Following on from the 'Great British Savings Scandal' released by Which? which revealed that savers are missing out on £12 billion a year due to miserly interest rates, the advice group has revealed the ten savings accounts that have the most misleading names.
Which? has found ten savings accounts with 'big titles but pitifully small rates,' which promise big returns but actually pay out minute levels of interest.
Which? found that almost half of the 1,200 plus savings accounts available in the UK pay 0.5 per cent interest or less, and one in four pays 0.1 per cent or less. Some of the most misleading accounts were 'Halifax Liquid Gold' and 'NatWest Diamond Reserve,' both of which denote huge wealth but don't produce the goods.
Derbyshire Building Society and Northern Bank also have savings products which mention gold, even though they pay just 0.10 per cent, and Santander boasts a 'Platinum Savings Deposit.'
Newcastle Building Society has a High/Extra High Interest Account, which pays just 0.01 per cent, making it the poorest paying account in the Which? list, paying an annual return of just 10p on every £1,000 saved.
Which? chief executive, Peter Vicary-Smith, said, "This is proof that all that glitters isn’t gold. It’s just embarrassing that a company can call a product 'extra high interest', when, in reality, it only pays out 0.01 per cent. Surely it’s time for banks and building societies to clean up their act and ensure that their products do what they say on the tin."
