Atom Bank relaunches 2.2% three-year bond: is it as good this time around?

The digital bank has upped the interest rates on its fixed term savings products as follows:

• 1 year Fixed Saver: 1.80% AER (up from 1.70% AER)
• 2 year Fixed Saver: 2.00% AER (up from 1.80% AER)
• 3 year Fixed Saver: 2.20% AER (up from 1.90% AER)
• 5 year Fixed Saver: 2.40% AER (up from 2.30% AER)

No withdrawals are allowed before the bonds mature, only unless a saver experiences ‘financial hardship’.

While the challenger’s offering firmly grounds it into the best buy tables, the rates fall shy of the current savings products available.

Al Rayan tops the one-year fixed bond offering with 1.91%, but this is an expected profit rate as the product comes under Islamic finance principles.

In the two-year category, again, Al Rayan pips Atom’s two-year fixed bond offering with an expected rate of 2.02%, according to data from Moneyfacts.

On its three-year bond offering, Atom’s on even footing with the government’s NS&I Guaranteed Growth Bond which pays 2.2%. It last offered this rate on the three-year product back in March.

Savers will need to weigh up the two products to see which is best for them. The NS&I bond is backed by HM Treasury so offers 100% capital security, while Atom Bank’s three-year fixed saver has a much higher maximum deposit rate of £100,000, with NS&I only accepting up to £3,000. See YourMoney.com’s Battle of the 2.2% bonds: Atom Bank or NS&I – which is best for you?

On its five-year deal, Atom falls shy of BLME’s 2.5% expected profit rate as it also operates under Islamic banking principles.

Go fast if you want the deals?

Atom Bank has had a number of market-leading rates recently, both in terms of savings and mortgages with its 2% one-year bond offering earlier in the year and its 1.29% five-year fixed rate mortgage.

But both products were pulled fairly quickly from the market.

For savers wishing to open the accounts, it may be wise to act sooner, rather than later. YourMoney.com asked Atom how long it expected the products to be available for and it couldn’t give us a specific time period. But it said it constantly evaluates its rates which can change. However, once a customer has opened an account, their rate is locked in for the duration of the bond.

Lisa Wood of Atom, said: “Low interest rates and rising inflation mean savers have had a really tough time for a while now, but Atom is determined to offer a better alternative to that available from the traditional banks.

“We raise our rates whenever we can and are delighted to be able to offer savers a range of market-leading fixed savers. We believe in giving customers great value products, with a hassle-free account opening experience, no paperwork or branches, fully digital.

“Being purely digital, we are able to operate a lower cost model and pass these savings back through better rates, and as a UK licensed bank we offer full FSCS protection on savings, to provide extra reassurance to our customers.”