Best regular savings account 2026: compared

What is a regular savings account?

A regular savings account is a savings product that rewards you for depositing a fixed amount, usually monthly, over a set period, most commonly 12 months. In exchange for that commitment, providers pay a higher interest rate than they offer on their standard easy access accounts. Most regular savers cap how much you can pay in each month, typically somewhere between £150 and £300, which limits the total amount you can build up during the term.

These accounts are aimed at people who want to build a savings habit rather than those who already have a lump sum sitting in a bank account. If you have £10,000 ready to deposit today, a regular saver will not let you put it all in at once, so a fixed-rate bond or an easy access account is usually a better fit for that money.

Why the headline AER is not what you actually earn

The single most misunderstood part of a regular savings account is that the advertised AER overstates your real return. That is because you are not earning the full rate on the full balance for the whole year. On the first month's deposit you earn interest for close to 12 months, but on the deposit you make in month 11 you only earn interest for a few weeks before the term ends.

In practice, your money sits in the account for an average of roughly six months rather than twelve, so your real return works out closer to half the advertised AER. A First Direct Regular Saver at 7.00% AER paying in the maximum £300 a month for 12 months earns around £136 in interest, not £252, which is what a naive full-year calculation on the total £3,600 saved would suggest. This does not make the account a bad deal, easy access rates would earn far less on the same gradually building balance, but it is essential to understand before comparing the headline rate directly against a fixed bond or easy access account.

Regular saver vs easy access vs fixed-rate bond

Easy access accounts let you deposit any amount at any time and withdraw whenever you like, with a variable rate that is usually lower than a regular saver but higher than doing nothing. Fixed-rate bonds ask you to lock away a lump sum for a set term in exchange for a guaranteed rate, with no further deposits allowed once the term starts. Regular savers sit between the two: you commit to a fixed monthly amount for a fixed term, and in return you typically get the highest headline rate of the three, provided you actually keep saving the full monthly amount and do not need to touch the money before the term ends.

If you already have savings built up and simply want the best rate on a lump sum, look at our full best savings account comparison instead, which covers easy access and fixed-term options across the market.

Do you need an existing current account?

This varies significantly by provider and is one of the most important eligibility checks before you apply. First Direct, Nationwide, HSBC and NatWest all require you to hold, or in some cases open, a current account with them before you can access their regular saver. Skipton and Halifax, by contrast, let you open their regular saver as a standalone product without an existing current account relationship. If you are not willing to switch your everyday banking, narrowing your shortlist to providers that do not require a linked current account will save you time.

What happens when the 12-month term ends?

Most fixed-term regular savers automatically move your balance, plus the interest earned, into an easy access account with the same provider once the term matures, and that easy access rate is almost always far lower than the regular saver rate you were earning. Unless you specifically want to stay with that provider, it is worth setting a reminder for the maturity date so you can withdraw the funds and either open a new regular saver elsewhere or move the lump sum into a competitive easy access or fixed-rate account. NatWest's Digital Regular Saver is the exception here, as it has no fixed end date and simply continues paying its variable rate for as long as you keep the account open.

Is savings interest taxed?

Most UK savers pay no tax at all on the interest from a regular saver thanks to the Personal Savings Allowance. Basic-rate taxpayers can earn up to £1,000 in savings interest a year tax-free, higher-rate taxpayers get a £500 allowance, and additional-rate taxpayers get no allowance and pay tax on all interest earned. Because the amounts involved in a capped regular saver are relatively modest, the vast majority of savers using these accounts will not come close to using up their allowance from this account alone, though it is worth adding up interest across all your savings accounts if you are close to the threshold.

How to choose between the six accounts compared here

Start by checking whether you already bank, or are willing to bank, with the provider behind the top rate, since First Direct's 7.00% AER and Nationwide's 6.50% AER both require an existing or new current account relationship. If you would rather keep your current banking untouched, Skipton's regular saver is open to any UK resident with no linked account needed, while Halifax also does not require you to be an existing customer. If flexibility matters more than chasing the top rate, NatWest's Digital Regular Saver is the only one of the six that lets you withdraw money at any point without losing your future interest, which suits savers who are not fully confident they will avoid dipping into the pot before the term ends.

Whichever account you choose, set up a standing order for the maximum allowed monthly deposit on the day your salary arrives. Regular savers only pay their advertised rate if you actually keep depositing consistently, and missing months is the single most common way savers end up earning far less than they expected.