Home Money Are premium bonds about to lose their appeal? SYLVIA MORRIS gives her verdict

Are premium bonds about to lose their appeal? SYLVIA MORRIS gives her verdict

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Premium Bonds: Money continues to flow into them – could the underlying rate be cut?

Premium bonuses are extremely popular and their prize pool currently stands at 4.4 percent.

And investors bought and held 540,384,433 more bonds in this month’s draw compared to last month — the biggest increase in more than a year.

The NS&I rate has remained stable since March, while other easily accessible rates have fallen.

Premium Bonds: Money continues to flow into them – could the underlying rate be cut?

At the time, several easy-access accounts paid more than 5 percent. Now, the top rate is 4.79 percent at Oxbury Bank.

But the popularity and high yield of Premium Bonds could suggest a cut is on the way.

The Treasury has asked NS&I to raise £9bn in its current financial year, 20 per cent more than last year.

With a £22bn black hole in the public finances, the Government could turn to NS&I even further.

This could be good news, as the cuts could be less severe.

Last week, NS&I quietly cut the staggering 5.15 per cent rate it offered to more than a quarter of a million savers.

The high-yield bond was on sale for just five weeks and was available to the 225,000 savers who purchased Growth or Guaranteed Income Bonds last summer.

NS&I was offering 5.15 per cent interest to customers who fixed the rate for a year or 5.03 per cent to those who preferred monthly interest.

Premium Bonus Winners

PrizeAreaBond value
£1,000,000West Sussex£18,101
£1,000,000Manchester£10,000
£100,000Kent£5,000
£100,000Port of values£38,000
£100,000Oxfordshire£700
£100,000County of Wiltshire£24,000
£100,000West Sussex£4,000
£100,000Devon£1,000

More winners for September 2024

See list of winners for September 2024

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