pick for savers who don’t need immediate access to their money but value a higher return on their savings. If you can plan your withdrawals and can afford to wait the notice period to access your money, this kind of account might be a great fit.
It’s worth knowing that if you’re unsure that you can commit to locking your money away until you give your notice and wait out the term, then a notice account may not be for you. With an OakNorth notice account, it’s not possible to access your money early, so you’ll need to be able to work around the full term of your notice account.
We offer three notice savings accounts with notice periods from 35 to 120 days. Competitive interest rates are also part and parcel of these accounts, with rates higher than those of our easy access accounts. The right notice account for you will depend on your savings goals and how long you can leave your balance untouched.
Here’s an overview of how you can use our three notice accounts:
Our shortest notice account gives you the most freedom when locking your savings away. With just over a month’s notice before you can access your money, they’re much more flexible while giving you stronger rates than a typical easy access account.
A three-month notice period means you’ll need to plan a little more for when you’ll need your savings, but the payoff here is an even better interest rate. This could also be a good idea if you already have a savings account that you can access for emergencies. Then you can leave your savings in this account to grow for longer.
If you can afford to lock away your savings with a notice period of four months, you’ll get access to our top notice account interest rate. This account could be a good place for your savings that you know you won’t need to use soon and that you can sacrifice this access for higher interest rates.
Notice accounts work well for medium-term goals, such as saving for a car, a holiday, or even home renovations. They’re also a good option when you know a set date that you’ll need to reaccess your savings, so you can choose a notice term to release your savings before you need them.
A notice savings account can work for many savers, but using these alongside an easy access account is safer in case you need your money much sooner.
Notice savings accounts come with a couple of standout benefits.
Stong interest rates – These are typically higher than easy access accounts.
A built-in barrier to curb impulse spending – As you can’t immediately access your money, you have to think if you want to make a purchase.
On the flip side, the main disadvantage is in the name – having to give notice.
Longer waits for your cash – it can be a matter of weeks or months before you can reach your savings.
No early access option – many notice accounts will only let you access your money after the notice period is up, not even with a penalty charge.
With several different term lengths, there’s a notice account to match your savings goals.
While both notice and fixed-term accounts offer high-interest rates and lock your money away from you, they have one big difference. With a fixed-term account, you lock your money away for a set period, and early withdrawals usually come with a penalty. However, you’ll know the exact date you will have access to your money again from the first day you open your account.
With a notice account, you can access your money after letting your bank know you want to access your money and waiting out the entire notice period.
But remember that a 90-day notice account isn’t a commitment to locking your savings away for only 90 days, it’s an agreement to have it saved for however long until you give notice, plus your notice period.
If you want to earn higher interest and are okay with waiting a set period to access your savings, a notice account can be the way to go. But, if you’re confident you won’t need your cash for a specified time and want to earn even more interest, a fixed term savings account can be even better.
Notice terms on typical notice accounts are usually shorter than the duration of a fixed term account, however if you decide to leave your money in a notice account for quite a while, you may end up waiting longer to access your savings than if you had put it in a fixed term account. Plus you could have left a higher interest rate on the table.
Whether or not a notice account is better than a fixed term account comes down to how well you can predict when you’ll need to access your money. Then its a case of weighing up if quicker access or earning more interest is most important to you.
There are quite a few rules with notice accounts. Most notably, a notice period is required before you can access your money. Some notice savings accounts have minimum and maximum deposits you can make and others may restrict the number of notice requests you can make on an account.
Our notice accounts let you choose between three different periods for your savings and you can’t access your money any sooner than this. You can open an account with as little as £1 and you can deposit up to £500,000. You can make multiple notice requests with an OakNorth account and don’t have to withdraw all of your savings at once. Plus you’re never restricted on how many times you can withdraw or top up your funds. You can deposit savings at any time, up to £500,000.
Notice savings accounts can be a savvy way to earn a higher interest rate on your savings, as long as you can wait for the notice period to access your funds. So, if you like the sound of high-interest rates from locking your money away for longer, check out our different notice accounts to suit your savings goals.
Keep your savings secure earning high interest rates while still enjoying the flexibility of being able to give us notice when you need your cash.