Short-term gains may not be the best bet for savers

EXPERTS are urging savers to tread carefully when checking out best buy savings deals as a growing number of banks inflate headline rates by offering short-term bonuses.

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The typical bonus lasts for 12 months, after which savers get a much lower return.

Nine of the top 50 instant access savings accounts rely on short-term bonuses to make a mark on the best buy tables, research from Investec Bank shows. This is up from just three accounts 18 months earlier.

The average interest rate for balances of £5,000 was 4.94 per cent but once those bonuses expired this dropped to just 3.27 per cent.