Prosper gives prime micro-fix financial savings charges as much as 5.3%
Savers can now get the best micro-fixed saving deals and bag a top 90-day notice account with saving and investing platform Prosper.
Prosper has boosted rates on its savings accounts, taking its 90-day notice account*, three-month fix* and six-month fix* to best buys.
The boost is a bump from the platform on the interest that the underlying banks offer and unlike some rivals, Prosper is raising the rates paid rather than offering a cash sign-up bonus.
Stacking up: Prosper is now offering the top savings deals for 90-day notice, three month-fixed and six-month fixed savings accounts
Savers can get a 5.27 per cent 90-day notice account with Prosper*, with Santander International as the deposit account provider.
The platform has also boosted rates to deliver a 5.3 per cent six-month fix at Prosper* and a 5.2 per cent three-month fix at Prosper*, both with GB Bank.
Prosper is FCA regulated and savers have Financial Services Compensation Scheme savings protection up to £85,000 under Santander International and GB Bank on the accounts above.
Money in a Prosper holding account rather than a savings account is protected by HSBC and Barclays.
How the boost works
Santander International will pay a rate of 5.02 per cent into the 90-day notice account daily. The rate tracks the Bank of England base rate.
Prosper will then pay an extra 0.25 per cent boost on each anniversary of opening the account and on the closing of the account to your nominated bank account.
The 90-day notice account has a minimum deposit of £20,000 and a maximum balance of £1million.
Deposits with Prosper are protected up to £85,000 under FSCS. If Prosper or Santander International were to fail, anything over £85,000 would not be protected.
Santander International can change the account’s margin above the base rate and Prosper can change the boost, at any time. But if Santander International decreases the tracking margin or Prosper decreases the boost, you will be given at least 104 days notice.
An interest rate of 4.99 per cent will be paid by GB Bank when the three-month term matures.
Prosper will then pay a 0.21 per cent boost on maturity of the three-month term to your nominated bank account.
The three-month fix has a minimum deposit of £20,000 and a maximum balance of £85,000.
GB bank will pay 5.02 per cent interest when the six-month term matures.
Prosper will then pay a 0.28 per cent boost on maturity of the six-month term to your nominated bank account.
The six-month fix has a minimum deposit of £20,000 and a maximum balance of £85,000.
What is the appeal of shorter-term fix?
Prosper’s short term fixed-rate accounts offer better rates than their longer term counterparts.
At the moment, the best one-year fixed-rate accounts pay around 4.9 per cent while the best two-year and five-year fixes pay around 4.7 per cent and 4.3 per cent respectively – and that means locking away money for longer.
Prosper’s 5.27 per cent 90-day notice account beats Investec’s 5.25 per cent 90-day account and blme’s 5.15 per cent account.
The next best three-month fix is offered by savings platform Raisin through Mizrahi Tefahot Bank and pays 5.15 per cent, while the next best six-month fix also comes from Mizrahi Tefahot Bank through Raisin and pays 5.11 per cent.
Should you fix your savings?
Fixed-rate savings accounts give savers the chance to lock in a guaranteed interest rate for a set period of time which can range from a few months to five years.
This certainty will appeal to some savers at a time when interest rates are set for more cuts by the Bank of England. When this happens, savings rates will also see cuts.
The Bank of England Monetary Policy Committee last week held the base rate at 5 per cent.
Experts forecast that the base rate will land at 4.75 per cent by the end of the year and then continue to fall after that, to around 4 per cent by the end of 2025 before eventually settling at around 3.5 per cent.
When the Bank of England cut the base rate to 5 per cent in August, This is Money analysis revealed that over 100 savings account had their rates cut in the week following the base rate cut, so the outlook for savings rates points in one direction from here: downwards.
What is Prosper and is your money safe?
Prosper is a savings and investments platform launched in 2022, with a mission to deliver cheaper investing and better savings for customers. Prosper’s investment platform currently offers completely fee-free investing across 30 index funds.
Its founder and chief executive, Nick Perrett, and founder and chairman, Ricky Knox, worked together on launching challenger bank, Tandem, while their co-founder Phil Bungey was chief operating officer at Nutmeg.
As well as a cash savings account platform, powered by Akoni and Bondsmith, Prosper offers Sipps, Isas and general investment accounts.
> Savings alerts: Find out about the best rates first with This is Money’s emails
