When the Bank of England cut Base Rate to 0.5% on 5th March 2009, almost three times as many ISA savers chose the Society’s variable rate ISAs over fixed rate products.
Since then this trend has been reversed and the majority of ISA savers have tended to prefer fixed rate products – in March this year almost three fifths of ISA savers (57.3%) held a fixed rate product, compared to 42.7% who had chosen a variable rate account.
The overall popularity of Cash ISAs among savers with Leeds Building Society has risen over the same period.
In March 2009, ISAs accounted for almost one in four savings products (24.4%) with the Society, while at the end of March this year that figure was more than one in three (35.2%).
Kim Rebecchi, Sales & Marketing Director at Leeds Building Society, said:
“ISAs are consistently our most popular type of savings product, which is not surprising bearing in mind the tax-free returns they offer.”
“Customers frequently ask for a simple savings account but this can leave them paying tax unnecessarily."