Goldman Sachs is today launching a savings account in the UK, with savers being offered an interest rate of 1.5 per cent.

The account, known as Marcus, will be offering what are currently the best rates on the market, and the highest return that UK savers have seen in the last two and a half years.

Available to UK residents over the age of 18, savers can deposit from £1 to £250,000 – and withdraw their money as many times as they like, with no fees or charges.

Money can also be withdrawn as often as the saver likes without having to pay a penalty.

Speaking about the launch, Marcus by Goldman Sachs managing director Des McDaid said: “Over the last decade savers have been on the wrong end of low interest rates. We’ve spoken in-depth to people across the country and there is a real disillusionment about savings – while most UK adults are diligently trying to save every month, some do not even have a savings account, with low interest rates and complexity being put to blame.

“We want to reverse the trend – literally putting the interest back into savings and make saving worthwhile again.

“We’ve made the Marcus Online Savings Account as easy as possible to open and manage online, and with our aim to offer a consistently competitive interest rate, we hope our customers will see the benefits - and how, over time, this can add up to help them get to their saving goals that bit quicker.”

Hargreaves Lansdown personal finance analyst Sarah Coles stated that the account is going to "make a splash".

“Easy access accounts hold 80 per cent of the UK’s savings, and the high street banks offer vanishingly small rates. Many savers have stayed with an old savings account because they can’t see the point of moving while rates are low. Around a third of the money in easy access accounts hasn’t been switched for at least five years. However, if you’re getting 0.15 per cent from HSBC, you could get ten times the interest from Marcus, which might just be worth getting out of bed for.
 
“Of course, those who have switched before, and seen rates fall, may well be worried that after the launch, rates will quietly drop away. However, the company has ambitious targets for the Marcus brand, which is an important part of its growth and diversification strategy.  It has already attracted $20bn in deposits in the US, and as well as a UK launch, it has plans to open in Germany too. There’s a good chance that this so-called Vampire will be hanging around long after Halloween.”

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