Interest for savers

There have been loads of predictions in recent weeks that the Bank of England will be pushing its base interest rate up again today.

It's been glued at the current level of 3.5% since July this year.

If or when the Bank of England makes its move, the other banks, building societies and various organisations handling our money will follow suit.

And they'll take the opportunity to jiggle around with their own rates as well.

Likely rise

In fact, many have already started to adjust their figures, in anticipation of a likely rise.

The rate changes making the biggest headlines have of course been mortgage rates, which is disappointing news for home owners.

Even a small rise in interest rates could have a sizeable impact on their monthly payments.

But rising quietly in the background are some of the savings rates you can get - good news at last for savers, whose money has been earning very little over the last few years.

Best deals

The base rate is expected to rise by a quarter of a percent, which is only an extra 25p a year for every £100 you have saved.

But as saver Susan Collins points out, "Anything is better than what they're giving at the moment, because they're very low."

Anna Bowes of Chase de Vere says, "There's a great deal of competition in the market [and] there are some really good deals out there, so it's worth shopping around."

Some of the best piggy banks around at the moment include:

Instant Access

Scarborough BS One Plus Saver - 4.25%

Birmingham Midshires Telephone Plus - 4.2%

West Bromwich BS Double Bonus Saver - 4.2%

Fixed Rate Bonds

Capital One 3 year (min £5,000) - 5.27%

Lambeth BS 2 year (min £1,000) - 5%

Leeds & Holbeck 2 year (min £5,000) - 5.1%
Source: Chase de Vere

One word of warning though.

As Anna points out, "A number of them will have bonus rates that have been increased, so you must be aware that these bonus rates may fall off in six months or a year."