Saga and Goldman Sachs launch savings accounts for the over-50s

The two new products offer discounts on food, travel, and events.

Saga has teamed up with Goldman Sachs to offer two new savings accounts for the over-50s.

The over-50s provider now offers an easy-access savings account paying 1.4% and a one-year fixed saver paying 1.15%.

While the accounts are opened with Saga, they are managed by Goldman Sachs.

The accounts provide membership access to Saga’s Possibilities programme, which offers discounts on food, travel, events and competitions.

The two accounts

The Saga Easy-Access Savings Account pays 1.4%, but comes with a 0.25% bonus for the first 12 months. This means that after a year, the rate will fall to 1.15%.

Savers can withdraw their money as often as they need to without fees or charges.

The one-year fixed rate saver pays 1.15% and you are allowed to make deposits only in the first 14 days.

If you do want to withdraw money from your account before the end of the one-year term, you will have to close the account and pay an early-closure fee.

Both accounts can be managed online or by telephone, and deposits are accepted up to a maximum of £100,000.

However, a warning for prospective customers; if a saver has money in more than one account with Goldman Sachs International Bank, you will be protected only for £85,000 (the Financial Services Compensation Scheme limit), across all accounts.

This includes both Saga Savings accounts and the Marcus by Goldman Sachs easy-access online account.

Andrew Hagger, a personal finance expert at Moneycomms, says: “This is a competitive deal from Saga - pushing the likes of Cynergy Bank and Marcus both at 1.45%, but the big difference with the Saga offer is that customers can sign up via telephone as long as they have an email address.

“This will prove a popular option with older customers who are not comfortable managing their financial affairs online due to security concerns.

“Saga is a respected brand and I think this together with a top five savings rate should make this a popular easy access savings account.”

Compare and contrast

While Saga is offering an attractive rate for its easy-access account, it is beaten by a number of rivals.

Anna Bowes, co-founder of Savings Champion, says: “It’s always important to search the whole market to make sure you can earn the most interest on your savings – don’t just trust the brands that you know – or that because it’s marketed to the over-50s it’s paying a preferential rate.

“That said, the easy-access account is competitive, although there are slightly better rates available.

“The one-year fixed-rate bond, on the other hand, is disappointing – you can earn up to 1.80% gross/AER elsewhere – which on a balance of £50,000 means an extra £325 gross.”

Easy-access accounts

The top easy-access account on the market is Goldman Sachs’s Marcus account, which offers a rate of 1.45%. However, it comes with a 0.10% bonus for the first 12 months. This means that after a year your rate will drop to 1.35%, compared to 1.15% for the Saga easy-access saver.

The rate was recently cut from 1.5% after nearly a year at the top of the best buy table.

Cynergy Bank is also offering an easy-access account at 1.45%, but the rate falls 0.70% after a year to 0.75%.

For more on top savings rates, see our weekly update.

- This article was first written by our sister magazine Moneywise.