- The bank is offering a table-topping rate of 1.85% on its 9-month fixed term deposit account – a product that is only available from two other providers in the market;
- The UK’s largest banks continue to offer pitiful returns – 0.77% on average for 12-month fixed term accounts offered by the five main high-street banks[1] – OakNorth is offering more than double that for a shorter time-period;
- OakNorth is very proud of its ‘virtuous circle’ business model where the deposits of UK savers are in turn lent to UK small and medium size business, which in turn leads to more jobs in the economy and ultimately more savings;
- The bank already has over 30,000 savings customers but is keen to boost this as it looks to lend a further £3bn to UK SMEs in 2019;
- This will add to OakNorth’s existing retail product range which includes several fixed term accounts ranging from 6 months to five years, as well as easy access and notice accounts.
OakNorth – the bank for entrepreneurs, by entrepreneurs – today announces the launch of its market-leading 9-month fixed term deposit account offering 1.85%. The minimum balance is £1,000 while the maximum is £250,000. Interest is calculated daily and paid gross in full on the maturity date of the customer’s account, so on a 9-month fixed term deposit of £1,000, the saver would make £13.89 in interest by the time their account matures, and £3,471.92 in interest on a deposit of £250,000.
Since its launch in September 2015, OakNorth has built its deposits customer base to more than 30,000 customers, offering a range of savings products to both individuals and businesses. OakNorth offers competitive rates with its products usually appearing in the top five positions of best-buy tables. The bank which focuses on lending between £0.5m-£40m to fast-growth businesses and established property developers, has built a loan book of £2bn with no defaults to date.
Stella Demades, Director of Product at OakNorth, said: “Since our launch, we have attracted over 30,000 deposit customers whose savings have helped fund our lending and have enabled us to build a profitable £2bn SME loan book here in the UK. As we look ahead to 2019, we are keen to continue building on this, lending a further £3bn to SMEs next year, so we felt now was the right time to expand our product range and hopefully attract even more customers.
We decided to launch a 9-month fixed term deposit account as our research shows that many customers feel uncomfortable locking their money away for a full year but still want to earn better interest than they can get with a 3 to 4-month notice account or a 6-month fixed term account. Hopefully this product provides these customers with a happy medium and will enable them to make their money go further.”
To apply for a 9-month fixed rate account with OakNorth, please visit: https://oaknorth.co.uk//personal-savings/personal-fixed-term-savings-account/
[1] Barclays = 0.70%, HSBC = 0.75%, RBS = 1.10%, Santander = 0.50%, Nationwide = 0.80%