Who would have thought it would be difficult to open a joint account? Well, judging by the number of Money Mail readers who tell me about their experiences, the problem is widespread.
The higher-paying savings accounts launching today will only allow you to open an account in one name.
Reader Derek Williams tells me that he has wasted an inordinate amount of time researching whether accounts offering high rates can be opened under joint names and has found that it is not always explained on bank websites.
Frozen: Banks are reluctant to offer competitive pooled savings accounts, saying their creation involves more administration and expenses.
Ray Kay spent 40 minutes on the phone trying to find out if he could open an Ulster Bank Loyalty Saver easy access account in joint names with his wife. The answer is that you can, but you must have a checking account at the bank.
Why this reluctance to encourage couples to save?
The reason banks give is that it involves more administration and expense to set up joint accounts and they can offer better rates if they are held in individual accounts.
The best easy access accounts you can have in joint names that are opening up to new savers include Family BS Market Tracker and Secure Trust Access Account Issue 19 at 4.65 per cent and Yorkshire BS Easy Access Saver Issue 3 at 4.35 percent.
Both offers are only available online. You can open the Family BS account online, through their branch in Epsom, Surrey or by post.
Scottish BS has its Saver Plus, which you open in its branches or by mail. It pays a decent 4.51 percent, but you’re limited to a maximum of four withdrawals a year.
However, you cannot withdraw the account in joint names if you want to open it online.
For fixed rate bonds, SmartSave and Atom are often at or very close to the top of the best buy tables, but you can’t open a joint account with either of them.
Other major providers that do allow you include online banks Cynergy Bank (4.75 per cent over a year), Kent Reliance (4.71 per cent), Shawbrook Bank (4.57 per cent), Charter Savings Bank ( 4.56 percent) and United Trust Bank (4.55 percent). percent).
If you want to stick to a local branch, the best rates come from Kent Reliance (4.71 per cent) and building societies Nottingham (4.41 per cent), Principality (4.3 per cent), Leeds (4.2 percent) along with Cambridge, Newcastle. and Furness (all 4.25 per cent).
And as a reminder, cash Isas cannot be opened as joint accounts. Government rules mean they can only be opened with one name.
Sy.morris@dailymail.co.uk
Where rates are falling the fastest
The big banks, NatWest, HSBC, Lloyds and Barclays, have announced they are cutting rates on their easy access accounts following the Bank of England’s base rate cut to 4.75 per cent earlier this month.
Leave your cash here and you’ll see its value fall as banks pay out less than the 1.7 percent annual inflation rate through September.
Barclays Everyday Saver currently pays 1.66 per cent on sums up to £10,000 in your account. In 12 days, on December 2, that rate will fall to 1.51 percent and then fall to 1.26 percent in February.
NatWest Flexible Saver, which currently pays 1.6 per cent up to £25,000, drops to 1.5 per cent on 5 December.
HSBC Flexible Savings drops to 1.5 percent in January. The rate was reduced on Monday from 2 percent to 1.75 percent.
Check the best cash Isa rates in our savings tables