Savers received a double dose of good news this week in the form of the best one-year fixed rate deal in almost 18 months and a Marcus rate hike.
First, Gatehouse Bank’s new 1.51% one-year savings bond – the first time a 12-month rate has crossed the 1.5% mark since May 2020.
The icing on the cake, the challenger bank promises to plant a tree in the British forests for each account opened.
It might be a bit of a gimmick for him to call the account a green saver and capitalize on the growing trend towards sustainable finances, but planting trees is the kind of marketing gimmick I can fully support.
Good news for savers arrived from Marcus this week with rates hike to 0.5% and 0.6% for existing clients
Gatehouse is Shariah compliant, so it cannot offer customers guaranteed interest, and instead the rate represents an expected rate of profit from the accounts.
The bank, which is covered by the £ 85,000 FSCS compensation scheme, previously wanted to point out to us that it is doing everything possible to achieve the quoted returns.
The one-year rate puts Gatehouse ahead of Sharia complaints bank Al Rayan, small business specialist Allica Bank and Oxbury Bank, which has its own green credentials by lending only to UK farmers and the rural economy.
The second piece of good news in savings came from Marcus, the savings brand of Goldman Sachs, which increased its Easy Access Account and Isa cashout rate from 0.4% to 0.5% for new customers.
However, what will be of particular interest to many readers of This is Money is that if you are an existing Marcus customer – like many of us – then you can ask for an even higher rate of 0.6%.
Most importantly, you must claim this rate increase. The new higher 0.5% rate will automatically be granted to existing savers, but to add the additional 0.1% bonus you need to log in and click a button to get it.
I almost missed this round with Marcus’ last uprising so make sure you don’t.
These latest movements are indicative of an environment in which savings rates are rising.
There are a lot of old, useless accounts that still pay 0.01% (like I said before, I’d rather get nothing but this insult), but look for the best new deals at the top of our savings tables and you will get a much higher fixed or easy-to-access rate.

Warning signs: Inflation is the enemy of wealth, eroding the purchasing power of your money and worsening this effect year on year
The problem is that inflation is also on the rise and none of the savings offers on offer can match it.
Consumer price inflation climbed to 3.2 percent in August and is expected to hit 4 percent this year.
For the most part, the impact of the rising cost of living is probably even greater now and will continue to be: gasoline, if you can get hold of it, has jumped in prices, fuel costs. energy goes up and food bills go up. too much.
This list covers essential expenses, but the price of discretionary items also appears to be increasing. For example, many restaurants, pubs and other places of recreation and entertainment raise prices by charging their own higher costs.
Inflation above the interest rates offered means you are wasting money with cash savings.
Even with that Marcus account at 0.6%, 3.2% inflation means a 2.6% annual attack on your wealth.
This means it is eroding the purchasing power of £ 10,000 at the rate of £ 260 a year – and be warned, just as interest can accumulate over the years, so too can inflationary erosion.
In a recent survey of 500 This is Money readers, 43 percent said they had more than £ 100,000 in cash savings, so for some people the effect of inflation on their wealth could mean a substantial loss.
I wish I could predict that savings rates will continue to rise and rise above inflation, but we are a long way from a return to normal in monetary policy and interest rates (and it is in the government’s interest to let inflation steadily erode UK debt while low rates reduce payments).
Ultimately, that means offense can be the best form of defense and once you’ve built up a rainy day pot that is kept safe in cash, you need to invest in the stock market for better returns.
Even if you only start doing it with a small chunk of your money – like 30 or 40 percent – it’s something.
A well-diversified equity portfolio has proven, study after study, to be your best bet to beat inflation and build wealth over time.
The simplest option is a large global tracker fund, or you can try to be smart and go for an active manager who is trying to beat the market but remember that maybe it isn’t.
A simple investment is fairly easy and inexpensive to do on your own, as this quick guide to getting started with investing, but if you have a lot of money at stake, it may be a good idea to speak to an independent financial advisor.
Whatever you do, fight inflation. It is the enemy of your wealth.
Some links in this article may be affiliate links. If you click on it, we can earn a small commission. This helps us fund This Is Money and keep it free to use. We do not write articles to promote products. We do not allow any commercial relationship to affect our editorial independence.