Nationwide endorses the savings habit

Monday, 09 February 2009 12:00

Nationwide is promoting its range of savings accounts after uncovering findings that people are reluctant to save.

The building society said it was "concerned" after its research found 54 per cent of UK adults thought now was a bad time to put their cash into savings.

And it was equally worried that almost a quarter of those surveyed saved nothing at all.

Although half said they were confident they would be saving the right amount in six months time, the same amount thought government policy discouraged them from saving.

Nationwide said for people starting to save, one of its regular savings accounts, ISAs or online accounts would be a good place to begin.

Regular accounts rewarded regular deposits, it said, with higher interest rates. Online accounts, such as Nationwide's FlexAccount were more convenient to manage and ISAs had the benefit of being tax free.

Andy McQueen, savings director at Nationwide, said there were different savings schemes to suit different people.

He said: "We think consumers may find it easier to save if they first considered the type of saver they think they are so they can create a savings plan that works for them and choose an account that's right for their needs.

"Interest rates are lower than we have seen in the last few years, but it's still just as important for people to regularly put money aside for a rainy day."

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