Just over one in 10 (11%) people say they have tried to open a best-buy savings account in the past two years, only to find that it had closed and was no longer open to new customers, Investec Bank has revealed.

Analysis commissioned by the bank, found that between 29 October and 29 November 2023, five of the top 50 instant access savings accounts were closed, and six were replaced with versions offering lower returns.

Alongside the 11% who were not able to open these extinct accounts, 5% of people said they had been caught out by this problem more than once.

Investec added that more than three in five (62%) of these people were trying to open a specific fixed rate account at the time, while 18% were trying to open a particular instant access savings account but it was not loner available.

Over the past year, the bank’s research revealed that over 23 million people claim to have moved money from cash savings accounts to others that pay better rates of interest.

Head of retail savings at Investec, David Hunt, said: "There has been a frenzy of new savings accounts launching in the past two years, and interest rates have risen dramatically. This has led many people to switch their cash into better paying accounts.

"However, with so much money moving around, many of the best-buy savings accounts have not remained open for long, leading to savers missing out."

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