NS&I has announced the reintroduction of a new 1 year fixed rate Guaranteed Growth and Income Bond for savers. In addition to the new 1 year fixed savers, almost half a million existing NS&I customers can access increased interest rates if they choose to renew their existing Guaranteed Growth and Income Bonds and/or Fixed Interest Savings Certificates.
NS&I Chief Executive, Ian Ackerley, said: “It’s continuing to be an exciting time for savers and I’m pleased that we are able to bring back on general sale our popular one-year fixed-rate Bonds with two new Issues. Existing customers may also gain from a better deal when their current Bonds mature, with the option to renew with a higher interest rate."
In this article, we look at the interest rates on offer with the new fixed-rate accounts, as well as how existing customers can access increased rates if they renew when their existing product once matures. We also look at how the NS&I rates compare to other savings accounts on the market.
What are the new savings rates on offer?
Customers are able to earn up to 4% in interest on NS&I's 1 year fixed rate bonds, the highest rate since 2010. Customers can access the rate by opening an account with a minimum of £500. The accounts are fixed for 1 year so customers are unable to access their money until the account matures. Existing customers looking to access the new interest rates can apply once their existing account mature.
In the below table, we highlight the accounts on offer and the current interest rate for February 2023.
1 year fixed rate bonds
| Product | Interest rate (from February 2023) |
| 1 year fixed rate Guaranteed Growth Bonds | 4.00% |
| 1 year fixed rate Guaranteed Income Bonds | 3.90% |
Increased rates for existing customers
NS&I has said that around 494,000 existing customers can also access increased interest rates on their one, two, three and five-year fixed rate bonds, however, they will need to wait until their existing accounts mature.
The following table shows the new interest rates available to existing customer accounts upon maturity of their existing products.
The rates on the 2, 3 and 5 year fixed rate accounts are only available to existing customers while the 1 year rates are available to both new and existing customers.
Guaranteed Growth Bonds - existing customers
| Product | Interest rate (from February 2023)* |
| 1 year fixed rate Guaranteed Growth Bonds | 4.00% |
| 2 year fixed rate Guaranteed Growth Bonds | 4.20% |
| 3 year fixed rate Guaranteed Growth Bonds | 4.20% |
| 5 year fixed rate Guaranteed Growth Bonds | 4.25% |
*available once account matures and if you choose to reinvest
Guaranteed Income Bonds - existing customers
| Product | Interest rate (from February 2023)* |
| 1 year fixed rate Guaranteed Income Bonds | 3.90% |
| 2 year fixed rate Guaranteed Income Bonds | 4.10% |
| 3 year fixed rate Guaranteed Income Bonds | 4.10% |
| 5 year fixed rate Guaranteed Income Bonds | 4.15% |
*available once account matures and if you choose to reinvest
Fixed Interest Savings Certificates - existing customers
| Product | Interest rate (from February 2023)* |
| 2 year Fixed Interest Savings Certificates | 4.00% |
| 5 year Fixed Interest Savings Certificates | 4.05% |
*available once account matures and if you choose to reinvest
How to open an NS&I 1 year Guaranteed Bond
New customers
New customers can open an NS&I 1 year Guaranteed Bond via the NS&I website.
Existing customers
If you have an existing NS&I Direct Saver you can apply for a Guaranteed Bond account online. If you have another NS&I account you will need to download a switching form and post it to NS&I.
If you are an existing customer and wish to access the preferential interest rates you can do so once your existing account matures. You will be contacted by NS&I around a month prior to the account maturity with the options and rates available to you. You can choose to renew your account for the same length of time or you can switch to a different term length. The interest rate you receive in your renewal letter will be the same rate you receive if you stick with the same product term, if you switch term length you will receive the rate at the time of your account maturity, which can be more or less than the one in the renewal letter.
How do the NS&I rates compare to other savings accounts?
While the increased interest rates with NS&I are encouraging and allow you to get better returns on your cash, they are not currently market-leading. To find out how you can earn more interest on your savings, read our article, 'How to get more than 5% interest on your savings'.
Our Savings Best Buy tables are also regularly updated with the best rates in the market for your money and our article, 'What is the best savings account?' is also updated weekly with the best rates across a number of different savings accounts.
