Frequently Asked Questions

What types of savings accounts does HiSAVE offer?

HiSAVE, brought to you by ICICI Bank UK PLC, offers a range of savings accounts to meet all your savings needs. All our savings accounts are online accounts – this means they are opened and managed online. We aim to ensure all our savings accounts are simple, straightforward and offer consistently high interest rates.

HiSAVE offers the following types of savings accounts:

No notice savings accounts: These savings accounts allow you access to your savings without the requirement to provide a notice period. The HiSAVE equivalent of this type of savings account is our HiSAVE Savings Account.

Fixed Rate Accounts: These savings accounts, or savings bonds as they are sometimes known, are designed for people who are able to save a lump sum for a fixed length of time (referred to as a term). These types of savings accounts have a fixed rate of interest so you don’t need to worry about interest rates falling during the term of the savings account. The HiSAVE equivalent of this type of savings account is our HiSAVE Fixed Rate Account. You cannot withdraw funds from this account until maturity.

There are other types of savings accounts, however HiSAVE does not currently offer these:

Notice savings accounts: These savings accounts require you to provide a notice period, normally between 30 and 180 days, before you can access your savings. These types of savings accounts are good for savers who do not need regular access to their savings.

Cash ISAs: A Cash ISA is like a standard savings account except all interest paid is tax free and the government sets how much you may subscribe each tax year.

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What is the difference between a Fixed Rate Account and a Fixed Rate Bond?

There is no difference between a Fixed Rate Account and a Fixed Rate Bond, they are exactly the same thing. These accounts are designed for savers who are able to save a lump sum for a fixed term without the need to make any withdrawals.

Fixed Rate Accounts (or Fixed Rate Bonds) attract a fixed rate of interest meaning savers know exactly how much interest they will receive over the term of their account/bond. The HiSAVE name for this type of account is a HiSAVE Fixed Rate Account.

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What is a high interest savings account?

A high interest savings account offers an interest rate for deposits that is higher than average, enabling savings to grow at a faster rate. There are many different types of high interest savings accounts, from easy access savings accounts to Cash ISAs to fixed rate accounts. Each type of high interest savings account has different features and benefits so you should make sure you understand what these are before opening one.

There are many different ways to make finding a high interest rate easier, for example, you can use the Financial Services Authorities comparative tables or tables compiled by independent providers such as Moneysavingexpert, Moneyfacts, Moneysupermarket or Lovemoney.

HiSAVE Fixed Rate Accounts regularly appear in Best Buy tables, so you can be confident you are getting some of the competitive interest rates available in the market.

Our aim is to ensure we offer consistently high interest rates on our savings accounts, which are free from catches or penalties. For example the HiSAVE Savings Account offers a high interest rate with a long term rate promise (we guarantee that AER of our HiSAVE Savings Account will be atleast 0.30% above Bank of England base rate till December 2011). This means you can be confident you’ll be earning consistently high interest rates.

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What is a Best Buy Fixed Rate Account or Savings Account?

A Best Buy rating is awarded to accounts that have the highest interest rate in the whole of the market for a specific type of account at particular point in time.

The best savings rates often change and it is unlikely you will always be able to benefit from the best savings rate unless you are prepared to regularly switch your financial provider.

HiSAVE Fixed Rate Accounts (also known as Fixed Rate Bonds) regularly appear in best buy tables meaning you can be confident you are getting some of the best fixed rates available in the market. As well as regularly offering Best Buys, we also ensure we offer consistently high interest rates on our savings accounts which are free from catches or penalties. For example our Savings Account offers a high interest rate that you can rely on – the AER will beat the Bank of England base rate by at least 0.30% until Dec 2011. This means you can sit back and relax in the knowledge you are earning consistently high interest rates.

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