By SYLVIA MORRIS

Updated: 22:01 BST, 6 May 2025

After decades of writing about savings it is rare that a game-changing account comes along, but this one – which launched on Friday – might be.

The account is from Spring, which is part of Paragon Bank. It pays 4.3 per cent and you can open it with a minimum of £10 (which I did) and is app based. 

Refreshingly, it comes with no gimmicks or restrictive terms and conditions and is simple to use.

I am reluctant to sing its praises too generously in case you think this is a disguised advert.

But let me reassure you that my views are as impartial and independent as ever.

What I like is that you can move money between your Spring savings account – which comes with a cute logo of a springer spaniel – and your linked current account, all within the Spring app. 

No gimmicks: A new account from Spring, which is part of Paragon Bank.  pays 4.3% and you can open it with a minimum of £10 and is app based

No gimmicks: A new account from Spring, which is part of Paragon Bank.  pays 4.3% and you can open it with a minimum of £10 and is app based

Check the best cash Isa rates in our savings tables 

You open the app and tell it how much you want to transfer in. Your current account provider asks you to approve the payment within the Spring app, and that’s it.

That means you don’t have to open your current account online banking app and input your savings account details, such as the number and sort code, when you want to move your money.

I tested transfers in and out and they took seconds, although it can take up to two hours.

I particularly like the easy-to-find freephone number so you can talk to a real person rather than dealing with a bot.

Spring pays 4.3 per cent interest, which is not the very top rate but certainly a good one. It pays around four times as much interest as I earn in a savings account with my current account provider.

If you had £5,000 in a current account that pays 1 per cent you’d earn £50 after one year. With the Spring account you’d earn £215. 

Among other new accounts out last week is online bank Cahoot, part of Santander, with the latest version of its Simple Saver Issue 9 paying 4.41 per cent with instant, penalty-free access on £1 or more.

But the account only lasts for a year – then you are switched to an ordinary savings account which pays 1 per cent – which could be even lower in a year’s time.

App-based provider Chip’s account at 4.76 per cent includes a 1.2 percentage point bonus for a year at which point you will be down to 3.56 per cent. You can make three withdrawals a year at most.

Fix, quick, before Bank cuts rates 

If you are happy to tie your money up for a year or so, go for a fixed rate account now before rates fall again.

Tomorrow the Bank of England is widely expected to cut its base rate from 4.5 per cent to 4.25 per cent for starters. 

More cuts are expected throughout the year to head off pessimistic economic growth forecasts.

The top one-year fixed rate bonds come from online banks GB Bank and Cynergy at 4.55 per cent with a minimum £1,000. Access Bank pays the same rate on £5,000-plus.

If you want to stick to the high street, look for over 4 per cent. Top rates come from Saffron BS at 4.25 per cent. Santander and Kent Reliance pay 4.15 per cent.

On tax-free fixed rate cash Isas, Oaknorth has upped its rate to 4.26 per cent for one year on £1, Close Brothers pays the same rate on a minimum of £10,000.

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This 4.3% account is a game changer for fans of instant access savings I’ve even got one myself! SYLVIA MORRIS

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