Best savings account providers: high-street banks underperform on customer satisfaction and interest rates

New Which? research into the best savings account providers shows some of the biggest high-street banks are falling short on interest rates and customer satisfaction.

We recently surveyed thousands of savers and analysed rates in the savings market over a 12-week period.

This allowed us to name our four Which? Recommended Providers – and some of the names might be less familiar to you than others. 

Read on to find out which providers performed well, and which failed to impress. 

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Which? Recommended Providers for savings

To choose our recommended providers, we surveyed more than 4,000 savers and analysed the interest rates offered by 39 providers. 

Only those that combined excellent customer satisfaction and close to market-leading rates were eligible to become Which? Recommended Providers (WRPs).

This year, we've named four WRPs for savings, as follows:

• Moneybox: primarily known for its investment products, Moneybox was named a WRP in its first inclusion in our research. 
• Zopa: we named Zopa a WRP last year, and it's continued its excellent performance, boasting the top interest rate score of the providers we analysed. 
• Marcus by Goldman Sachs: another returning WRP, Marcus offers a streamlined selection of products with consistently competitive rates. 
• Yorkshire Building Society: Yorkshire is a new WRP for this year. It offers the widest range of savings products of our WRPs, and is the only provider with branch access.

For our full rankings of savings providers, see our guide to the best savings accounts.

High-street banks miss the mark  

Some of the biggest high-street banks ranked among the worst providers for customer service. 

Bank of Scotland, Barclays, HSBC, Royal Bank of Scotland, and Virgin Money were all in the bottom third of our table of customer scores, with Barclays and Bank of Scotland scoring two stars out of five for customer service. 

Many customers also expressed disappointment with the low interest rates offered by high-street banks. 

HSBC ranked third from bottom in our rates analysis, with average interest rates less than half those offered by the market leader.

Nationwide was the exception to the trend, boasting a high customer score and solid interest rates. 

Which providers offer the best interest rates?

This year, we extended our interest rate analysis over 12 weeks to offer a greater insight into which providers consistently offered good rates.

Of the providers we also rated for customer satisfaction, Zopa, Leeds Building Society and Kent Reliance were the stand-out performers for interest rates.

As our analysis covered the entire savings market, we were able to pick our providers we couldn't rate for customer satisfaction due to a low sample size.

Of these, Cynergy Bank had the best interest rates, and Shawbrook Bank also offered competitive deals. 

As we couldn't rate these providers on customer satisfaction, you might want to consider them for accounts that require limited interaction, such as fixed-term products.

If you're looking for an account that requires more contact with your provider, such as an instant-access or regular savings account, consider exploring deals available from our WRPs.

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Investment providers offer top cash Isa rates

Lesser-known providers that primarily focus on investments performed well in our analysis of cash Isa rates.

Trading 212, which launched its cash Isa in May, had the highest instant-access cash Isa rate every week it was available (11 of the 12 weeks we analysed). 

The investment app Chip also had very competitive instant-access Isa rates. 

These providers are able to offer savings products through partnerships with established banks, such as CitiBank and Investec Bank. 

This means your savings have the same protections as if you had an account with a traditional high street bank. 

We weren't able to give Trading 212 or Chip a customer service score due to a low sample size.

• Find out more: best investment platforms

Looking beyond interest rates

Our research highlighted the importance of looking beyond rates and considering customer service when choosing a provider.

For example, Cahoot currently offers the top rate for instant-access saving accounts and has even held the top two rates at times. 

However, it received the lowest customer score in our survey, with two stars for its application process and online banking service. 

Some customers reported poor service, with complaints about unresolved issues and finding it ‘hard to get hold of anyone’. 

So, while Cahoot offers great rates, it may be worth sacrificing a small amount of interest for a smoother savings experience.

Our research methodology

Our savings account results are based on an online survey of 4,524 members of the public conducted in August-September 2024. Customer scores are based on satisfaction with the brand and likelihood to recommend.

Our interest rate score is based on analysis of data from Moneyfacts collected weekly between 24 June 2024 and 9 September 2024. 

You can see our full tables and find out more about our research in our guide to the best savings accounts.